Ogaden

Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled Ogadēn; Somali: Ogaadeen, Amharic: ውጋዴ/ውጋዴን) is one of the historical names used for the modern Somali Region. It is also natively referred to as Soomaali Galbeed (lit. 'Western Somalia'). The region forms the eastern portion of Ethiopia and borders Somalia.

The Ogaden is a vast plateau located to the south and southeast of the Ethiopian Highlands, and is overwhelmingly inhabited by Somali people. It represents the westernmost region inhabited by the Somalis in the Horn of Africa. It is largely a semi-arid region and encompasses the plains between the border of Somalia and Ethiopia, extending towards the southeastern highlands, where larger cities like Harar and Dire Dawa are located near. The Ogaden is known for its oil and gas reserves.

The Ogaden region has been defined by over a century of popular revolts and armed Somali self-determination movements following a process of annexation that began with the invasion of the region by the Ethiopian Empire in the 1890s and concluded with the final British handovers of the region in the mid-1950s. Prior to late 19th century Ethiopian expansion, the Ogaden was inhabited by organized Somali communities and remained independent of Ethiopian imperial rule. Ethiopia's legal claim to the region is predicated on the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1897, which the Somali Republic rejected as invalid following its independence in 1960.

Since the end of the 19th century, armed organizations such as the Dervish movement, Nasrallah, the Western Somali Liberation Front, Al-Itihaad Al-Islamiya, and most recently the Ogaden National Liberation Front have been at the forefront of the region's struggle for independence.