Hussein M. Adam

The Somali people share a common language (two main dialects),
religion (Sunni Islam), physical characteristics, oral literary traditions,
legal and informal rules and procedures, as well as pastoral and agro-
pastoral customs. They constitute a widely spread "ethnic communi-
ty," which is divided into clan-families, clans, and subclans—all the
way down to lineages. At the top level of segmentation, Somalis are
divided into five unranked clan-families: Hawiye, Darod, Isaq, Dir,
and Digil/Mirifle under which comes the Rahanwin clans of agropas-
toralists occupying the interriver areas around the southwestern town
of Baidoa situated between the country's two main rivers—the Juba
and the Shabele. Somalia has its minorities: there are people of Bantu
descent living in farming villages in the south, and mixed Arab-So-
mali populations living in urban enclaves in the coastal cities.

Before the civil war, the population of Somalia was estimated at
ten million people. It is estimated that four hundred thousand were
killed as a result of current civil wars and war-induced famine or dis-
ease. Nearly 45 percent of the population was displaced inside Soma-
lia or fled to neighboring countries ( Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti), to the
Middle East, or to the West. Today, about one million Somalis live in
diasporas scattered in several countries. ¹

The Cold War as well as elite manipulation of clan consciousness
principally by the Siyad military regime have played a crucial role in
instigating the current clan-oriented civil wars. The central challenge
facing Somalis is how to channel clan conflicts into peaceful demo-
cratic politics. The collapse of the Somali state has brought out the
worst in Somali clan violence, but it has also provided the opportuni-
ty for experimentation with indigenous forms of governance.

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