Sedentary yemen vs nomadic somalia

[Midas]

@Idilinaa you were right about the arabavle kand thing. I was looking at yemens geography statsics and apparently only 3% of yemens total land area is arable which translates to about 13 thosuand km word of arable land. Somalia alone not somaliweyn has 82,810 km worth of arable land. But I asked myself why somalia only had a pouplation of 18 million to yemens 35 million even though we have 6 times the arable land.

I realized its becuase there isn't any large water sources outside the two rivers so most of this land is only good for pastoralism. In a twisted way the fact that yemens only arable land is so concentrated in a small part of the country forces people to congregate together in towns and villages creating urbanism. Whereas in somalia on top of the lack of large water sources to sustain a large pouplation there is no real incentive forcing people to congregate into towns and villages since they can just be nomads/agro-pastoralists and live in small groups

 

[Idilinaa]

10–15% of Somalia’s land is considered arable, and most of it lies in the south where the two rivers , the Jubba and Shabelle , provide enough water for farming. That region is productive enough to support agricultural surplus, not just for local consumption but also for export into other regions.


But it’s important to note that large numbers of Somalis historically have clustered in towns and villages, especially in areas where farming, trade, and water access allowed for it. The densest settlements historically were in western Somaliland, the Harar uplands, and along the southern riverine zones. These areas have always supported village life, farming communities, and market economies.

Somalia does not rely solely on rivers for settlement formation. In fact, much of Somalia’s population is urbanized or semi-urbanized even in areas without major rivers, such as Hargeisa, Garowe, Bosaso, and Berbera. Today for example water access is managed through wells, boreholes, private water tankers, and storage systems,

It was similar in the past and they sustained large urban populations through water management systems.

Add to that the long Somali coastline, and you’ll find many Somalis also living in coastal villages and urban centers. Urban life wasn’t new or rare , it just wasn’t concentrated into one single megacity. Somalis built networks of trade and settlements rather than a singular capital-centric model.


Now when it comes to Yemen , they don’t have any permanent rivers at all. Rainfall is seasonal, and agriculture mostly depends on rain-fed or groundwater sources. That makes the small arable region in the western highlands the only viable area for farming, which naturally forces people to cluster in those areas. This created the pattern of clusters but also made Yemen heavily reliant on imports , even from Somalia historically.

Yemen also has fewer water resources than Somalia and it's one of the most water-scarce countries in the world. Somalia has more widespread rainfall in key regions , which contributes to perennial rivers and extensive aquifers.


In contrast, Somalia’s varied landscape (grazing lands, rivers, coastlines, pockets of arable land) allowed people to live in more dispersed ways , fishermen, pastoralists, agro-pastoralists, traders, farmers , depending on region and season. That mobility and ecological diversity made it possible for people to live sustainably without clustering into one urban core.. They didn’t need to . the land allowed livelihoods in multiple zones.


So you’re right in a way, the nature of Somalia’s geography and economy gave Somalis more spatial flexibility. That’s why they never concentrated in one tight region , they didn’t have to. But that doesn't directly have to with being nomadic or lack of water.

Somalia’s smaller population relative to Yemen isn’t about water or clustering. It’s mostly due to:

Long-term conflict and/or displacement

Outmigration and diaspora size

Lower fertility during conflict periods

Less census coverage and undercounting

Somalia’s dispersed population reflects mobility, not a set back. Unlike Yemen’s constrained geography, Somalia’s ecology allows people to spread out and still be productive.

Somalia’s dispersed settlement pattern reflects economic adaptability, decentralized development, and environmental flexibility, not a lack of urbanism or cohesion.

 

[Garaad Awal]

@Idilinaa you were right about the arabavle kand thing. I was looking at yemens geography statsics and apparently only 3% of yemens total land area is arable which translates to about 13 thosuand km word of arable land. Somalia alone not somaliweyn has 82,810 km worth of arable land. But I asked myself why somalia only had a pouplation of 18 million to yemens 35 million even though we have 6 times the arable land.

I realized its becuase there isn't any large water sources outside the two rivers so most of this land is only good for pastoralism. In a twisted way the fact that yemens only arable land is so concentrated in a small part of the country forces people to congregate together in towns and villages creating urbanism. Whereas in somalia on top of the lack of large water sources to sustain a large pouplation there is no real incentive forcing people to congregate into towns and villages since they can just be nomads/agro-pastoralists and live in small groups

Majority of Yemen’s population is in the Northern Highlands. South Yemen is practically empty. This is why the Houthis despite not controlling majority of Yemen’s landmass control majority of the population.

It’s the same in the Horn. The Ethiopian Highlands population vastly outnumbers those of us who live in the Horn’s lowlands. Although due to modernity and ethnic Somali high birth rates, the gap is closing.