Somalia (Differently)

Confederation of Somalia
جمهورية الصومال الفدرالية
Confederaalka Soomaaliya
Timeline: Differently
OTL equivalent: Somalia
Confederation of Somalia جمهورية الصومال الفدرالية; Confederaalka SoomaaliyaTimeline: Differently ; OTL equivalent: Somalia
Flag	Coat of arms
	Motto: ; "Unified"
	Anthem: ; Soomaaliyeey toosoo;
Capital; (and largest city)	Mogadishu
Official languages	Arabic and Somali
Religion	Alawite Islam
Government	Confederal presidential constitutional republic
Legislature	Congress of Somalia
Establishment
Area
Population
Time zone	EAT (UTC+3)
Drives on the	right

Somalia, officially the Confederation of Somalia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Djibouti and Ethiopia to the west and Kenya to the south. Gaining independence in 1960, Somalia has gone through several governments which has significantly weakened the nation when compared to its wealthier and more influential neighbors. Despite this, Somalia was largely able to stabilize by the mid-2010s following the reunification of the country in 2005.

With over 11 million inhabitants, Somalia is Africa's 26th- and the world's 85th-most populous country. At over 637,000 square kilometers, it is the 16th-largest African country by surface area, ranking 46th globally.

Somalia is a member of the League of Nations. Along with Arabia and Djibouti, it is also one of the three Islamic-majority nations of the world.

History[]

Tempel der Hatschepsut (Deir el-Bahari) — Ruins of Punt in Somalia

Pre-Islamic history[]

Sometime before the Bronze Age Collapse, there was believed to be an advanced civilization present in what is now Somalia. This kingdom has been dubbed the Land of Punt and was believed to have had a working trading relationship with both Egypt and Mycenean Greece. Evidence of Punt can be found in the pyramidal structures, archeological sites, and documentation by several civilizations that interacted with the Puntites. An Ancient Egyptian expedition sent to Punt by the 18th dynasty Queen Hatshepsut is recorded on the temple reliefs at Deir el-Bahari, during the reign of the Puntite King Parahu and Queen Ati.

In the classical era, the Macrobians, who were Proto-Somali, established a powerful tribal kingdom that ruled large parts of modern Somalia. They were reputed for their longevity and wealth, and were said to be the "tallest and handsomest of all men". The Macrobians were warrior herders and seafarers. According to Herodotus' account, the Persian Emperor Cambyses II, upon his conquest of Egypt (525 BC), sent ambassadors to Macrobia, bringing luxury gifts for the Macrobian king to entice his submission. The Macrobians were a regional power that were known from east to west and were highly advanced in architecture and extremely known for their wealth were they were noted for its gold, which was so plentiful that the Macrobians shackled their prisoners in golden chains.

Following the collapse of the Macrobians, several maritime city states would arise out of the kingdom and would become extremely wealthy through trade from the Red Sea.

The Adal Sultanate in 1403 stretched far into Northern Somalia.

Pre-Colonial Islamic history[]

Islam would come to Somalia through trade with the Arabian peninsula in the 7th century. An early Islamic entity in the region was the Adal Sultanate which practiced Alawite Islam, a sect different from the Sunni Islam practiced throughout the Arabian Peninsula. Facing persecution in Arabia, the vast majority of Alawites began migrating to the Adal Sultanate which controlled parts of northern Somalia at the time.

While the Adal Sultanate adopted Alawite Islam, the Ajuran Sultanate based in the city of Mareeg and the Sultanate of Mogadishu did not adopt Alawite Islam and continued to follow the Sunni Islamic beliefs practiced on the Arabian Peninsula. This would cause conflict between the Alawite Adal Sultanate and the sultanates of the eastern part of the Horn of Africa. The Adal Sultanate would often be successful in their wars with the other sultanates of Somalia due to their immense wealth and elite military. The Sultanates would also be in war with the predominantly Christian Empire of Ethiopia which was able to win wars easily against the smaller and less prepared Sultanates.

The Alawite Reformation in the 15th century would be met with reactionary violence in Sultanate of Mogadishu in which Sultan Talha el-Arafat would lead brutal campaigns of suppression against his own people to prevent the reformation from reaching Mogadishu. Similar actions would continue under his predecessors who viewed the reformation as inherently heretical. The Sultan of Adal would cut off trade going into Somalia, hurting many of the anti-reformation Sultanates in the region economically and militarily.

European colonization[]

In the 1890s Italy occupied Marka. This sparked the beginning and outrage among the Bimal clan, many of them joined the Bimal resistance against Italy. An Italian resident of the city was assassinated in 1904, his name was Giacomo Trevis. In response Italy occupied the port town of Jazira about 30 miles south of Mogadishu. In response Bimal leaders called for a grand conference mobilizing the Banadiri clans, thus it came to eventually be known as the Banadir Resistance. The resistance was spearheaded by Sheikh Abdi Gafle and Ma’alin Mursal Abdi Yusuf; two prominent local Islamic teachers in Marka from the Bimal clan. The resistance, albeit clan-based initially transformed into one with a religious fervour, mainly Bimal, (but also later on some of the Wa’dan, Hintire and other clans of the Geledi confederation joined). The resistance was crushed by the end of the Great War and Britain and Italy would jointly increase their military presence in the Horn of Africa region.

Italy and Britain would jointly occupy Somalia with Britain controlling Somaliland in the North and Italy controlling the Puntland and Mogadishu regions of Somalia. Somalia would be reunified in 1960 following independence from both Italy and the United Kingdom.

Post-colonial history[]

Somali Republic (1960–1965)[]

Somalia gained independence on July 1, 1960 following the unification of the Trust Territory of Somalia, uniting Italian Somalia with British Somaliland. A month and 12 days later, Somalia would find itself at war with the declining Adal Sultanate over control of the city of Zeila. Zeila was the historic capital of the Adal Sultanate throughout its near-millennia existence, but was lost to the British during the Scramble for Africa. It was incorporated into British Somaliland and was granted to Somalia following its independence. The Sultanate was able to destroy large parts of the Somali military by October of 1960 as the newly independent Somalia struggled against the more prepared Sultanate forces. But on January 5th, 1961, the Somali forces backed by British and Italian supplies were able to gain their first victory at the battle of Hargeisa where the Sultanate began to suffer from overextended supply lines and decreasing war morale. By the spring of 1961, the Somali military had pushed the Sultanate out of Zeila. The Treaty of Mogadishu was signed on May 15th, 1961 and the Adal Sultanate had suffered a crushing loss in the war. The victory against the Adal Sultanate would come with nationwide celebrations across all of Somalia. May 15th would be declared Victory Day and Prime Minister Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal would become a national hero in Somalia for his leadership during the war. The victory also came across as Somalia asserting itself in the Muslim world and in the Horn of Africa as they had defeated one of the most powerful Empires in the region despite only recently gaining independence.

While the Somalian nation was proud of their victory in the war, Somalia was in a lot of debt to Italy and the UK due to purchasing supplies from them during the war. This debt would only increase as large sums of money were spent rebuilding areas damaged by the war. By 1964, the debt would start to cripple the economy as Italy and Britain would demand repayments of the debt and threatened action if no repayments were made. This would lead to Prime Minister Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal implementing harsh austerity measures, much to the dismay to the Somali people. This would result in General Siad Barre of the Communist Party of Somalia leading a revolution against the Somali Republic. On June 17th, 1965, the revolutionaries would capture Mogadishu, execute Prime Minister Egal, and proclaim the Somali Democratic Republic, a Marxist-Leninist state aligned with the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

Somali Democratic Republic (1965–1976)[]

The Somali Democratic Republic was a one-party Marxist-Leninist state that aligned with the Soviet Union during the ongoing Cold War. Secretary-General Siad Barre would start a five-year plan to maximize Somali industry and infrastructure, while the Five Year Plan would see some success in developing port cities such as Mogadishu, it was unsuccessful in helping inland Somalia and many rural communities.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1975, the Somali Democratic Republic would suffer heavily by losing one of their only trading partners. The State Atheism of the Marxist-Leninist state would also be extremely unpopular among the Somali people as people would secretly meet in Mosques and continue to practice their faith. In 1975, the Somali Islamic Army, a fringe Islamist group, would stage a coup against Secretary-General Siad's government. The Somali Democratic Republic fell on February 12th, 1976 after Secretary-General Siad fled the country and the Politburo remnants surrendered.

Islamic Republic of Somalia (1976–1987)[]

The Islamic Republic of Somalia would formally come into existence on March 1st, 1976 after former Imam and Somali Islamic Army General Sharaf el-Doud would come into power as the Supreme Leader of Somalia. During the 11 year reign of the Islamic Republic, el-Doud would make the state Sunni-centric and would conduct violent crackdown on the Alawite Muslims of Somaliland and women's rights activists. This persecution of the Alawites would ultimately lead to the collapse of Somalia in 1987 when Somaliland and Puntland, both having Alawite majorities, would bilaterally declare independence from the Islamist government in Mogadishu. With Puntland and Somaliland seceding from Somalia, the Islamic government collapsed and the Republic of Mogadishu would form out of the remnants of the territory controlled by the Islamic republic.

Collapsed Somalia — Somaliland, Puntland, and Mogadishu were the three independent nations to arise out of the collapse of Somalia in 1987.

Collapse of Somalia (1987–2005)[]

While Somalia collapsed in 1987, the collapse would not formally be recognized by the League of Nations until 1989 when both Puntland and Somaliland were recognized as their own countries. Before then, the Republic of Mogadishu was recognized as the successor to Somalia.

The three nations that came out of Somalia were weaker and poorer than they were united. Puntland, Somaliland, and Mogadishu and were often in conflict with one another and with neighboring states such as Kenya over where borders began and ended. Despite this, some of the nations such as Somaliland and Puntland were able to grow economically through Red Sea trade and allying with Ethiopia and Djibouti. In 1996, the Somali Economic Community would be formed which allowed for free trade among the three Somali nations to help exponentially grow their economies so they could compete with regional neighbors.

In 2004, the Somalian Federalist Convention would be held in the Pundlanic Capital of Garowe after the Somali nations grew closer politically and economically throughout the late 1990s. The Convention concluded to hold simultaneous referendums in the three nations to see if they would want to reunify into Somalia and it was agreed the referendums would be held in on March 15th, 2005.

Somali President Sheik Sharif visits Balad Town 12 (7703057976) (cropped) — Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, first President of the Confederation of Somalia (2005–2011)

Confederation of Somalia (2005–present)[]

On March 15th, 2005, Somalia would be reunified as the Confederation of Somalia. The unification would be met with celebrations across all of Somalia and the Somali diaspora across the world. The Confederation of Somalia would be recognized by the League of Nations the same day and the Somali delegation would arrive in Geneva the following day. Somalia's new constitution established that the three nations would act as provinces which all sent Congressmen to Congress which handles legislation, giving both Alawites in the North and Sunnis in the south representation within government. The President and Congress both have 2 year terms and are up for election every 2 years. Similar to the United States and Confederate States, the President acts as both the head of state and head of government.

Since reunification, Somalia has seen economic growth and stability. The first President of the newly formed Confederation of Somalia, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, would begin an ambitious infrastructure project to modernize Somali roadways and the port system. By 2012, much of President Ahmed's dreams had been realized as the Interprovincial Highway network would be completed which linked Somalia together and allowed for easier travel from Somaliland to Mogadishu. These efforts of stability have also brought a small yet profitable tourism industry into Somalia as many tourists from Europe and neighboring African countries travel to Somalia for the food and the historic landmarks.\

From 2014 to 2021, Somalia had been burdened by the influx of refugees escaping Kenya during the destructive Kenyan Civil War which displaced millions. With backing by the League of Nations, Somalia would spend 2% of their 2016 GDP in establishing refugee camps around the Mogadishu area.

Ilhan Omar (Differently) — Ilhan Omar, President of Somalia (2019 - Present)

Government and Politics[]

Somalia is a Confederal presidential Constitutional republic which based a large amount of its constitution off of the United States. There are also some elements of the British and Italian law present within Somalia as well.

Somalia's current political landscape is described as a 4 party system between the center-left to left-wing Islamic Left Party, the center-right to right wing Democrat Party, the centrist Liberal Party, and the far-left Communist Party of Somalia. Somalia ranked as a 7.52 on the 2019 Democracy Index as a "flawed yet functional democracy". The current President of Somalia is Ilhan Omar, a member of the Islamic Left Party and a former Congresswoman representing Puntland who was elected President in 2019.