Greater Somalia

Greater Somalia, also known as Greater Somaliland (Somali: Soomaaliweyn; Arabic: الصومال الكبرى, romanized: al-Sūmāl al-Kubrā), is the geographic location comprising the regions in the Horn of Africa in which ethnic Somalis live and have historically inhabited.

During the Scramble for Africa at the end of the 19th century, Somali-inhabited territories were partitioned between imperial powers. The unification of these territories became a focal objective of an independent Somalia. Referred to as "Greater Somalia," these regions, at the outset of Somali independence, encompassed British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland, which had successfully merged into a single nation in 1960. French Somaliland, the Northern Frontier District (NFD) in Kenya, and the Ogaden region in Ethiopia were placed under the control of neighboring states despite the pre-independence unification efforts of Somali nationalists.

The post-independence governments of the Somali Republic (1960–1969) and the Somali Democratic Republic (1969–1991) expended significant effort towards the unification of the NFD and French Somaliland with Somalia; however, their primary focus was the Ogaden region, which had been occupied by Ethiopia since Menelik's invasions in the 1890s. From 1960 onwards, Somalis in Ethiopia seeking self-determination have waged several insurgencies with the support of neighboring Somalia, escalating into several major interstate conflicts including the Ogaden War in Ethiopia and the Shifta War in Kenya.

Following the breakout of the Somali Civil War and the splintering of Somalia into various autonomous polities, the concept of Greater Somalia has seen a sharp decline in support, with some Somali diaspora communities advocating for autonomy or independence rather than a fully-fledged union.