Somalia
Somalia was formed by the merger of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland in 1960.
A military regime forced their way into power and there was a lot of fighting for a lot of years. In 1992, the UN stepped in and a peace plan was signed the following year. Unfortunately, large portions of the country still have no effective government.
Somalia is dry and sandy. Its position on the eastern "horn" of Africa became very important when the Suez Canal opened in 1869.