Haud

Haud or Hawd denotes the northeastern part of the Ethiopian Ogaden today ( Somali region ), east of the city of Harar. That's not precisely delineated area covers an area of ​​about 64,750 km ² and extends to a small portion to the south Nordsomalias ( Somaliland ). From an altitude of about 1,220 m in the north- west - where the Somali Highlands connects - falls the Haud plateau from 450 m to the southeast.

The landscape of the Haud is a savannah of different fertility. Except in some areas in the west, there is little year-round water sources, so that the Haud in the dry season from January to April is almost uninhabited. In the rainy season from April to June, enough water accumulated on for five to six months. During this time, Somali nomads traverse with camels, goats and sheep the area.

History

The current limit, which divides the Haud between Ethiopia and Somalia and Ethiopia mostly strikes, was established in 1897 in an agreement between Ethiopia and the colonial rulers of the former British Somaliland. In another Anglo -Ethiopian Treaty of 1941 was confirmed. According to that treaty Great Britain took over for some time the management of the Haud and other areas in order to support the reconstruction of Ethiopia after the Italian -Ethiopian war, and retained until 1954 when a military presence.

The Somalia in 1960 as a merger of British and Italian Somaliland gained independence did not want to acknowledge what led to repeated clashes in the border area this delimitation. To date, the border dispute is unresolved. Furthermore allowed Ethiopia Somali nomads to cross the border and to graze their cattle in the Haud, as they have for centuries.