Greater Somalia

Greater Somalia sometimes also called Greater Somaliland (Somali: Soomaaliweyn, Arabic: الصومال الكبرى, romanized: As-Sūmal al-Kubra) is the geographic location comprising the regions in the Horn of Africa in which ethnic Somalis live and have historically inhabited.^[1][2]

During the Scramble for Africa at the end of the 19th century, Somali inhabited territories were partitioned between imperial powers. The unification of these territories became a focal objective of an independent Somalia. Referred to as 'Greater Somalia', these regions at the outset of Somali independence encompassed British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland, which had successfully merged into a single nation in 1960. French Somaliland, the Northern Frontier District (NFD) in Kenya and the Ogaden region in Ethiopia were placed under the control of neighboring states, despite the pre-independence unification efforts of Somali nationalists.

The post-independence governments of the Somali Republic (1960-1969) and the Somali Democratic Republic (1969-1991) expended significant effort towards the unification of the NFD and French Somaliland with Somalia. However, their primary focus was the Ogaden region, which had been occupied by Ethiopia since Menelik's invasions in the 1890s.^[3] From 1960 and onwards, Somalis in Ethiopia seeking their self-determination have waged several insurgencies with the support of neighboring Somalia, escalating into several major interstate conflicts.