Somalia,[a] officially the Federal Republic of Somalia[10] (Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Federaalka Soomaaliya; Arabic: جمهورية الصومال الفيدرالية), is a country in the Horn of Africa. The country is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti[11] to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east, and Kenya to the southwest. Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa's mainland.[12] Its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains, and highlands.[1] Hot conditions prevail year-round, with periodic monsoon winds and irregular rainfall.[13] Somalia has an estimated population of around 15 million[14][15], of which over 2 million live in the capital and largest city Mogadishu, and has been described as Africa's most culturally homogeneous country.[16][17] Around 85% of its residents are ethnic Somalis,[1] who have historically inhabited the country's north. Ethnic minorities are largely concentrated in the south.[18] The official languages of Somalia are Somali and Arabic.[1] Most people in the country are Muslims,[19] the majority of them Sunni.[20]
In antiquity, Somalia was an important commercial center.[21][22] It is among the most probable locations of the fabled ancient Land of Punt.[23][24][25] During the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali empires dominated the regional trade, including the Ajuran Sultanate, the Adal Sultanate, and the Sultanate of the Geledi.
In the late 19th century, Somali Sultanates like the Isaaq Sultanate and the Majeerteen Sultanate were colonized by Italy, Britain and Ethiopia.[1][26] European colonists divided them into colonial territories like Italian Somaliland, the British Somali Coast Protectorate[27][28][29], and British Jubaland Province.[30] Meanwhile, in the Nugaal[31], the British effected a 2 year trade embargo upon Dhulbahante from 1899 to 1901 on account of the Dervish (Darawiish) chieftainship, emirate & sultanate,[32] culminating in a two-decade colonial confrontation which was finally defeated in the 1920[33][34][35] British airstrikes against Dhulbahante garesas.[36] Italy acquired full control of the northeastern, central, and southern parts of the area after successfully waging the Campaign of the Sultanates against the ruling Majeerteen Sultanate and Sultanate of Hobyo.[29] In 1960, the northern, southern and intermediary territory of intra-46th meridian east united to form the independent Somali Republic under a civilian government.[37]
The Supreme Revolutionary Council seized power in 1969 and established the Somali Democratic Republic, brutally attempting to squash the Somaliland War of Independence in the north of the country.[38] The SRC subsequently collapsed 22 years later, in 1991, with the onset of the Somali Civil War and Somaliland soon declared independence. During this period most regions returned to customary and religious law. In the early 2000s, a number of interim federal administrations were created. The Transitional National Government (TNG) was established in 2000, followed by the formation of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004, which reestablished the Somali Armed Forces.[1][39] In 2006, with a US backed Ethiopian intervention, the TFG assumed control of most of the nation's southern conflict zones from the newly formed Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The ICU subsequently splintered into more radical groups, such as Al-Shabaab, which battled the TFG and its AMISOM allies for control of the region.[1]