Music and Poetry in Somalia

Uniquely in Africa, the people of Somalia constitute a single ethnic group. In the early 1990s, the national population was about five million, only one percent of which were non-Somalis. During the colonial period (late 1800s, early 1900s), political decisions severed from the main body another one and a half to two million Somalis, who live in frontier regions of Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Though unified in religion (Islam), language, and ethnic identity, Somalis divide into clan families, with lineages and subgroupings based on agnatic patriliny. Until 1991, one central administration governed the country.