page_title: Somali diaspora
section_title: Africa
hierarchical_section_title: Somali diaspora / Africa
caption_attribution_description: English: A Somali female high school student in Cairo, Egypt.
context_page_description: The Somali diaspora refers to expatriate Somalis who reside in areas of the world that have traditionally not been inhabited by their ethnic group. The civil war in Somalia greatly increased the size of the Somali diaspora, as many Somalis moved from Greater Somalia primarily to the Arabian peninsula, Europe, North America, Southern Africa and Australia. There are also small Somali populations in other pockets of Europe and Asia. The UN estimates that in 2015, approximately 2 million people from Somalia were living outside of the country's borders.
context_section_description: About two thirds of all Somalis who live outside Somalia live in neighbouring countries Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Yemen. Kenya hosted more than 313 000 in April 2017. About 255 000 were registered as refugees in Ethiopia.
  Besides their traditional areas of inhabitation in Greater Somalia (the former Italian Somaliland, British Somaliland, French Somaliland, the Ogaden, and the Northern Frontier District), a Somali community mainly consisting of businesspeople, academics and students also exists in Egypt.
  In addition, there is an historical Somali community in the general Sudan area. Primarily concentrated in the north and Khartoum, the expatriate community mainly consists of students as well as some businesspeople. More recently, Somali entrepreneurs have also established themselves in South Africa, where they provide most of the retail trade in informal settlements around the Western Cape province.
caption: A Somali high school student in Cairo, Egypt.
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