Former British protectorate, southern shore of the Gulf of Aden , eastern Africa.
It occupied 67,936 sq mi (175,954 sq km). In the Middle Ages it was a powerful Arab sultanate; it was broken up in the 17th century. Its coast came under British influence in the early 19th century, but formal control was not acquired until it was taken from Egypt in 1884. It fell under Italian control in World War II. In 1960 it was united with the former Italian Somaliland to form Somalia. See also Somaliland .