Somalia

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Somalia

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliya/Republic of Somalia Area 637,700 sq km/246,215 sq mi Capital Mogadishu (and chief port) Language Somali, Arabic (both official), Italian, English Religion Sunni Muslim; small Christian community, mainly Roman Catholic Time difference GMT +3 Major holidays 1 January, 1 May, 26 June, 1 July, 21 October (2 days); variable: Eid-ul-Adha (2 days), end of Ramadan (2 days), Prophet's Birthday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Hargeysa, Berbera, Kismaayo, Marka Major ports Berbera, Marka, Kismaayo Physical features mainly flat, with hills in north Airports one international airport and about 60 domestic airports and airfields Railways none Roads total road network: 22,100 km/13,733 mi, of which 11.8% paved (1996 est); passenger cars: 0.1 per 1,000 people (1999 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Abdiqasim Salad Hassan from 2000 Head of government Ali Muhammad Gedi from 2005 Political system military Political executive military Administrative divisions 18 regions Political parties parties are mainly clan-based and include the United Somali Congress (USC), Hawiye clan; Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), Darod clan; Somali Southern Democratic Front (SSDF), Majertein clan; Somali Democratic Alliance (SDA), Gadabursi clan; United Somali Front (USF), Issa clan; Somali National Movement (SNM) based in self-proclaimed Somaliland Republic Death penalty retained and used for ordinary crimes Armed forces 7,000 (2004 est) Defence spend (% GDP) 4 (2002 est) Health spend (% GDP) 1.2 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency Somali shilling GDP (US$) 4.8 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 2.4 (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 600 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 20% (2002) Unemployment 47.4% (2002 est) Labour force 66.9% agriculture, 9% industry, 24.1% services (2002) Foreign debt (US$) 2 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners United Arab Emirates, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kenya, Brazil, India, Nigeria, Kuwait, Oman Resources chromium, coal, salt, tin, zinc, copper, gypsum, manganese, iron ore, uranium, gold, silver; deposits of petroleum and natural gas have been discovered but remain unexploited Industries food processing (especially sugar refining), textiles, petroleum refining, processing of hides and skins Exports livestock, skins and hides, bananas, fish and fish products, myrrh. Principal market: United Arab Emirates 33% (2002) Imports ppetroleum, fertilizers, foodstuffs, machinery and parts, manufacturing raw materials. Principal source: Djibouti 27% (2002) Arable land 1.6% (2006 est) Agricultural products bananas, sugar cane, maize, sorghum, grapefruit, seed cotton; agriculture is based on livestock rearing (cattle, sheep, goats, and camels) – 80% of the population depend on this activity


POPULATION

Population 9,495,700 (2006 est) Population growth rate 3.1% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 13 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 36 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 44%, 15–59 52%, 60+ 4% (2005 est) Ethnic groups 98% indigenous Somali (about 84% Hamitic and 14% Bantu); population is divided into around 100 clans Life expectancy 48 (men); 50 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 225 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 8 Literacy rate 36% (men); 14% (women) (1995 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 0.4 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 0.8 (2002 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.9 (2005 est) AIDS deaths 4,100 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 32 (urban); 27 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 1.2 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 6.1 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 60 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 26 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 0.6 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 3.1 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

8th–10th centuries Arab ancestors of Somali clan families migrated to the region and introduced Sunni Islam; coastal trading cities, including Mogadishu, were formed by Arabian immigrants and developed into sultanates. 11th–14th century Southward and westward movement of Somalis and Islamization of Christian Ethiopian interior. early 16th century Portuguese contacts with coastal region. 1820s First British contacts with northern Somalia. 1884–87 British protectorate of Somaliland established in north. 1889 Italian protectorate of Somalia established in south. 1927 Italian Somalia became a colony and part of Italian East Africa from 1936. 1941 Italian Somalia occupied by Britain during World War II. 1943 Somali Youth League (SYL) formed as nationalist party. 1950 Italy resumed control over Italian Somalia under UN trusteeship. 1960 Independence achieved from Italy and Britain as Somalia, with Aden Abdullah Osman as president. 1963 Border dispute with Kenya; diplomatic relations broken with Britain for five years. 1969 President Ibrahim Egal assassinated in army coup led by Maj-Gen Muhammad Siad Barre; constitution suspended, political parties banned, and socialist-Islamic state formed. 1972 20,000 died in severe drought. 1977–78 Defeated in war with Ethiopia over Ogaden region. 1979 New constitution for socialist one-party state dominated by Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP). 1980s Increasing opposition to Siad Barre's regime. 1991 Siad Barre overthrown by rebels; power struggle between rival warlords Ali Mahdi Muhammad and Farah Aidid; secession of northeast Somalia as Somaliland Republic announced, but not recognized internationally. 1992 United Nations (UN) peacekeeping troops, led by US Marines, sent in to protect aid operations. 1994 Most Western peacekeeping troops withdrawn, but clan-based fighting continued. 1996 Aidid killed in fighting; succeeded by son Hussein Aidid. 1998 Puntland region in northeast declared itself autonomous state. 2000 Reconciliation conference in Djibouti agreed on power-sharing settlement and transitional constitution; new parliament elected. 2002 Southwestern Somalia region broke away to become third autonomous state. 2004 Transitional federal government based on clan representation established in Kenya; Abdullahi Yusuf elected president. 2006 Islamist militias seized control of Mogadishu and southern Somalia from clan warlords, but then defeated by transitional government forces backed by Ethiopian troops. 2007 US air strikes in south against remaining Islamists and suspected al-Qaeda fighters; African Union peacekeeping mission authorized.


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