The Somali first appeared in Africa around 1200 A.D., and began expanding westward and southward about 150 years later. They converted to Islam around 1550, under the influence of Arab traders that had settled along the cost of present-day Somalia. Their southward trend eventually led them into the area that is now Kenya . Today, nearly half a million Somali live in the Northeast Province of Kenya. To the Somali, this is actually a rough expression of hospitality.
Somali society is based on the nuclear family, which consists of a husband, wife, and children.
The man is the head of his household. A typical family owns a herd of sheep or goats and a few burden camels. Some may also own a herd of breeding and milking camels. The more camels a man has, the greater his prestige. Each extended family moves across the desert as a single unit.