Eastern Africa · SOM

Somalia

The story · 11 chapters

How it was drawn

Incense ports, Somali sultanates and the wars of Adal, split between Britain, Italy and Ethiopia, united in 1960 and broken apart since 1991, with Somaliland claiming independence.

Play the story Take the first lesson

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Somalia fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Ethiopian Empire1332 to 1543
The Christian emperors fight the Muslim sultanates of the Somali lowlands for two centuries. Amda Seyon crushes Ifat in 1332; Adal strikes back and conquers most of Ethiopia from 1529 until Ahmad Gurey's death in 1543.
Portuguese Empire1499 to 1543
Vasco da Gama bombards Mogadishu on his return from India in 1499, and Portuguese fleets later raid the Benadir ports. In 1541 about four hundred Portuguese musketeers land to help Ethiopia against Adal.
Oman and Zanzibar1840 to 1905
The sultans of Oman, later ruling from Zanzibar, claim Mogadishu, Merca and Brava in the nineteenth century and keep small garrisons there. Zanzibar leases the ports to Italy in 1892 and sells them in 1905.
British Empire1884 to 1960
Britain rules British Somaliland from 1884 and fights the Dervish state from 1900 to 1920, finishing it with air raids. It returns the Ogaden to Ethiopia in 1948 and the Haud in 1954, to Somali anger.
Kingdom of Italy1889 to 1941
Italy takes the southern coast from 1889 and crushes the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates by force in 1925 to 1927. It loses its colony to British troops in 1941, then returns as UN trustee from 1950 to 1960.
Kenya1963 to 1967
Somalis in Kenya's Northern Frontier District want to join Somalia. Kenya keeps the region, and Somalia backs rebels in the Shifta War until an agreement in 1967.
Ethiopia1964 to 1988
Somalia claims the Somali inhabited Ogaden. A short border war in 1964 is followed by the Ogaden War of 1977 to 1978, which Somalia loses. The two countries make peace in 1988.
SomalilandSince 1991Still open
The north west declares independence in May 1991 and runs its own government, army and currency, but no country recognises it. Mogadishu insists it is part of Somalia.
Ethiopia2006 to 2009
In December 2006 Ethiopian troops invade to topple the Islamic Courts Union, which had taken Mogadishu. The occupation fuels the rise of al-Shabaab, and Ethiopia withdraws in January 2009.
Al-ShabaabSince 2006Still open
Born from the Islamic Courts' youth wing, al-Shabaab fights the government and African Union troops, carries out bombings in Somalia and Kenya and still controls large rural areas.
Kenya2014 to 2021
Somalia takes its sea border with Kenya to the International Court of Justice in 2014. In 2021 the court draws a line largely in Somalia's favour; Kenya rejects the ruling.

Today

Somalia now

D. 800 and 1100, immigrant Muslim Arabs and Persians set up coastal trading posts along the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, solidifying present-day Somalia’s close trading relationship with the Arab Peninsula. In the late 19th century, Britain, France, and Italy established colonies in the Somali Peninsula that lasted until 1960, when British Somaliland gained independence and joined with Italian Somaliland to form the Republic of Somalia.

Capital: Mogadishu
Government: federal parliamentary republic
Head of government: Hamza Abdi Barre
Head of state: Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
Languages: Somali, Arabic
Area: 637,657 km²

Through time

Then and now

Population18.4 million2023 · 2.2 million in 1950
Life expectancy58.8 years2023 · 41.5 years in 1950
Living in cities55%2025 · 13% in 1950
Literacy54%2022
Political regimeClosed autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
Military spending1.5% of GDP2025
War deaths20 per 100,0002025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Close partners

United States

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 24 October 2026.

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Somalia fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Ethiopian Empire1332 to 1543

The Christian emperors fight the Muslim sultanates of the Somali lowlands for two centuries. Amda Seyon crushes Ifat in 1332; Adal strikes back and conquers most of Ethiopia from 1529 until Ahmad Gurey's death in 1543.

Portuguese Empire1499 to 1543

Vasco da Gama bombards Mogadishu on his return from India in 1499, and Portuguese fleets later raid the Benadir ports. In 1541 about four hundred Portuguese musketeers land to help Ethiopia against Adal.

Oman and Zanzibar1840 to 1905

The sultans of Oman, later ruling from Zanzibar, claim Mogadishu, Merca and Brava in the nineteenth century and keep small garrisons there. Zanzibar leases the ports to Italy in 1892 and sells them in 1905.

British Empire1884 to 1960

Britain rules British Somaliland from 1884 and fights the Dervish state from 1900 to 1920, finishing it with air raids. It returns the Ogaden to Ethiopia in 1948 and the Haud in 1954, to Somali anger.

Kingdom of Italy1889 to 1941

Italy takes the southern coast from 1889 and crushes the Majeerteen and Hobyo sultanates by force in 1925 to 1927. It loses its colony to British troops in 1941, then returns as UN trustee from 1950 to 1960.

Kenya1963 to 1967

Somalis in Kenya's Northern Frontier District want to join Somalia. Kenya keeps the region, and Somalia backs rebels in the Shifta War until an agreement in 1967.

Ethiopia1964 to 1988

Somalia claims the Somali inhabited Ogaden. A short border war in 1964 is followed by the Ogaden War of 1977 to 1978, which Somalia loses. The two countries make peace in 1988.

SomalilandSince 1991Still open

The north west declares independence in May 1991 and runs its own government, army and currency, but no country recognises it. Mogadishu insists it is part of Somalia.

Ethiopia2006 to 2009

In December 2006 Ethiopian troops invade to topple the Islamic Courts Union, which had taken Mogadishu. The occupation fuels the rise of al-Shabaab, and Ethiopia withdraws in January 2009.

Al-ShabaabSince 2006Still open

Born from the Islamic Courts' youth wing, al-Shabaab fights the government and African Union troops, carries out bombings in Somalia and Kenya and still controls large rural areas.

Kenya2014 to 2021

Somalia takes its sea border with Kenya to the International Court of Justice in 2014. In 2021 the court draws a line largely in Somalia's favour; Kenya rejects the ruling.

Somalia now

Capital

Mogadishu

Government

federal parliamentary republic

Head of government

Hamza Abdi Barre

Head of state

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

Languages

Somali, Arabic

Area

637,657 km²

Then and now

Population18.4 million2023 · 2.2 million in 1950

Life expectancy58.8 years2023 · 41.5 years in 1950

Living in cities55%2025 · 13% in 1950

Literacy54%2022

Political regimeClosed autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950

Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950

Military spending1.5% of GDP2025

War deaths20 per 100,0002025