Somalia has a long history of colonization and conflict, including a failed war with Ethiopia and a severe famine. Somaliland declared independence in 1991 and has remained relatively stable, while Somalia remains a lawless state with little success in establishing a stable government. The Transitional Forces Government has had little impact on the country.
Somalia, or the Somali Republic, is a Horn of Africa region of East Africa that has been plagued by tragedies for hundreds of years. Somalia is not recognized as an official country and is governed by the Transitional Forces Government.
For more than 2,500 years, Somalia was inhabited by a range of ethnic groups, but the Somali people led an independent government until the rise of European colonialism in the 1800s. In the late 1880s, Somalia was conquered and divided into three colonies separated by Great Britain, Italy and France.
Led by nationalist leader Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, the Somali people fought for independence from their colonialist rulers, but to no avail. Until 1949, the three colonial powers fought for dominance of the whole of Somalia, with Italy eventually taking control. Somalia was finally reinstated as an independent country in 1960, although parts of the country remained under British and French rule.
In 1977, Somalia waged an eight-month war against neighboring Ethiopia in an attempt to recapture land that had been lost in the early 1900s. Somali troops suffered heavy losses in soldiers, weapons, and aircraft. In 1991, the president of Somalia fled the country, leaving several guerrilla factions fighting for political power. This internal strife, combined with a severe drought, caused a severe famine that resulted in more than 300,000 deaths.
Also in 1991, the northwestern part of Somalia broke away and declared itself the Republic of Somaliland. Unlike Somalia itself, Somaliland has remained relatively stable, with few violent outbreaks.
From that moment, Somalia became a lawless state, with constant violence and turmoil. Many Somalis have been killed and others have fled and spent years in refugee camps in Kenya and other African countries. Many have now found refuge in other countries, including the United States. While there have been successive attempts to establish stable governments in Somalia, none have been successful. In 2006, Somalia engaged in its worst violence in a decade with Islamic militants.
Although the Transitional Forces Government was established in 2004 with the intention of promoting peace within Somalia, the administration is located far from Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, and has proven to have little impact on Somalia.
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