History of Somalia History of Somalia Somalia (; ), officially the Federal Republic of Somalia (, ) and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Somalia was an important centre for commerce with the rest of the ancient world, and according to most scholars, it is among the most probable locations of the fabled ancient Land of Punt. During the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali empires dominated the regional trade, including the Ajuran Sultanate, the Adal Sultanate, the Warsangali Sultanate, the Sultanate of the Geledi and the Majeerteen Sultanate. In the late 19th century,
Demographics of Somalia about 15% of the nation's population. They include [[Bantus (Somalia)|Bantus]], [[Bajuni people|Bajunis]], [[Eyle people|Eyle]], [[Ethiopia]]ns, [[India]]ns, [[Pakistan]]is, [[Persian people|Persians]], [[Arabs]], [[Italy|Italians]] and [[British people|Britons]]. Somalia has been described as the most ethnically homogenous nation in Sub-Saharan Africa, ahead of [[Botswana]], which is four-fifths [[Tswana people|Tswana]]. [[File:Shaxmednuradc1.ogg|thumb|right|180x180px|Speech sample in [[Somali language|Standard Somali]].]] [[Somali language|Somali]] and [[Arabic language|Arabic]] are the official languages of Somalia. The Somali language is the [[first language|mother tongue]] of the Somalis, the nation's most populous ethnic group. It is a member of the [[Cushitic languages|Cushitic]] branch of the [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic]] family. In addition to Somali, Arabic, which is