Forgotten world (34): Somalia

All that many people – especially Americans – recall about Somalia is that US forces went in there in 1993 to attempt to restore order among the feuding warlords and suffered losses which soon drove them out and inspired the Hollywood movie “Black Hawk Down” [my review here].
Comprised of a former British protectorate and an Italian colony, Somalia was created in 1960 when the two territories merged. Since then, its development has been hindered by territorial claims on Somali-inhabited areas of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991 and years of fighting between rival warlords and an inability to deal with famine and disease have led to the deaths of up to one million people. The warlords still control much of the country and the UN-backed government led by President Abdullah Yusuf has to operate from the southern city of Baidoa rather than the capital Mogadishu.