Somalis
The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ar, ุตูู
ุงูููู) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared mo ...
in Kenya are
citizens
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
and residents of
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
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who are of
Somali ethnic descent. They have historically inhabited the
North Eastern Province, previously called the Northern Frontier District, which was carved out of the
Jubaland
Jubaland ( so, Jubbaland, ar, , it, Oltregiuba), the Juba Valley ( so, Dooxada Jubba) or Azania ( so, Asaaniya, ar, ), is a Federal Member State in southern Somalia. Its eastern border lies east of the Jubba River, stretching from Gedo ...
region of present-day southern
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐; ar, ุงูุตูู
ุงู, aแนฃ-แนขลซmฤl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
during the
colonial period. Following the
civil war in Somalia
The Somali Civil War ( so, Dagaalkii Sokeeye ee Soomaaliya; ar, ุงูุญุฑุจ ุงูุฃูููุฉ ุงูุตูู
ุงููุฉ ) is an ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the military junta which was led by Siad Bar ...
that broke out in 1991, many Somalis sought asylum in the Somali-inhabited enclaves of Kenya. An entrepreneurial community, they established themselves in the business sector, particularly in the
Nairobi
Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...
suburb of
Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census.
The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...
.
Population
According to the 2019 Kenya
census, approximately 2,780,502 ethnic
Somalis
The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ar, ุตูู
ุงูููู) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared mo ...
live in Kenya.
[ Among these individuals are a number of ethnically Somali international migrants, around 300,000 of whom inhabit the wider ]East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
and South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
regions. These ethnic Somalis are distinct from the Bantus
The Bantu peoples, or Bantu, are an ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages. They are native to 24 countries spread over a vast area from Central Africa to Southeast Africa and into Southern A ...
and other minorities of Somalia, who according to USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 ...
constitute most of the estimated 413,170 refugees from Somalia in Kenya.
SIL Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloษ ue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...
reports a breakdown of the Somali population in Kenya from the 1989 census, consisting of 312,339 individuals. Of the latter, 45,098 were from unspecified Somali clans, 27,244 from the Murule
The Hawiye ( so, Hawiye, ar, ุจูู ูููุฉ, it, Hauija) is the largest Somali clan family. Members of this clan traditionally inhabit central and southern Somalia, Somaliland, Ethiopia ( Somali, Harar, Oromia and Afar regions) and the No ...
clan, 200,000 from the Degodia
The Degoodi or Degodia ( so, Degoodi or Degoodiya, ar, ุฏุบูุฏู) is a Somali clan.
They are genealogically related to the other Samaale, but in particular to the Garjante, Gaalje'el, Masare, Isa (Saransor) and 'Awrmale, with which they shar ...
clan, and 139,597 from the Ogaden
Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled ''Ogadฤn''; so, Ogaadeen, am, แแแด/แแแดแ) is one of the historical names given to the modern Somali Region, the territory comprising the eastern portion of Ethiopia formerly part of the Harargh ...
clan.
History
Somalis in Kenya, being Cushitic peoples
Cushitic speaking peoples refers to the ethnic groups who speak Cushitic languages as a native language. Cushitic languages are today spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north and south in Eg ...
, were possibly among the first to have arrived in Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
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, long before the Bantu expansion
The Bantu expansion is a hypothesis about the history of the major series of migrations of the original Proto-Bantu-speaking group, which spread from an original nucleus around Central Africa across much of sub-Saharan Africa. In the process, ...
. They have historically inhabited the North Eastern Province, previously called the Northern Frontier District (NFD). The NFD came into being in 1925, when it was carved out of the Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐; ar, ุงูุตูู
ุงู, aแนฃ-แนขลซmฤl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
. At the time under British colonial administration, the northern half of Jubaland was ceded to Italy as a reward for the Italians' support of the Allies during World War I. Britain retained control of the southern half of the territory, which was later called the Northern Frontier District.
On 26 June 1960, four days before granting British Somaliland
British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate ( so, Dhulka Maxmiyada Soomaalida ee Biritishka), was a British protectorate in present-day Somaliland. During its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Somalia, French So ...
independence, the British government declared that all Somali-inhabited areas of East Africa should be unified in one administrative region. However, after the dissolution of the former British colonies in the region, Britain granted administration of the Northern Frontier District to Kenyan nationalists. This was despite an informal plebiscite demonstrating the overwhelming desire of the Somalis in Kenya population to join the newly formed Somali Republic
The Somali Republic ( so, Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliyeed; it, Repubblica Somala; ar, ุงูุฌู
ููุฑูุฉ ุงูุตูู
ุงููุฉ, Jumhลซriyyat aแนฃ-แนขลซmฤlฤซyyah) was a sovereign state composed of Somalia and Somaliland, following the unification o ...
, and the fact that the NFD was almost exclusively inhabited by ethnic Somalis.[Africa Watch Committee, ''Kenya: Taking Liberties'', (Yale University Press: 1991), p.269][Women's Rights Project, ''The Human Rights Watch Global Report on Women's Human Rights'', (Yale University Press: 1995), p.121][Francis Vallat, ''First report on succession of states in respect of treaties: International Law Commission twenty-sixth session 6 May-26 July 1974'', (United Nations: 1974), p.20] Nonetheless, the Somali residents had by then successfully lobbied for a separate classification from the adjacent Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the NigerโCongo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
* Black Association for Nationa ...
and Nilotic
The Nilotic peoples are people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the Burun-s ...
populations. In the 1962 British Kenya
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
census, the Somali expatriates were accorded their own "Somali" entry separate from the "African", "Arab", "Asian" and "European" designations.
On the eve of Kenya's independence in August 1963, British officials belatedly realized that the new Kenyan regime was not willing to give up the Somali-inhabited areas it had just been granted administration of. Led by the Northern Province People's Progressive Party (NPPPP), Somalis in the NFD vigorously sought union with their kin in the Somali Republic to the north.[Bruce Baker, ''Escape from Domination in Africa: Political Disengagement & Its Consequences'', (Africa World Press: 2003), p.83] In response, the Kenyan government enacted a number of repressive measures designed to frustrate their efforts in what came to be known as the Shifta War
The Shifta War or Gaf Daba (1963โ1967) was a secessionist conflict in which ethnic Somalis in the Northern Frontier District (NFD) of Kenya attempted to join Somalia. The Kenyan government named the conflict " shifta", after the Swahilli w ...
.[Rhoda E. Howard, ''Human Rights in Commonwealth Africa'', (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: 1986), p.95] Although the conflict ended in a cease-fire, Somalis in the region still identify and maintain close ties with their brethren in Somalia.[Godfrey Mwakikagile, ''Kenya: identity of a nation'', (Godfrey Mwakikagile: 2007), p.79.] They have traditionally married within their own community and formed a cohesive ethnic network.
Following the civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...
in Somalia that broke out in 1991, many Somalis sought asylum in the Somali-inhabited enclaves in Kenya. An entrepreneurial community, they established themselves in the business sector,[Kenya/Somalia: Somalia community doing booming business in country](_blank)
investing over $1.5 billion in Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census.
The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...
alone.[Help Locals Rebuild Their Country By Ensuring World Attention And Peace](_blank)
/ref> Starting in late 2012, a mass exodus of Somali residents was reported after a prolonged period of harassment by the Kenyan police and public. Hundreds of Somali entrepreneurs withdrew between Sh10 to Sh40 billion from their bank accounts, with the intention of reinvesting most of that money back home in Somalia. The collective departures most affected Eastleigh's real estate sector, as landlords struggled to find Kenyans able to afford the high rates of the apartments and shops vacated by the Somalis.
See also
*Somali diaspora
The Somali diaspora or Qurbajoogta refers to Somalis who were born in Greater Somalia and reside in areas of the world that they were not born in. The civil war in Somalia greatly increased the size of the Somali diaspora, as many Somalis moved fro ...
References
Further reading
*
*)
External links
{{Ethnic groups in Kenya
Kenya
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Ethnic groups in Kenya