Figure 1.--This photograph of Somalis was taken along the coast, presumably in Italiam Somaliland. It was taken in the 1920s before Italy added Ethiopia to its control of the Hrn of Africa. |
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Both Somalia and Ethiopians have destinctive appearances from other Sub-Saharan African groups. Here geography is a factor. The Nile/Red Sea and the Horn projection nto the Ondian Ocean toward the Arabian Peninsula meant that non-African eople have entered the area. Anthropologists classifify Somalis ed as a Hamitic people, meaning in part a Semetic people. The culture is decribed as Cushite. Language is a primary cultural feature. Cushitic languages are classified as a branch of the Afroasiatic language family which dominate the Horn of Africa. The most populous Cushitic language are Oromo in Ethiopia (about 35 million speakers) followed by Somali (about 18 million speakers). Although the culture has strong extra-African elemebts, the people appear to have originated from the area around the equatorial lakes of Africa and settled in the Somalia region of two rivers. There they mixed with pastoral groups from the north and migrants from the Middle East (Arabian Peninsula and to a lesser extent the Persian Gulf) and perhaps Southeast Asia. The end result is modern ethnic Somalis. They are about 85 percent of the Somali population. There are two major clan families, the principal cultural group: the Samaal (the Darod, Isaaq, Hawiye, and Dir groups) and the Saab (the Rahanweyn and Digil and other smaller groups). The Samaal are primarily nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralists. The Digil and Rahanweyn are primarily farmers and sedentary herders. Urbanization has impacted the traditional regional patterns.Somali society is ethnically endogamous, meaning that marriage commonly goes outside sub-clans. There are also small Bantu-speaking groups who have more African features who live along the Shabeelle and Jubba rivers. There are small numbers of non-indigenous people, including Arabs, Italians, Pakistanis, and Indians. The Italians seming from te colonial era are mainly engaged in teaching, business, and banana plantations. The Arabs, Pakistanis, and Indians are primarily shopkeepers.
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