Somali

Africapastoralists
Map
expand_more Description

The Somali of the Horn of Africa speak the Somali language and live primarily in Somalia. Somalis also live in southern Djibouti, eastern Ethiopia, and northeastern Kenya. Animal husbandry (primarily camel herding) is traditionally the major subsistence activity, and the only one in large parts of northern and central Somalia. In the south, nomadic pastoralism is often mixed with rain-fed agriculture. The Somali system of patrilineal descent embraces the whole country in a genealogical grid and claims ultimate descent from the Qurayshitic lineage of the prophet Mohammed. Smaller patrilineal units play an important role in social and political life and feuding and armed conflicts over grazing and water rights are not uncommon.

Identifier
Region
  • Africa
Subregion
  • Eastern Africa
Subsistence Type
  • pastoralists
Samples
Countries
  • Djibouti
  • Ethiopia
  • Kenya
  • Somalia
External Links