History Before imperialism
Long before the European powers took control over the horn of Africa, the area that is now Somalia was occupied by ancient powers. For many years they were the majority of the population that occupied the area. Even though the majority of the Somali population was Nomatic in 700 A.D., Persian and Muslim Arabs founded trading ports along the Indian Ocean coast. The coast being a new center of trade in the area, it caused hundreds of different religions and cultures that passed through the area. There was no set government for the area at this time, city-states were developed and were ruled by Sultans. Over 400 years later by around 1100, the area was converted to islam from the foreign influence. With the area open to trading and hundreds of different cultures it made it only easier for Europe to come in and for imperialization to occur.