Ogaden

Ogaden (ōgä`dān), region, in the Somali region, SE Ethiopia, bordering on Somalia. It is an arid region, inhabited mainly by Somali pastoral nomads. The region was conquered by Menelik II of Ethiopia in 1891. A clash (Dec. 5, 1934) between Italian and Ethiopian troops at the watering hole of Welwel in the Ogaden was used as a pretext by Italy to begin a war (1935–36) against Ethiopia. Since 1960, Somali nationalists have demanded the union of the Ogaden with Somalia, and there have been violent clashes over the precise boundaries of the Ogaden. In the late 1970s, the Soviet Union, Cuba, South Yemen, and Libya all backed Ethiopian interests in the region, and Somalia withdrew its troops. However, fighting continued intermittently until 1988, when Somalia and Ethiopia signed a nonaggression pact. The war and devastating drought conditions have resulted in millions of refugees and acute resettlement problems.

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Ogaden

Region, eastern Ethiopia. In the triangular wedge that juts into Somalia, it is a dry, barren plain sparsely populated by Somali-speaking nomadic pastoralists. Conquered in the late 19th century by the Ethiopian emperor Menilek II, it was invaded by Italy in 1935 and made part of Italian East Africa. Liberated in 1941, it remained under British administration until 1948. It was invaded by Somalia in 1977 and retaken by Ethiopia in 1978, with help from Cuba and the Soviet Union.

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Ogaden

the. a region of SE Ethiopia, bordering on Somalia: consists of a desert plateau, inhabited by Somali nomads; a secessionist movement, supported by Somalia, has existed within the region since the early 1960s and led to bitter fighting between Ethiopia and Somalia (1977--78)