The Somali and the Sab

The Somali people speak an Afroasiatic language as well as Arabic. Of the 8.9 million Somalis living in Somalia, 80% belongs to the Somali or Samaale group in the north; the remaining 20% belongs to the Sab, or southern Somali. All believe they are descended from the same male ancestor and his two sons, Somali and Sab. Such a closeness has brought a long history of both strong alliances and bloody feuds.

A basic historical distinction between the two has always been that the Somali were more nomadic than the Sab.

Communities are united into a larger social and political unit called a rer, each with its own elected leader. Marriages to more than one wife and a dowry system are mainly secular contracts but Somalis tend to follow Islamic cultural patterns.