:Somalia Geography

Total area:
    637,660 km2
Land area:
    627,340 km2
Comparative area:
    slightly smaller than Texas
Land boundaries:
    2,340 km total; Djibouti 58 km, Ethiopia 1,600 km, Kenya 682 km
Coastline:
    3,025 km
Maritime claims:
  Territorial sea:
    200 nm
Disputes:
    southern half of boundary with Ethiopia is a Provisional Administrative
    Line; territorial dispute with Ethiopia over the Ogaden; possible claims to
    Djibouti and parts of Ethiopia and Kenya based on unification of ethnic
    Somalis
Climate:
    desert; northeast monsoon (December to February), cooler southwest monsoon
    (May to October); irregular rainfall; hot, humid periods (tangambili)
    between monsoons
Terrain:
    mostly flat to undulating plateau rising to hills in north
Natural resources:
    uranium and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite,
    copper, salt
Land use:
    arable land 2%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 46%; forest and
    woodland 14%; other 38%; includes irrigated 3%
Environment:
    recurring droughts; frequent dust storms over eastern plains in summer;
    deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Note:
    strategic location on Horn of Africa along southern approaches to Bab el
    Mandeb and route through Red Sea and Suez Canal

:Somalia People

Population:
    7,235,226 (July 1992), growth rate 2.1% (1992)
Birth rate:
    46 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
    13 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
    -12 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
    115 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
    56 years male, 57 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
    7.1 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
    noun - Somali(s); adjective - Somali
Ethnic divisions:
    Somali 85%, rest mainly Bantu; Arabs 30,000, Europeans 3,000, Asians 800
Religions:
    almost entirely Sunni Muslim
Languages:
    Somali (official); Arabic, Italian, English
Literacy:
    24% (male 36%, female 14%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
    2,200,000; very few are skilled laborers; pastoral nomad 70%, agriculture,
    government, trading, fishing, handicrafts, and other 30%; 53% of population
    of working age (1985)
Organized labor:
    General Federation of Somali Trade Unions was controlled by the government
    prior to January 1991; the fall of SIAD regime may have led to collapse of
    Trade Union organization

:Somalia Government

Long-form name:
    none
Type:
    none
Capital:
    Mogadishu
Administrative divisions:
    16 regions (plural - NA, singular - gobolka); Bakool, Banaadir, Bari, Bay,
    Galguduud, Gedo, Hiiraan, Jubbada Dhexe, Jubbada Hoose, Mudug, Nugaal,
    Sanaag, Shabeellaha Dhexe, Shabeellaha Hoose, Togdheer, Woqooyi Galbeed
Independence:
    1 July 1960 (from a merger of British Somaliland, which became independent
    from the UK on 26 June 1960, and Italian Somaliland, which became
    independent from the Italian-administered UN trusteeship on 1 July 1960, to
    form the Somali Republic)
Constitution:
    25 August 1979, presidential approval 23 September 1979
National holiday:
    NA
Executive branch:
    president, two vice presidents, prime minister, Council of Ministers
    (cabinet)
Legislative branch:
    unicameral People's Assembly (Golaha Shacbiga)
Judicial branch:
    Supreme Court
Leaders:
  Chief of State:
    Interim President ALI Mahdi Mohamed (since 27 January 1991)
  Head of Government:
    Prime Minister OMAR Arteh Ghalib (since 27 January 1991)
Political parties and leaders:
    the United Somali Congress (USC) ousted the former regime on 27 January
    1991; note - formerly the only party was the Somali Revolutionary Socialist
    Party (SRSP), headed by former President and Commander in Chief of the Army
    Maj. Gen. Mohamed SIAD Barre
Suffrage:
    universal at age 18
Elections:
  President:
    last held 23 December 1986 (next to be held NA); results - President SIAD
    was reelected without opposition
  People's Assembly:
    last held 31 December 1984 (next to be held NA); results - SRSP was the only
    party; seats - (177 total, 171 elected) SRSP 171; note - the United Somali
    Congress (USC) ousted the regime of Maj. Gen. Mohamed SIAD Barre on 27
    January 1991; the provisional government has promised that a democratically
    elected government will be established
Member of:
    ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD,
    IFC, IGADD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ITU,
    LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation:
    Ambassador (vacant); Chancery at Suite 710, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW,
    Washington, DC 20037; telephone (202) 342-1575; there is a Somali Consulate
    General in New York; note - Somalian Embassy ceased operations on 8 May 1991

:Somalia Government

  US:
    Ambassador (vacant); Embassy at K-7, AFGOI Road, Mogadishu (mailing address
    is P. O. Box 574, Mogadishu); telephone [252] (01) 39971; note - US Embassy
    evacuated and closed indefinitely in January 1991
Flag:
    light blue with a large white five-pointed star in the center; design based
    on the flag of the UN (Italian Somaliland was a UN trust territory)

:Somalia Economy

Overview:
    One of the world's poorest and least developed countries, Somalia has few
    resources. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, with the
    livestock sector accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of export
    earnings. Nomads and seminomads who are dependent upon livestock for their
    livelihoods make up more than half of the population. Crop production
    generates only 10% of GDP and employs about 20% of the work force. The main
    export crop is bananas; sugar, sorghum, and corn are grown for the domestic
    market. The small industrial sector is based on the processing of
    agricultural products and accounts for less than 10% of GDP. Greatly
    increased political turmoil in 1991-92 has resulted in a substantial drop in
    output, with widespread famine a grim fact of life.
GDP:
    exchange rate conversion - $1.7 billion, per capita $210; real growth rate
    -1.4% (1988)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
    210% (1989)
Unemployment rate:
    NA%
Budget:
    revenues $190 million; expenditures $195 million, including capital
    expenditures of $111 million (1989 est.)
Exports:
    $58.0 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.)
  commodities:
    bananas, livestock, fish, hides, skins
  partners:
    US 0.5%, Saudi Arabia, Italy, FRG (1986)
Imports:
    $249 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.)
  commodities:
    petroleum products, foodstuffs, construction materials
  partners:
    US 13%, Italy, FRG, Kenya, UK, Saudi Arabia (1986)
External debt:
    $1.9 billion (1989)
Industrial production:
    growth rate -5.0% (1988); accounts for 5% of GDP
Electricity:
    75,000 kW capacity; 60 million kWh produced, 10 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
    a few small industries, including sugar refining, textiles, petroleum
    refining
Agriculture:
    dominant sector, led by livestock raising (cattle, sheep, goats); crops -
    bananas, sorghum, corn, mangoes, sugarcane; not self-sufficient in food;
    fishing potential largely unexploited
Economic aid:
    US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $639 million; Western (non-US)
    countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $3.8 billion; OPEC
    bilateral aid (1979-89), $1.1 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $336
    million
Currency:
    Somali shilling (plural - shillings); 1 Somali shilling (So. Sh.) = 100
    centesimi
Exchange rates:
    Somali shillings (So. Sh.) per US$1 - 3,800.00 (December 1990), 490.7
    (1989), 170.45 (1988), 105.18 (1987), 72.00 (1986)

:Somalia Economy

Fiscal year:
    calendar year

:Somalia Communications

Highways:
    15,215 km total; including 2,335 km paved, 2,880 km gravel, and 10,000 km
    improved earth or stabilized soil (1983)
Pipelines:
    crude oil 15 km
Ports:
    Mogadishu, Berbera, Chisimayu, Bosaso
Merchant marine:
    3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,913 GRT/8,718 DWT; includes 2 cargo,
    1 refrigerated cargo
Civil air:
    1 major transport aircraft
Airports:
    53 total, 40 usable; 7 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over
    3,659 m; 6 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 15 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
    minimal telephone and telegraph service; microwave and troposcatter system
    centered on Mogadishu connects a few towns; 6,000 telephones; broadcast
    stations - 2 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station;
    scheduled to receive an ARABSAT ground station

:Somalia Defense Forces

Branches:
    NA
Manpower availability:
    males 15-49, 1,673,542; 942,153 fit for military service
Defense expenditures:
    exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP