Horn of Africa

The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa. Located on the easternmost part of the African mainland, it is the fourth largest peninsula in the world. It is composed of Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. Although not common, broader definitions include parts or all of Kenya and Sudan. It has been described as a region of geopolitical and strategic importance, since it is situated along the southern boundary of the Red Sea; extending hundreds of kilometres into the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel, and Indian Ocean, it also shares a maritime border with the Arabian Peninsula.

The peninsula has been known by various names. Ancient Greeks and Romans referred to it as Regio Aromatica or Regio Cinnamonifora after the aromatic plants found there, or as Regio Incognita for its poor coverage by classical Mediterranean cartography. In ancient and medieval times, the Horn of Africa was referred to as the Bilad al Barbar ("Land of the Berbers"). It is also known as the Somali Peninsula, or in the Somali language as Geeska Afrika or Jasiiradda Soomaali. In other local languages it is called "Horn of Africa" or the "African Horn": in Amharic የአፍሪካ ቀንድ yäafrika qänd, in Arabic القرن الأفريقي al-qarn al-'afrīqī, in Oromo Gaanfaa Afrikaa, and in Tigrinya ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ q'ärnī afīrīqa.

The Horn of Africa Region consists of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somaliland and Somalia.

Geographically, the protruding shape that resembles a "horn" consists of most of Somalia and the easternmost part of Ethiopia, but the geopolitical "Horn of Africa region" also encompasses the rest of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. Some broader definitions may include Kenya and Sudan. The "Greater Horn Region" (GHR) might additionally include South Sudan and Uganda. The term "Greater Horn of Africa" is sometimes used to be inclusive of neighbouring southeast African countries to distinguish the broader geopolitical definition of the Horn of Africa from narrower peninsular definitions.

The Horn of Africa commonly is referred to simply as "the Horn", while inhabitants are sometimes colloquially termed Horn Africans or Horners. Regional studies on the Horn of Africa are carried out in the fields of Ethiopian studies and Somali studies.

Some of the earliest Homo sapiens fossils, the Omo remains (from ca. 233,000 years ago) and the Herto skull (from ca. 160,000 ago) have been found in the region, both in Ethiopia.

The findings of the Earliest Stone Tipped Projectiles from the Ethiopian Rift dated to more than 279,000 years ago "in combination with the existing archaeological, fossil and genetic evidence, isolate East Africa as a source of modern cultures and biology."

According to the Southern Dispersal scenario, the Southern route of the Out of Africa migration occurred in the Horn of Africa through the Bab el Mandeb. Today at the Bab-el-Mandeb straits, the Red Sea is about 12 miles (19 kilometres) wide, but 50,000 years ago it was much narrower and sea levels were 70 meters lower. Though the straits were never completely closed, there may have been islands in between which could be reached using simple rafts. Shell middens 125,000 years old have been found in Eritrea, indicating the diet of early humans included seafood obtained by beachcombing.