Portal:Somaliland/Selected article
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Selected article 1
Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/1 The Somali people (Somali: Soomaalida, Osmanya: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒆𐒖, Wadaad: صومالِدَ) are a Cushitic ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The East Cushitic Somali language is the shared mother tongue of ethnic Somalis, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, and they are predominantly Sunni Muslim. Forming one of the largest ethnic groups on the continent, they cover one of the most expansive landmasses by a single ethnic group in Africa.
According to most scholars, the ancient Land of Punt and its native inhabitants formed part of the ethnogenesis of the Somali people. This ancient historical kingdom is where a great portion of their cultural traditions and ancestry are said to derive from. Somalis share many historical and cultural traits with other Cushitic peoples, especially with Lowland East Cushitic people, specifically the Afar and the Saho.
Ethnic Somalis are principally concentrated in Somalia (around 17.6 million), Somaliland (5.7 million), Ethiopia (4.6 million), Kenya (2.8 million), and Djibouti (534,000).
Somali diasporas are also found in parts of the Middle East, North America, Western Europe, African Great Lakes region, Southern Africa and Oceania. (Full article...) (Full article...)
Selected article 2
Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/2 British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate (Somali: Maxmiyadda Dhulka Soomaalida), was a protectorate of the United Kingdom in modern Somaliland. During its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Somalia, French Somali Coast and Abyssinia (temporarily Italian Ethiopia). From 1940 to 1941, it was occupied by the Italians and was part of Italian East Africa.
On 26 June 1960, British Somaliland was formally granted independence by the United Kingdom as the State of Somaliland. Five days later, on 1 July 1960, the State of Somaliland voluntarily united with the Trust Territory of Somalia (the former Italian Somalia) to form the Somali Republic. The government of Somaliland, an unrecognised independent state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia, regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland. (Full article...) (Full article...)
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Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/3 The Somali Civil War (Somali: Dagaalkii Sokeeye ee Soomaaliya; Arabic: الحرب الأهلية الصومالية al-ḥarb al-’ahliyya aṣ-ṣūmāliyya) 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 Barre during the 1980s. From 1988 to 1990, the Somali Armed Forces began engaging in combat against various armed rebel groups, including the Somali Salvation Democratic Front in the northeast, the Somali National Movement in the Somaliland War of Independence in the northwest, and the United Somali Congress in the south. The clan-based armed opposition groups overthrew the Barre government in 1991.
Various armed factions began competing for influence in the power vacuum and turmoil that followed, particularly in the south. In 1990–92, customary law temporarily collapsed, and factional fighting proliferated. In the absence of a central government, Somalia became a "failed state". This precipitated the arrival of UNOSOM I UN military observers in July 1992, followed by the larger UNITAF and UNOSOM II missions. Following an armed conflict between Somali factions and UNOSOM II during 1993, the UN withdrew from Somalia in 1995. After the central government's collapse, there was some return to customary and religious law in most regions. In 1991 and 1998, two autonomous regional governments were also established in the northern part of the country. This led to a relative decrease in the intensity of the fighting, with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute removing Somalia from its list of major armed conflicts for 1997 and 1998.
In 2000, the Transitional National Government was established, followed by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004. The trend toward reduced conflict halted in 2005, and sustained and destructive conflict took place in the south in 2005–07, but the battle was of a much lower scale and intensity than in the early 1990s. In 2006, Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia to depose the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and install the TFG. The ICU effectively disintegrated, and soon after a large scale insurgency began against the occupation as other Islamist groups formed and established themselves as independent actors. Most notably Al-Shabaab rose to prominence in this period, and has since been fighting the Somali government and the AU-mandated AMISOM peacekeeping force for control of the country. Somalia topped the annual Fragile States Index for six years from 2008 up to and including 2013.
In October 2011, following preparatory meetings, Kenyan troops entered southern Somalia ("Operation Linda Nchi") to fight al-Shabaab and establish a buffer zone inside Somalia. Kenyan troops were formally integrated into the multinational force in February 2012. The Federal Government of Somalia was established in August 2012, constituting the country's first permanent central government since the start of the civil war. In 2023, the Las Anod conflict broke out in the northern part of Somalia between SSC-Khatumo and the Somaliland Army. International stakeholders and analysts subsequently began to describe Somalia as a "fragile state" that is making some progress toward stability. (Full article...) (Full article...)
Selected article 4
Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/4 Foreign relations of the Republic of Somaliland are the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Somaliland. The region's self-declaration of independence (from Somalia on 18 May 1991, after the start of ongoing Somali Civil War) remains unrecognised by the international community.
Due to its status, the Republic of Somaliland currently has official contacts with only a few nations, such as Ethiopia, which has signed a strategic and infrastructure agreement, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has signed a concession agreement to manage the Port of Berbera. Somaliland has established de facto embassies with nations such as the United States, as well as Taiwan. International recognition as a sovereign state remains at the forefront of the government's current foreign policy. Other key priorities include encouraging international aid and foreign direct investment.
Most multilateral organisations and countries in the international community support the territorial integrity (i.e. territorial unity) of Somalia and its central government, the Federal Government of Somalia during the ongoing civil war and oppose Somaliland's secession. (Full article...) (Full article...)
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Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/5 The Somaliland National Armed Forces (Somali: Ciidamada Qalabka Sida ee Soomaaliland; Arabic: القوات المسلحة الصوماليلاندية, romanized: alquaat almusalahat alsuwmalilandia) are the military services of the Republic of Somaliland. The Somaliland National Armed Forces consist of the Somaliland National Army, the Somaliland Coast Guard, the Somaliland Police Force, the Somaliland Custodial Corps, the Somaliland Immigration and Border Control and the Somaliland Fire Brigade. There is no air force. The Armed Forces is under the command of President Muse Bihi Abdi, who is the Commander-in-chief. Minister of Defence Dr. Rooble Muuse Abdi is the designated minister that oversees the armed forces.
Somaliland has 45 T-54/55 tanks and, 20 armoured fighting vehicles, 50 rocket projectors, and has about 55+ pieces of artillery in its national army.
The total strength of the Somaliland armed forces in recent estimates have put the number of active duty personnel between 8,000 and 13,000. There are fewer than 9,000 men and women working for the Somaliland police force overall. The Special Police Unit (SPU), which protects foreign organizations and individuals who work for them, and the Rapid Response Units (RRU), which are specialized counterterrorism forces, are both housed inside the police force. Somaliland has 7 defender class boats and 1 coast guard vessels in its coast guard, and The coast guard of Somaliland numbers a few hundred in personnel.
Somaliland spends $115 million budget on its armed forces, its largest government expenditure. Due to a United Nations arms embargo on Somalia, the state is not allowed to procure weapons. (Full article...) (Full article...)
Selected article 6
Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/6 The Isaaq (Somali: Reer Sheekh Isxaaq, Arabic: بنو إسحاق, Banu Ishaq) is a major Somali clan. It is one of the largest Somali clan families in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory.
The Isaaq people claim in a traditional legend to have descended from Sheikh Ishaaq bin Ahmed, an Islamic scholar who purportedly traveled to Somaliland in the 12th or 13th century and married two women; one from the local Dir clan. and the other from the neighboring Harari people. He is said to have sired eight sons who are the common ancestors of the clans of the Isaaq clan-family. He remained in Maydh until his death. (Full article...) (Full article...)
Selected article 7
Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/7 The history of Somaliland, a country in the eastern Horn of Africa bordered by the Gulf of Aden, and the East African land mass, begins with human habitation tens of thousands of years ago. It includes the civilizations of Punt, the Ottomans, and colonial influences from Europe and the Middle East.
Islam was introduced to the area early on by the first Muslims of Mecca fleeing prosecution during the first Hejira with Masjid al-Qiblatayn in Zeila being built before the Qiblah towards Mecca. It is one of the oldest mosques in Africa. In the late 9th century, Al-Yaqubi wrote that Muslims were living along the northern Somali seaboard. Various Somali Muslim kingdoms were established in the area in the early Islamic period. In the 14th to 15th centuries, the Zeila-based Adal Sultanate battled the Ethiopian Empire, at one point bringing the three-quarters of Christian Abyssinia under the control of the Muslim empire under military leader Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi
In the early modern period, successor states to the Adal Sultanate began to flourish in the region, including the Isaaq Sultanate led by the Guled dynasty. The modern Guled Dynasty of the Isaaq Sultanate was established in the middle of the 18th century by Sultan Guled. The Sultanate had a robust economy and trade was significant at the main port of Berbera but also eastwards along the coast, with the Isaaq controlling various trade routes into the port cities.
In the late 19th century, the United Kingdom signed agreements with the Gadabuursi, Issa, Habr Awal, Garhajis, Habr Je'lo and Warsangeli clans establishing the Somaliland Protectorate, which was formally granted independence by the United Kingdom as the State of Somaliland on 26 June 1960. Five days later, on 1 July 1960, the State of Somaliland voluntarily united with the Trust Territory of Somalia (the former Italian Somalia) to form the Somali Republic.
The union of the two states proved problematic early on, and in response to the harsh policies enacted by Somalia's Barre regime against the main clan family in Somaliland, the Isaaq, shortly after the conclusion of the disastrous Ogaden War, a group of Isaaq businesspeople, students, former civil servants and former politicians founded the Somali National Movement in London in 1981, leading to a 10 year war of independence that concluded in the declaration of Somaliland's independence in 1991. (Full article...) (Full article...)
Selected article 8
Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/8 Somaliland, officially the State of Somaliland, (Somali: Qaranka Soomaaliland, Arabic: دولة صوماليلاند, romanized: Dawlat Ṣūmālīlānd) was a short-lived independent country in the territory of the present-day unilaterally declared Republic of Somaliland, which regards itself as its legal successor. It existed on the territory of former British Somaliland for five days between 26 June 1960 and 1 July 1960, when it merged with the formerly Italian administered Trust Territory of Somaliland to form the Somali Republic. (Full article...) (Full article...)
Selected article 9
Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/9 The Trust Territory of Somaliland, officially the "Trust Territory of Somaliland under Italian administration" (Italian: Amministrazione fiduciaria italiana della Somalia), was a United Nations Trust Territory from 1950 to 1960, following the dissolution of the former British Military Administration. It was administered by Italy before gaining independence. It covered most of present-day Somalia and its capital was Mogadishu. (Full article...) (Full article...)
Selected article 10
Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/10 The Ajuran Sultanate (Somali: Saldanadda Ajuuraan, Arabic: سلطنة الأجورانية), natively referred to as Ajuuraan, and often simply Ajuran, was a medieval Muslim Empire in the Horn of Africa. Founded by Somali Sultans it ruled over large parts of the Horn of Africa during the Middle Ages via control over water. Its rise to prominence began during the 13th and 14th century. By the 15th century, the Ajuran were Africa's only 'Hydraulic empire'. Through a strong centralized administration and an aggressive military stance towards invaders, the Ajuran Empire successfully resisted Oromo invasions from the west and fought against Portuguese incursions from the east.
The Ajuran were among the great centres of commerce in the contemporary African world. Trading routes dating from ancient and early medieval periods of Somali maritime enterprise were strengthened and re-established, foreign trade and commerce in the coastal provinces flourished with ships sailing to and from kingdoms and empires in the Near East, East Asia, and the wider world. The Ajuran are believed to be the first Africans to have contact with China. (Full article...) (Full article...)
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Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/11 The Sultanate of Ifat, known as Wafāt or Awfāt in Arabic texts, or the Kingdom of Zeila was a medieval Sunni Muslim state in the eastern regions of the Horn of Africa between the late 13th century and early 15th century. It was formed in present-day Ethiopia around eastern Shewa in Ifat. Led by the Walashma dynasty, the polity stretched from Zequalla to the port city of Zeila. The kingdom ruled over parts of what are now Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somaliland, Somalia. (Full article...) (Full article...)
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Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/12 The Walashma dynasty was a medieval Muslim dynasty of the Horn of Africa founded in Ifat (modern eastern Shewa). Founded in the 13th century, it governed the Ifat and Adal Sultanates in what are present-day, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and eastern Ethiopia. (Full article...) (Full article...)
Selected article 13
Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/13 Hargeisa (/hɑːrˈɡeɪsə/ har-GAY-sə; Somali: Hargeysa; Arabic: هرجيسا, romanized: Harjīsā) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland, a de facto sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still considered internationally to be part of Somalia. It is also the regional capital of the Maroodi Jeex region of Somaliland.
Hargeisa was founded as a watering and trading stop between the coast and the interior by the Isaaq Sultanate. Initially it served as a watering well for the vast livestock of the Isaaq clan that inhabited that specific region and later were joined by other Isaaq clans that currently inhabit Hargeisa. In 1960, the Somaliland Protectorate gained independence from the United Kingdom and as scheduled united days later with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic on 1 July. Up to 90% of the city was destroyed during the Isaaq genocide, a state-sponsored campaign of violence during the Somaliland War of Independence.
Hargeisa is situated in a valley in the Galgodon (Ogo) highlands, and sits at an elevation of 1,334 m (4,377 ft). Home to rock art from the Neolithic period, the city is also a commercial hub for precious stone-cutting, construction, retail services and trading, among other activities. (Full article...) (Full article...)
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Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/14 Laas Geel (Somali: Laas Geel), also spelled Laas Gaal, are cave formations on the rural outskirts of Hargeisa, Somaliland, situated in the Maroodi Jeex region of the country. They contain some of the earliest known cave paintings of domesticated African aurochs (Bos primigenius africanus) in the Horn of Africa. Laas Geel's rock art is estimated to date to circa 3,500-2,500 BCE. (Full article...) (Full article...)
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Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/15 The Hargeisa War Memorial (Arabic: النصب التذكاري لحرب هرجيسا) is a monument in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. The memorial was set up to commemorate the Somaliland War of Independence, and is a symbol of struggle for the people of Somaliland. (Full article...) (Full article...)
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Portal:Somaliland/Selected article/16 The Isaaq genocide (Somali: Xasuuqii beesha Isaaq; Arabic: الإبادة الجماعية لقبيلة إسحاق), also known as the Hargeisa Holocaust, was the systematic, state-sponsored genocide of Isaaq civilians between 1987 and 1989 by the Somali Democratic Republic, under the dictatorship of Siad Barre, during the Somaliland War of Independence. The number of civilian deaths in this massacre is estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000, according to various sources,[page needed][page needed] whilst local reports estimate the total civilian deaths to be upwards of 200,000 Isaaq civilians. The genocide, which escalated after the Somali National Movement (SNM)'s 1988 Northern Somalia offensive, also included the levelling and complete destruction of the second and third largest cities in the Somali Republic, Hargeisa (which was 90 percent destroyed) and Burao (70 percent destroyed), respectively, and had caused up to 500,000 Somalis of the region, primarily of the Isaaq clan, to flee their land and cross the border to Hartasheikh in Ethiopia as refugees in what was described as "one of the fastest and largest forced movements of people recorded in Africa", which resulted in the creation of the world's largest refugee camp then (1988), with another 400,000 being displaced. The scale of destruction led to Hargeisa being known as the 'Dresden of Africa'. The killings happened during the Somali Civil War and have been referred to as a "forgotten genocide".
In the countryside, the persecution of Isaaq included the creation of a mechanised section of the Somali Armed Forces dubbed as Dabar Goynta Isaaqa (The Isaaq Exterminators) consisting entirely of non-Isaaqs (mainly Ogaden); this unit conducted a "systematic pattern of attacks against unarmed, civilian villages, watering points and grazing areas of northern Somalia (Somaliland), killing many of their residents and forcing survivors to flee for safety to remote areas". This resulted in entire villages being depopulated and towns getting plundered. Rape was also used as a weapon against Isaaqs. Human Rights Watch states that this unit, along with other branches of the military, were responsible for terrorising Isaaq nomads in the countryside. Dabar Goynta Isaaqa would later turn into a system of governance where local officials would put the most hard-line policies into effect against the local Isaaq population. The Somali government also planted one million land mines within Isaaq territory.
In 2001, the United Nations commissioned an investigation on past human rights violations in Somalia, specifically to find out if "crimes of international jurisdiction (i.e. war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide) had been perpetrated during the country's civil war". The investigation was commissioned jointly by the United Nations Coordination Unit (UNCU) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The investigation concluded with a report confirming the crime of genocide to have taken place against the Isaaqs in Somalia. United Nations investigator Chris Mburu stated:(Full article...) (Full article...)Based on the totality of evidence collected in Somaliland and elsewhere both during and after his mission, the consultant firmly believes that the crime of genocide was conceived, planned and perpetrated by the Somali Government against the Isaaq people of northern Somalia between 1987 and 1989.