ABSTRACT
Horn of Africa, running from 2° latitude south to 12° latitude north, confined to the east by the Indian Ocean, and to the west and south-west by Ethiopia and Kenya.
Neighbouring tribes are: to the north and north-west the Afar; to the west the Galla-Itu, Ala, Aniya, Arussi, and Boran; and to the south, the Wardai Galla. The Somali country extends over some 320,000 square miles, and is divided politically among the Colonial Powers into: French Somaliland, 5,790 sq. miles1 ; British Somaliland, 68,000 sq. miles; the United Nations Trusteeship Territory of Somalia, administered by Haly, 200,000 sq. miles; and Ethiopian territory.2 This vast region is occupied by an unevenly distributed population of about two million Somali. Terrain and climate present a gradual progression from the extreme aridity and heat of the north-west corner, whieh lies in French territory, through the relatively less barren lands and milder conditions of British Somaliland, to the comparatively arable soils and more temperate climate of the Italian Trusteeship, in whieh the riehest country of Somaliland is to be found. The barren northern regions provide grazing for camels, sheep, and goats, and in some of the richer pastures of the plains cattle-husbandry is increasing. Here, permanent cultivation is impossible, for arable land only occurs in exiguous patches, although where the ecology is favourable, temporary cultivation is practised by the nomadic tribesmen of the region. Cultivation, as a whole, is of little direct importance compared with stock-raising.
