| Total population |
|---|
| 900,000 (1989 census)[1] |
| Regions with significant populations |
| North Eastern Province, Nairobi, Mombasa |
| Languages |
| Religion |
Somalis in Kenya are citizens and residents of Kenya who are of Somali descent. Somalis are one of the largest Cushitic-speaking ethnic minority groups in the country. They first started arriving in the area in the 19th century. Following the civil war in Somalia that broke out in 1991, many Somalis sought asylum in the Somali-inhabited enclaves of Kenya. An entrepreneurial community, they have increasingly begun asserting themselves in the business sector as more have immigrated into the country, particularly in Eastleigh.
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According to the 1989 Kenyan census, approximately 900,000 ethnic Somali people live in Kenya.[1] Although provisional results from the 2009 census reported a much larger number of over 2.3 million Somali residents, they are believed to be inaccurate due to inconsistencies in the gathered data.[2] The figure has consequently been nullified for an official recount.[2][3]
SIL Ethnologue reports a breakdown of the Somali population in Kenya from the 1989 census, consisting of 45,098 individuals, as well as an additional number of Somalis identified on a clan basis: 27,244 from the Hawiye clan, 100,400 from the Degodia clan, and 139,597 from the Ogaden clan.
Cushites form a significant minority of Kenya's population. They speak Afro-Asiatic languages, and originally came from Ethiopia and Somalia in Northeast Africa. Most are herdsmen and Muslim.[4] Cushites are concentrated in the northernmost North Eastern Province (Northern Frontier District), which borders Somalia.[5]
The Cushitic-speaking peoples in Kenya are divided into two groups: the Southern Cushites and Eastern Cushites. The Eastern Cushites include the Oromo and the Somali. Of these, the Somali are the most recent arrivals to Kenya, having first started arriving from Somalia only a few centuries ago.[4]
Throughout much of the 20th century, the Northern Frontier District (NFD) was a part of British East Africa. On June 26, 1960, four days before granting British Somaliland independence, the British government declared that all Somali-inhabited areas of East Africa should be unified in one administrative region. However, after the dissolution of the former British colonies in the region, Britain granted administration of the Northern Frontier District to Kenyan nationalists despite a) an informal plebiscite demonstrating the overwhelming desire of the region's population to join the newly-formed Somali Republic,[6] and b) the fact that the NFD was and still is almost exclusively inhabited by ethnic Somalis.[7][8][9]
On the eve of Kenyan independence in August 1963, British officials belatedly realized that the new Kenyan administration was not willing to give up the Somali-inhabited areas it had just been granted administration of. Led by the Northern Province People's Progressive Party (NPPPP), Somalis in the NFD vigorously sought union with their kin in the Somali Republic to the north.[10] In response, the Kenyan government enacted a number of repressive measures designed to frustrate their efforts in what came to be known as the Shifta War.[11] Although they ultimately lost the war, Somalis in the region still identify and maintain close ties with their kin in Somalia, and see themselves as one people.[12]
Following the civil war in Somalia that broke out in 1991, many Somalis sought asylum in the Somali-inhabited enclaves in Kenya. An entrepreneurial community, they have increasingly begun asserting themselves in the business sector as more have immigrated into the country, particularly in Eastleigh.[13]