Somalis in North America

Somalia is a globalized nation with more than one million Somalis living outside the country. While nearly two-thirds of all Somalis living outside of Somalia live in neighboring countries in Africa, close to 300,000 live in North America. The majority of the exiles left as refugees due to the outbreak of civil war starting in 1988 and lasting into the early 1990s. Somalis also left their country due to the breakdown of law and order, difficult economic conditions, and because of drought and famine. The Somali language is the official language with several dialects, Northern and Benedir.
Other Somalis who have come to North America include Somali Bantu, a minority clan of people who came as refugees in the early 2000s. Though many of them fled the civil war of the early 1990s, they remained in refugee camps in Kenya for about ten years before starting new lives in North America. Ethnically, Bantu are not Somali and they speak a non-Somali language—Maay Maay.
Somalis have often done well economically largely due to an informal system of pooling resources known as ayuuto or hagbad. This involves the members of a group contributing money to a fund and then taking turns using money from the fund in establishing businesses.

Religious Life
Islam first entered modern-day Somalia during Mohammed’s lifetime. Today, Somalia is 99.8% Muslim, ranking second in the world among countries with the highest percentage of Muslims. Traditionally, Somali Muslims have been Sunni Muslims following the Shafi School of Thought. Over the last couple of decades, however, the more fundamentalist Salafi school has acquired many followers. The collapsed state of Somalia, and the fact that it is the only country in East Africa with an almost 100% Muslim population, has made it a breeding ground for radical versions of Islam. While most Somalis in North America and Somalia practice a peaceful version of Islam, radical Islamists have found ripe recruiting grounds among disenfranchised Somali youth in North American cities. Many Somali Muslims are active in seeking to combat radical influences within their community. In North American cities, mosques play a key role in reinforcing not only Islamic identity, but also Somali culture.
These are the Somali communities in North America most in need of gospel witness
People Group | Metropolitan Area | Population Size | Concentrated Area | Priority Score |
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