The area is a triangle of east Africa, wedged into the Indian Ocean: the ocean proper to the east and south; the Gulf of Aden, north. Beyond a dry coastal plain, the land rises to an arid plateau of about 1,000 meters. A spine of low mountains extends intermittently along the area's north, pointing toward the triangle's east apex: Cape Gwardafuy (the Horn of Africa). There are two significant rivers--joined in the southwest near their mouth: the Shabeelle (or Shebele) and the Jubba. The Shabeelle flows from the center of the triangle's western side--out of the Ethiopian highlands--southeast to almost reach the coast near Muqdisho(3). It then turns southwest parallel to the coast to meet the Jubba. The Jubba is formed by the Genele and the Wabe Gestro, both flowing southeast through the area's southwest. The Jubba soon turns south to flow toward the coast and the Shabeelle.
More than nine in ten people speak Somali. Another one in 20 speak Maay, which is not mutually intelligible with Somali, but is often considered the same language. Elite men also learn Standard Arabic, the religious language.
Almost everyone is a Sunni Moslem.(4) Most believers interpret Islam in a way that shows the influence of pre-Islamic religions. For example, local elites are thought to possess baraka, interpreted as the power to bless one's own group or harm--even inadvertently--other groups. Also spirit possession is believed to explain illness and other perceived ailments, and is countered by specialists, albeit always including readings from the Qoran.
There is one large city, Muqdisho, on the southern Somali coast. It had been a port for Arab traders from the end of the first millenium C.E. until recent times. Its mosque of Fakr ad-Din dates from 1269.
Somalis originated here. Thousands of years ago, this area was thought to be the homeland of Afro-Asiatic people. Eventually various groups split off, moving west and north. The Cushitic groups were left, and some of those moved too. The Somali language came from those who stayed. I don't know when Islam arrived, perhaps quite early in the religion's history. It had, at the least, reached Muqdisho at its founding in 900 C.E. The earlier religion can only be guessed at from its vestiges, especially those resembling other Cushitic religions. Examples are the ceremonies for bringing on rain or to honor clan ancestors.
north of Somalia
east of Somalia
west of southern Somalia, and south of southwest Somali Kilil
west of Somali Kilil
northwest of Somali Kilil
north of Somali Kilil , and northwest of northern Somalia
(1) Somalia includes northern Somalia, formerly known as Somaliland, which has de facto independence. The south is only nominally one nation.
(2) Ityopia in strict transliteration from Amharic.
(3) Also spelled Mogadishu.
(4) Some sources claim there is a significant Christian minority. The U.S. government published, A Country Study: Somalia, confidently states they are only one percent. Some sources claim three in ten follow indiginous religions. This is likely to be a dismissal of those Moslems whose adherance to sharia is loose; those people, however, would disagree.