Greater Somalia Greater Somalia Greater Somalia (, ) comprises the regions in or near the Horn of Africa in which ethnic Somalis live and have historically inhabited. The territory historically encompassed British Somaliland, Italian Somaliland, French Somaliland, the Ogaden in the Ethiopian Empire, and the Northern Frontier District in the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya - at the present day, it encompasses Somalia, Somaliland, eastern Djibouti, the Somali region and Dire Dawa in Ethiopia, and the Lamu, Garissa, Wajir and Mandera Counties (all except Lamu formed part of the former North Eastern Province, which was abolished in 2013) in Kenya. Since the
Geography of Somalia the northeast, "Boswellia" and "Commiphora" trees are sources, respectively, of the frankincense and myrrh for which Somalia has been known since ancient times. A broad plateau encompassing the northern city of Hargeysa, which receives comparatively heavy rainfall, is covered naturally by woodland (much of which has been degraded by overgrazing) and in places by extensive grasslands. Parts of this area have been under cultivation since the 1930s, producing sorghum and maize; in the 1990s it constituted the only significant region of sedentary cultivation outside southwestern Somalia. The Haud south of Hargeysa is covered mostly by a semiarid woodland of scattered