Britain withdrew from British Somaliland in 1960 to allow its protectorate to join with Italian Somaliland and form the new nation of Somalia. In 1969, a coup headed by Mohamed SIAD Barre ushered in an authoritarian socialist rule characterized by the persecution, jailing and torture of political opponents and dissidents. After the regime's collapse early in 1991, Somalia descended into turmoil, factional fighting, and anarchy. In May 1991, northern clans declared an independent Republic of Somaliland that now includes the administrative regions of Awdal, Woqooyi Galbeed, Togdheer, Sanaag, and Sool. Although not recognized by any government, this entity has maintained a stable existence and continues efforts to establish a constitutional democracy, including holding municipal, parliamentary, and presidential elections. The regions of Bari, Nugaal, and northern Mudug comprise a neighboring semi-autonomous state of Puntland, which has been self-governing since 1998 but does not aim at independence; it has also made strides toward reconstructing a legitimate, representative government but has suffered some civil strife. Puntland disputes its border with Somaliland as it also claims portions of eastern Sool and Sanaag. Beginning in 1993, a two-year UN humanitarian effort (primarily in the south) was able to alleviate famine conditions, but when the UN withdrew in 1995, having suffered significant casualties, order still had not been restored. In 2000, the Somalia National Peace Conference (SNPC) held in Djibouti resulted in the formation of an interim government, known as the Transitional National Government (TNG). When the TNG failed to establish adequate security or governing institutions, the Government of Kenya, under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), led a subsequent peace process that concluded in October 2004 with the election of Abdullahi YUSUF Ahmed as President of a second interim government, known as the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of the Somali Republic. The TFG included a 275-member parliamentary body, known as the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP). President YUSUF resigned late in 2008 while United Nations-sponsored talks between the TFG and the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) were underway in Djibouti. In January 2009, following the creation of a TFG-ARS unity government, Ethiopian military forces, which had entered Somalia in December 2006 to support the TFG in the face of advances by the opposition Islamic Courts Union (ICU), withdrew from the country. The TFP was increased to 550 seats with the addition of 200 ARS and 75 civil society members of parliament. The expanded parliament elected Sheikh SHARIF Sheikh Ahmed, the former CIC and ARS chairman as president on 31 January 2009, in Djibouti. Subsequently, President SHARIF appointed Omar Abdirashid ali SHARMARKE, son of a former president of Somalia, as prime minister on 13 February 2009. SHARMARKE resigned in September 2010 and was replaced by Mohamed Abdullahi MOHAMED, aka Farmajo, a dual US-Somali citizen who lived in the United States from 1985 until his return to Somalia in October 2010. The creation of the TFG was based on the Transitional Federal Charter (TFC), which outlines a five-year mandate leading to the establishment of a new Somali constitution and a transition to a representative government following national elections. However, in January 2009 the TFP amended the TFC to extend TFG's mandate until 2011.

Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, east of Ethiopia

10 00 N, 49 00 E

Africa

slightly smaller than Texas

3,025 km

principally desert; northeast monsoon (December to February), moderate temperatures in north and hot in south; southwest monsoon (May to October), torrid in the north and hot in the south, irregular rainfall, hot and humid periods (tangambili) between monsoons

mostly flat to undulating plateau rising to hills in north

uranium and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt, natural gas, likely oil reserves

2,000 sq km (2008)

15.7 cu km (1997)

recurring droughts; frequent dust storms over eastern plains in summer; floods during rainy season

famine; use of contaminated water contributes to human health problems; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

strategic location on Horn of Africa along southern approaches to Bab el Mandeb and route through Red Sea and Suez Canal

Somali 85%, Bantu and other non-Somali 15% (including 30,000 Arabs)

Somali (official), Arabic, Italian, English

Sunni Muslim

9,925,640 (July 2011 est.)

1.603% (2011 est.)

42.71 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)

14.87 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)

-11.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)

MOGADISHU (capital) 1.353 million (2009)

1,200 deaths/100,000 live births (2008)

6.35 children born/woman (2011 est.)

0.035 physicians/1,000 population (2006)

urban: 67% of population

rural: 9% of population

total: 30% of population

urban: 33% of population

rural: 91% of population

total: 70% of population (2008)

urban: 52% of population

rural: 6% of population

total: 23% of population

urban: 48% of population

rural: 94% of population

total: 77% of population (2008)

0.7% (2009 est.)

34,000 (2009 est.)

1,600 (2009 est.)

32.8% (2006)

NA

no permanent national government; transitional, parliamentary federal government

18 regions (plural - NA, singular - gobolka); Awdal, Bakool, Banaadir, Bari, Bay, Galguduud, Gedo, Hiiraan, Jubbada Dhexe (Middle Jubba), Jubbada Hoose (Lower Jubba), Mudug, Nugaal, Sanaag, Shabeellaha Dhexe (Middle Shabeelle), Shabeellaha Hoose (Lower Shabeelle), Sool, Togdheer, Woqooyi Galbeed

1 July 1960 (from a merger of British Somaliland that became independent from the UK on 26 June 1960 and Italian Somaliland that became independent from the Italian-administered UN trusteeship on 1 July 1960 to form the Somali Republic)

Foundation of the Somali Republic, 1 July (1960); note - 26 June (1960) in Somaliland

25 August 1979, presidential approval 23 September 1979

mixed legal system of civil law, Islamic law, and customary law (referred to as Xeer)

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; non-party state to the ICCt

18 years of age; universal

unicameral National Assembly

following the breakdown of the central government, most regions have reverted to local forms of conflict resolution, either secular, traditional Somali customary law, or sharia (Islamic) law with a provision for appeal of all sentences

none

ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AU, CAEU, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITSO, ITU, LAS, NAM, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Somalia does not have an embassy in the US (ceased operations on 8 May 1991); note - the Transitional Federal Government is represented in the United States through its Permanent Mission to the United Nations

the US does not have an embassy in Somalia; US interests are represented by the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya at United Nations Avenue, Nairobi; mailing address: Unit 64100, Nairobi; APO AE 09831; telephone: [254] (20) 363-6000; FAX [254] (20) 363-6157

light blue with a large white five-pointed star in the center; the blue field was originally influenced by the flag of the UN, but today is said to denote the sky and the neighboring Indian Ocean; the five points of the star represent the five regions in the horn of Africa that are inhabited by Somali people: the former British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland (which together make up Somalia), Djibouti, Ogaden (Ethiopia), and the Northern Frontier District (Kenya)

leopard

although an interim government was created in 2004, other regional and local governing bodies continue to exist and control various regions of the country, including the self-declared Republic of Somaliland in northwestern Somalia and the semi-autonomous State of Puntland in northeastern Somalia

Despite the lack of effective national governance, Somalia has maintained a healthy informal economy, largely based on livestock, remittance/money transfer companies, and telecommunications. Agriculture is the most important sector with livestock normally accounting for about 40% of GDP and more than 50% of export earnings. Nomads and semi-pastoralists, who are dependent upon livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population. Livestock, hides, fish, charcoal, and bananas are Somalia's principal exports, while sugar, sorghum, corn, qat, and machined goods are the principal imports. Somalia's small industrial sector, based on the processing of agricultural products, has largely been looted and the machinery sold as scrap metal. Somalia's service sector also has grown. Telecommunication firms provide wireless services in most major cities and offer the lowest international call rates on the continent. In the absence of a formal banking sector, money transfer/remittance services have sprouted throughout the country, handling up to $1.6 billion in remittances annually. Mogadishu's main market offers a variety of goods from food to the newest electronic gadgets. Hotels continue to operate and are supported with private-security militias. Due to armed attacks on and threats to humanitarian aid workers, the World Food Programme partially suspended its operations in southern Somalia in early January 2010 pending improvement in the security situation. Somalia's arrears to the IMF have continued to grow.

$5.896 billion (2010 est.)

$5.75 billion (2009 est.)

$5.607 billion (2008 est.)

$2.372 billion (2010 est.)

2.6% (2010 est.)

2.6% (2009 est.)

2.6% (2008 est.)

$600 (2010 est.)

$600 (2009 est.)

$600 (2008 est.)

3.447 million (few skilled laborers) (2007)

NA%

NA%

NA%

NA%

NA%

NA%

bananas, sorghum, corn, coconuts, rice, sugarcane, mangoes, sesame seeds, beans; cattle, sheep, goats; fish

a few light industries, including sugar refining, textiles, wireless communication

NA%

315 million kWh (2008 est.)

293 million kWh (2008 est.)

0 kWh (2009 est.)

0 kWh (2009 est.)

110 bbl/day (2010 est.)

5,000 bbl/day (2010 est.)

1,109 bbl/day (2009 est.)

3,827 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2011 est.)

0 cu m (2009 est.)

0 cu m (2009 est.)

0 cu m (2009 est.)

0 cu m (2009 est.)

5.663 billion cu m (1 January 2011 est.)

$300 million (2006)

livestock, bananas, hides, fish, charcoal, scrap metal

UAE 51.3%, Yemen 19.8%, Oman 13% (2010)

$798 million (2006)

manufactures, petroleum products, foodstuffs, construction materials, qat

Djibouti 31.5%, Kenya 8.2%, Pakistan 7.4%, China 6.5%, Brazil 5.7%, Yemen 5.1%, Oman 5%, UAE 4.9% (2010)

$3 billion (2001 est.)

Somali shillings (SOS) per US dollar -

NA (2007-10)

1,438.3 (2006) official rate; the unofficial black market rate was about 23,000 shillings per dollar as of February 2007, the Republic of Somaliland, a self-declared independent country not recognized by any foreign government, issues its own currency, the Somaliland shilling

100,000 (2010)

648,200 (2010)

2 private TV stations rebroadcast Al-Jazeera and CNN; Somaliland has 1 government-operated TV station and Puntland has 1 private TV station; Radio Mogadishu operated by the transitional government; 1 SW and roughly 10 private FM radio stations broadcast in Mogadishu; several radio stations operate in central and southern regions; Somaliland has 1 government-operated radio station; Puntland has roughly a half dozen private radio stations; transmissions of at least 2 international broadcasters are available (2007)

.so

3 (2010)

106,000 (2009)

59 (2010)

Berbera, Kismaayo

the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean remain the region of greatest risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships accounting for 50% of all attacks in 2010; 217 vessels, including commercial shipping and pleasure craft, were attacked or hijacked both at anchor and while underway; hijackings off the coast of Somalia accounted for 92% of all ship seizures in 2010; as of May 2011, 26 vessels and 522 hostages were being held for ransom by Somali pirates; the presence of several naval task forces in the Gulf of Aden and additional anti-piracy measures on the part of ship operators have reduced piracy incidents in that body of water; in response Somali-based pirates, using hijacked fishing trawlers as "mother ships" to extend their range, shifted operations as far south as the Mozambique Channel and eastward to the vicinity of the Maldives

National Security Force (NSF): Somali Army (2011)

0.9% of GDP (2005 est.)

Ethiopian forces invaded southern Somalia and routed Islamist Courts from Mogadishu in January 2007; "Somaliland" secessionists provide port facilities in Berbera to landlocked Ethiopia and have established commercial ties with other regional states; "Puntland" and "Somaliland" "governments" seek international support in their secessionist aspirations and overlapping border claims; the undemarcated former British administrative line has little meaning as a political separation to rival clans within Ethiopia's Ogaden and southern Somalia's Oromo region; Kenya works hard to prevent the clan and militia fighting in Somalia from spreading south across the border, which has long been open to nomadic pastoralists