Somaliland
Culture

The main clans of Somaliland: Isaaq (Garhajis, Habr Je'lo, Habr Awal, Arap, Ayub), Harti (Dhulbahante, Warsangali, Kaskiqabe, Gahayle), Dir (Gadabuursi, Issa, Magaadle) and Madhiban. Other smaller clans include: Jibraahil, Akisho, and others.

The clan groupings of the Somali people are important social units, and have a central role in Somali culture and politics. Clans are patrilineal and are often divided into sub-clans, sometimes with many sub-divisions.

Somali society is traditionally ethnically endogamous. To extend ties of alliance, marriage is often to another ethnic Somali from a different clan. Thus, for example, a 1954 study observed that in 89 marriages contracted by men of the Dhulbahante clan, 55 (62%) were with women of Dhulbahante sub-clans other than those of their husbands; 30 (33.7%) were with women of surrounding clans of other clan families (Isaaq, 28; Hawiye, 3); and 3 (4.3%) were with women of other clans of the Darod clan family (Majerteen 2, Ogaden 1).
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