Prior to the civil war, the Bantu were simply referred to in the literature as Bantu, Gosha, Mushunguli or Jareer, as they still, in fact, are within Somalia proper.

Outside of Somalia proper, there are various Darod sub-clans in the Ogaden and the North Eastern Province (currently administered by Ethiopia and Kenya, respectively), Several sources, including the Canadian Report of the Somalia Commission of Inquiry, indicate that the Darod is the largest Somali clan.

He went on to say: "it was hastily erected without proper consultation with all the concerned stakeholders in the region as well as those in Somalia proper.

However after the massive Soviet-support stopped and America did not accept the military support that Somali has requested, the WSLF was forced later to retreat to camps in Somalia proper after a massive Soviet-supported and Cuban-armed Ethiopian and Cubans soldiers pushed back the WSLF and the Somalian army.

While most Somalis can be found in Somalia proper, large numbers also live in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Yemen, the Middle East, South Asia and Europe due to their seafaring tradition.