The Somalis migrated from the west into the horn between 500 BC and 1000 AD. In those days it was known as  “the land of Punt”, the source of much of the myth and frankincense mentioned in the Bible.    

Between the seventh  and tenth centuries Arabs and Persians developed a series of ports along the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. By the 10th century the area was populated by Somali nomads who spread throughout the Horn of Africa and pushed Galla tribes southward.  By this time, Islam was firmly established in the trading centres of Mogadishu, Merca, Brava, Zeila and Berbera.   
  
Between the eleventh and the thirteenth centuries, the entire Somali nation converted to Islam. In these centuries, the Somalis expanded into what is now eastern and central Ethiopia and northern Kenya, and trade routes were set up that would last for centuries. The southern part of the country developed farming; the northerners developed the routes, which enabled them to keep their families and herds alive in dry seasons, by travelling from one temporary water hole to the next.  Each clan had its own route and water holes.  

These patterns were changed in the colonial period. Somalia was first affected by Portuguese and Omani colonizers, who burned and destroyed many of the great Somali trading cities. In the nineteenth century, Somalia was colonized by Ethiopia, Italy, France and Britain.    

 During the European “Scramble for Africa” European powers showed their interest in the country as it lay on the route to India and Indochina.  Britain looked to this area for meat supplies for its garrison at Aden and in 1884 occupied Zeila and Berbera -- later declared the British Protectorate of Somaliland.  France, which wanted better commercial faculties, moved to Tajore and declared the French Somaliland at the same time. Italy also declared its own protectorate called Italian Somaliland. Ethiopia was given the Ogaden region of Somalia by the British.  

The colonizers were annoyed because the Somalis, unlike other colonized peoples, refused to show respect to their new masters. During the colonial period, clan rivalries were deliberately encouraged and political power was given to various “tribes”. Somalia still feels the bitter effects of these policies.   

The first serious resistance to colonial rule in Somalia was led in the north by the Somali freedom fighter Sayid Mohammed Abdulle Hassan, known to the British as the “Mad  Mullah” and by the Biyomaal tribes in the South.  Sayid Mohammed's resistance to European colonizers also lasted for 20 to 30 years from 1891 to 1920 and eventually had to be put down by a series of British air strikes against him and his army.  

During the Second World War, Britain occupied the Italian Somaliland and administered the territory from 1941 to 1950. The British occupation of Italian Somaliland had profound political consequences.   In fact, it was during this period (1943) that the Somali Youth League (SYL), the first nationalist party, was formed.  SYL succeeded in uniting all Somali clans under its flag and led the country to independence.   

In 1950, Italian Somaliland was returned to Italy as a UN Trust Territory for ten years.  On June 26, 1960 it joined the British Somaliland to form the Somali Republic.  The first president was Aden Abdulle Osman who went down in history as the first African President to give up power after a democratic and free election.  The country was ruled by successive civilian governments from 1960 to 1969.  

On October 15, 1969, the President Dr. Abdirashid A. Shermarke was assassinated.  On October 21, 1969, General Mohamed Siyad Barre seized power in a military coup. The military regime dissolved the parliament, suspended the constitution and banned all political parties. After one year the regime declared Scientific Socialism and nationalized all major economic activities.  

In 1974, after the overthrow of Haile Selassie, Somali rebel movements started to renew their campaign of succession from Ethiopia and were helped by Somali government.  By 1977 a full-scale war erupted between Somalia and Ethiopia.  The Soviet Union, hitherto an ally of Somalia, supported Ethiopia in the war. Somalia broke relations with the Soviet Union and the USA became the country's new ally.   

In 1978 there was an attempted coup. The organizers of this effort escaped to Ethiopia and formed the Somali Salvation Democratic Front  (SSDF), the first rebel movement against Siyad Barre. Later more rebel movements were formed along clan bases and put pressure on Barre’s regime.  Siyad Barre desperately tried to manipulate the clan system distributing modern weapons.  Finally, on January 27, 1991 he was ousted from power and forced to flee from the capital.   

On January 29,1991, Ali Mahdi Mohammed was named Interim President by the United Somali Congress  (USC).  On May 18,1991, the Somali National Movement proclaimed independence for Northern Somalia, formerly British Somaliland.  In July 1991, peace talks aimed at ending Somali factional strife took place in Djibouti.  The Djibouti accord was signed but soon became ineffective.  

In November 1991, fighting intensified in Mogadishu between factions loyal to the Interim President, Ali Mahdi and USC Chairman, General Mohamed Farah Aideed.  In February 1992, ceasefire was arranged through United Nations mediation.  In April 1992, the U.N. approved sending military observers to monitor the ceasefire.  In May 1992, Mohamed Siyad Barre fled to Kenya after his ill-fated attempt to recapture Mogadishu.  

In July 1992, U.N. Secretary General alerted the world to the Somali disaster, observing that little attention was given to "poor man's war".  The U.N. estimated that 1.5 million Somalis were in imminent danger of starvation as a result of famine and civil war.  On August 28,1992, the U.N. Security Council called for the dispatch of 3,000 soldiers along with 500 Pakistani soldiers destined for Mogadishu.  On August 31,1992, Canada sent 750 troops to Somalia.