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Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled Ogadēn, Somali: Ogaadeen) is a part of the Somali Regional State in Ethiopia. Sometimes called in the past (when Somalia was divided into Italian and British Somaliland) "Abyssinian Somaliland" or "Ethiopian Somaliland," some locals refer to it as Ogadenia (Somali: Ogaadeeniya). The inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Somali and Muslim, and the Ogaden subclan constitutes roughly half of the regional population.^[1] The fact that some Somalis call the entire Somali Region of Ethiopia "Ogadenia" is a cause of much friction, because other clans have a significant presence in the area such as the Hawiye, Isaaq, Akisho, Gadabuursi, Issa, Sheekhaal and Marehan.^[1][2] For this reason the titles "Somali Galbeed", which means "Western Somalia," is often preferred by supporters of the concept of Greater Somalia.

The region, which is around 200,000 square kilometres, borders Djibouti, Kenya, and Somalia.^[3] Important settlements include Degehabur (Dhagaxbuur in Somali), Gode (Godey), Jijiga (Jigjiga), Kebri Dahar (Qabridahare), Shilavo (Shilaabo) and Werder (Wardheer).

Map of Ethiopia highlighting the Somali Region.

The region was incorporated into Ethiopia by Menelik II during the last quarter of the 19th century, and its boundary with British Somalialand was one of the first boundaries of Ethiopia to be fixed by treaty (June, 1897).^[4]

I.M. Lewis argues a subtly different interpretation of this treaty, emphasizing that "the lost lands in the Haud which were excised from the Protectorate [i.e. British Somalialand] were not, however ceded to Ethiopia".^[5] In practice, Ethiopia exerted little administrative control east of Jijiga, except for occasional raids on the inhabitants, until 1934 when an Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission attempted to demarcate the treaty boundary, an act which at last alerted the local inhabitants to what had happened.^[6]

Following their conquest of Italian East Africa, the British sought to partition the Ogaden from Ethiopia, intending, according to historian Bahru Zewde, to add it to "British Somaliland and the former Italian Somaliland, to form what was christened Greater Somalia."^[7] Ethiopia unsuccessfully pleaded before the London Conference of the Allied Powers for the return of the Ogaden and Eritrea in 1945, but their persistent negotiations at last forced the British in 1948 to evacuate all of the Ogaden except for the northeastern part (called the Haud), and a corridor (called the Reserved Area) stretching from the Haud to French Somaliland (modern Djibouti). The British returned these last parts to Ethiopia in 1954.^[8]

In the past, secessionist activities have involved the political goals and militaries of Ethiopia and Somalia. In the late 1970s, both countries fought the Ogaden War over control of this region and its peoples.

In 2007, the Ethiopian Army launched a military crackdown in Ogaden. The Somalis who inhabit Ogaden claim that the Ethiopian military kill civilians, and destroy the livelihood of many of the ethnic Somalis. Numerous international rights organizations accuse Ethiopian regime of committing abuses and crimes that "violate laws of war,"^[9] as a recent report by the venerable Human Rights Watch reports. Because of these actions, at present, the main rebel group is the Ogaden National Liberation Front under its Chairman Mohamed O. Osman, which is fighting to liberate the Ogaden from what they see as Ethiopian occupation. This has been the case for so long and the international community has declined to speak about the situation in Ogadenia. Finally the ONLF decided to take action in the against a Chinese Oil company in Ogaden during the April 2007 killing of 65 Ethiopian and 9 Chinese workers. As a result the Ethiopian military began regular counterterrorism operations in the region. ^[10]

• Ogaden Basin

1. ^ ^{a b} Blair, David (2007-10-09). Ethiopia's 'secret war' forces thousands to flee (HTML). Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved on 2007-10-30. “The rebels recruit most of their fighters from the Ogaden clan, who account for about half of the region's population. But the authorities are exploiting bitter clan rivalries and arming local militias to fight the ONLF.”
2. ^ http://www.kilil5.com/?q=node/1934
3. ^ Gebru Tareke, "The Ethiopia-Somalia War of 1977 Revisited," in Board of Trustees, Boston University, The International Journal of African Historical Studies. Boston University African Studies Center, 2000, p. 636.
4. ^ Bahru Zewde, A History of Modern Ethiopia (London: James Currey, 1991), p. 113.
5. ^ I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002),p. 59
6. ^ Lewis, Moden History, p. 61
7. ^ Bahru Zewde, p. 180.
8. ^ Bahru Zewde, p. 181.
9. ^ http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/07/02/ethiop16327.htm
10. ^ Connors, Will (2007-09-05). Why We Don't Hear About the Conflict in the Ogaden: When an American reporter started digging, he was forced out of Ethiopia.. Slate.

• Ogaden online
• ONLF