Society and culture
Most Somalis are traditionally shepherds and nomadic people who travel with their animals - mainly camels, depending on terrain and region but also sheep and goats or cattle - through the lowlands of the Horn of Africa in search of pastures and waterholes for their animals. In southwestern Somalia, the sedentary Somali clans of the Rahaweyn, Bantus, husbandry and livestock hold there. Now, many Somali people have settled in towns and villages. However, a large part still lives as nomads or semi-nomads. The Somali are exclusively Muslims, mainly Sunnis of the Shafi law school. They were among the first peoples in Africa to accept Islam. By the end of the first millennium, parts of them had been converted, mainly to coastal trading cities such as Azaeila, Mogadisho, Barbara and the surrounding areas.Somali women often wear a cotton dress (Guntiino) and a cloth (garbasaar) covering their hair; Face veils are traditionally not common, but have been worn more often since the 1980s, especially in cities. The circumcision of boys is just as common as the circumcision for girls, which is usually performed in the most invasive form of infibulation. Fortunately, in Somalia itself, as abroad, the girl circumcision is fiercely fought. Girl circumcision is a tradition and is not required in the Koran.