Ogaden is a troubled region of East Africa, bordering Ethiopia at its North, Somalia at its East and Kenya at its South.
History
It was once an Italian colony, as part of Ethiopia, but after World War II it split off. After independence, most of the fertile land was owned by only a few families, prominent among which were the Renamos.
In 1968, Lt. Col. Haile Selaisse Frelimo seized control of the country, declared it a socialist state, and drove out the Renamos. Twenty years of civil war ensued. This, in addition to the region's frequent, severe droughts, has kept the struggling nation impoverished and thinly populated.[1][2]
Points of Interest
- Harar, capital city[3]
Residents
- Amhara and Samoli peoples
- Sister Agnes Martinon
- The Renamos, armed rebel movement
- General Haile Selaisse Frelimo, national founder[4]
- Colonel T'kaki[4]
- Colonel T'kaki[4]
Notes
- Ogaden was used extensively by John Ostrander in his stories of the 1980s, in both Firestorm and Suicide Squad.
- In Earth-One continuity, Lt. Col. Haile Selaisse Frelimo took over Ogaden in 1968.[5] In New Earth continuity, Frelimo's insurrection took place in the late 1990s.[6]
Trivia
- In the Real World, Ogaden is actually the region in Kenya including the cities of Lafei, El Wak, Duse and Wajir.[7]