republic, E Africa, bounded on the N by the Gulf of Aden, on the E and S by the Indian Ocean, on the SW by Kenya, on the W by Ethiopia, and on the NW by Djibouti. The total area is 637,657 sq km (246,201 sq mi).

LAND AND RESOURCES

Somalia has a long coastline, extending for about 2735 km (about 1700 mi), but it has few natural harbors. A sandy coastal plain borders on the Gulf of Aden in the N. A series of mountain ranges, with average elevations between about 915 and 2135 m (about 3000 and 7000 ft), dominates the N part of the country. To the S, the interior consists of a rugged plateau, ranging in elevation from about 500 m (1640 ft) in the N to less than 185 m (600 ft) in the S. In the S, a wide coastal plain, with sand dunes, borders on the Indian Ocean. The country's two major rivers are situated on the S plateau, the Juba in the S part and the Webi Shabeelle in the S central section.

Climate.

The climate of Somalia ranges from tropical to subtropical and from arid to semiarid. Temperatures usually average 27.8° C (82° F), but may be as low as 0° C (32° F) in the mountain areas and as high as 46.7° C (116° F) along the coast. The monsoon winds bring a dry season from September to December and a rainy season from March to May. The average annual rainfall is only about 279 mm (about 11 in).

Natural Resources.

Somalia has few natural resources. The grasslands are suitable for grazing livestock, and the fertile land in the river valleys of the Juba and Webi Shabeelle and in some coastal areas is used for agricultural crops. Mineral resources are relatively diverse but have not been exploited. Known deposits include petroleum, copper, manganese, gypsum, iron, marble, meerschaum, tin, and uranium.

Plants and Animals.

Vegetation in Somalia consists chiefly of coarse grass and stunted thorn and acacia trees. Aromatic flora, producing frankincense and myrrh, are indigenous to the mountain slopes. In S Somalia, eucalyptus, euphorbia, and mahogany trees are found. The country's wildlife is abundant and includes the crocodile, elephant, giraffe, leopard, lion, zebra, and many poisonous snakes.

POPULATION

The vast majority of the population consists of Somali, a Cushitic people. A small minority of Bantu-speaking people live in the S part of the country. Other minority groups include Arabs, Indians, Italians, and Pakistanis. The majority of the people are nomadic or seminomadic pastoralists. The remainder are either crop farmers or inhabitants of the few urban centers.

Population Characteristics.

Because of the nomadic population and continuing death toll due to famine and civil strife, population estimates for Somalia are difficult to make. On the basis of extrapolations from a 1975 census, the 2006 population was estimated at about 8,863,000, leaving an overall population density of 14 persons per sq km (36 per sq mi). The principal city is Mogadishu, the capital, with a population (2002 est., urban agglom.) of 1,175,000. Other population centers (1997 est.) include Hargeysa (300,000) and Kismayu (90,000). An estimated 325,000 Somali refugees were living in neighboring countries in 2004. .

Language and Religion.

The official languages of Somalia are Somali and Arabic; English and Italian are also used. A Latin-based alphabet was created in the early 1980s for the Somali language, which previously had no written form. Islam, introduced to the area by about 1100, is the state religion, and nearly all the people are Sunni Muslims; some are followers of Sufism.

Education.

Somalia's educational system (public and religious) fell apart in the early 1990s, when the central government collapsed. State-run primary schools have gradually been reopening, but attendance has remained very low. Before it closed in 1991, the country's principal institution of higher learning, the Somali National University (founded in 1954, under this name since it became state-owned in 1969), located in Mogadishu, had an enrollment of nearly 16,000 students. It reopened as Mogadishu University, a private institution, in 1997. As of 2001 only 38% of the population aged 15 or over were estimated to be literate, that is, able to read and write.

ECONOMY

Economic activity has continued, being mostly local and relatively easily protected. The economy is based primarily on livestock raising; crop farming is of importance in the S. Efforts to diversify and modernize the economy have been pursued by governments through development plans, assisted by foreign grants and loans. But continuing civil disturbances and clan rivalries have interfered with any broad-based development and with effective international aid arrangements. All economic figures should be viewed as highly tentative. In 2006 gross domestic product was estimated at about $600 per capita.

Agriculture.

The principal occupation in Somalia is the raising of livestock. In 2002 livestock included an estimated 12.5 million goats,13 million sheep, and 5 million cattle. The principal crops (2003) include sugarcane (200,000 metric tons), corn (164,000), sorghum (121,000), cassava (85,000), bananas (55,000), and sesame seed (25,000).

Forestry and Fishing.

The major forestry products, frankincense and myrrh, are exported; the annual timber harvest is about 7 million cu m, of which more than 95% is used as fuel. In 2003 the fish catch was estimated at about 18,000 metric tons.

Manufacturing.

Manufacturing in Somalia is rudimentary. Prior to the civil war, a cement factory, a cotton gin, a meat and fish cannery, and a textile plant had been established. Other industries include oilseed and fruit processing plants, leather and shoe factories, and petroleum and sugar refineries. Much of the country's industrial resources have been looted.

Currency and Banking.

The unit of currency is the Somali shilling, consisting of 100 centesimi (1376 shillings equal U.S.$1; Sept. 2006). The national banking system has been destroyed by Somalia's civil war.

Foreign Trade.

In 2004 Somalia's exports totaled about $241 million, and imports about $576 million. The chief exports are livestock, fishery products, and bananas. Other exports include meat, leather and hides, and wood. The main imports are foodstuffs, chemicals, machinery, textiles, and petroleum. The major trade partners include United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Kenya, and Oman.

Transportation and Communications.

Somalia has no railroads; of some 21,000 km (about 13,000 mi) of roads, about 12% are paved. Mogadishu has the leading port and international air terminal. Rival clans established their own radio stations in the early 1990s. Telecommunications firm provide wireless services in most urban areas. Television stations included two in Mogadishu and two in Hargeisa in 2001. Somalia had about 100,000 telephones (main lines) and 500,000 (mobile cellular) and some 90,000 Internet users in 2005.

GOVERNMENT

The ouster of President Muhammad Siad Barre in January 1991 left Somalia in a state of civil war, with no clear central governmental authority. Various regions of the country broke away, including Somaliland in the northwest, which declared itself an independent republic in 1991, and Puntland in the northeast, which became self-governing in 1998. Mogadishu was under the control of secular warlords and, briefly in 2006, of an Islamist militia, the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts. But a UN-endorsed transitional government, installed in October 2004, gained control of the capital in December 2006.

Executive.

The head of state under the transitional federal government created in 2004 is Abdullah Yusef Ahmed (1934–    ); the prime minister is Ali Mohamed Ghedi (1952–    ).

Legislature.

A unicameral 275-member parliamentary body, known as the Transitional Federal Assembly represents various clans. There are no functioning political parties.

Judiciary.

Most regions have reverted to local forms of conflict resolution, based on secular or Islamic law.

Local Government.

Somalia has been divided into 18 regions, but local administration varies.

Health and Welfare.

Health conditions continue to be impacted by war and famine. Hospital and clinic services in Somalia are free, but resources are scarce. The estimated average life expectancy from birth in 2006 was 47 years for men and 50 years for women; the infant mortality rate was 115 per 1000 live births. Genital cutting, or female circumcision, is widely practiced. Cholera is endemic in Somalia, and about 43,000 Somalians were estimated in 2001 to be living with HIV/AIDS.

Defense.

Different areas of Somalia have their own armed forces, controlled by rival clans.

International Organizations.

Somalia is a member of the United Nations (UN), the Arab League, the African Union, the Council of Arab Economic Unity, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and is an African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) state of the European Union.

HISTORY

The history of the region now included in Somalia dates from antiquity, when the land was known to the ancient Egyptians as Punt. From the 2d to the 7th century ad parts of the area belonged to the Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum. Arab tribes in the 7th century settled along the coast of the Gulf of Aden and established the sultanate of Aden, which centered on the port of Zeila. The Somali people began slowly to migrate into this region from Yemen in the 13th century. The sultanate disintegrated during the 16th century into small independent states, many of which were ruled by Somali chiefs. Zeila became a dependency of Yemen, which was then a part of the Ottoman Empire.

European Colonization.

The first European power in the region was Great Britain. In order to protect British trade routes and provide safe anchorage for ships, Great Britain took possession of Aden (now in the Republic of Yemen) on the Arabian coast in 1839. Subsequently, about 1875, Egypt, disregarding Turkish claims, occupied some of the towns on the Somali coast and part of the adjacent interior. When the Egyptian troops left the area in 1882 to help stem the revolt of the Mahdi in the Sudan, Great Britain occupied the territory in order to safeguard the route to India through the Suez Canal, which had been opened in 1869. In 1887 a British protectorate, known as British Somaliland, was proclaimed. The protectorate, initially a dependency of Aden, was placed under the administration of the British foreign office in 1898 and of the colonial office in 1905.

Italian interest in the Somali coast developed in the late 19th century. By the terms of the treaties with native Somali sultans, and conventions with Great Britain, Ethiopia, and Zanzibar, Italy acquired a foothold along the Indian Ocean coast.

British control of the interior of the protectorate was challenged by native revolts between 1899 and 1910. In 1910 the British abandoned the interior and withdrew to the coastal regions. They finally subdued the rebels in 1920. During this period Italy extended control over the area inland from the Indian Ocean coast by the Treaty of London in 1915 and by various postwar agreements. In 1936 Italy merged Italian Somaliland, Eritrea, and the newly conquered Ethiopia into the colonial state of Italian East Africa. After the Italian entrance into World War II on the side of Germany in 1940, Italian troops invaded British Somaliland and succeeded in expelling the British. Great Britain reconquered its protectorate in 1941.

By the terms of the Italian peace treaty adopted in 1947 after World War II, Italy was forced to renounce title to the possessions in Africa, and responsibility for disposition of these colonies was allocated to the so-called Big Four (the U.S., Great Britain, France, and the USSR). In 1948 the Big Four, having failed to reach an agreement on disposition, referred the matter to the General Assembly of the UN. A plan granting independence to Italian Somaliland after ten years as a UN trust territory under Italian administration was approved by the General Assembly in November 1949. On April 1, 1950, after Italy had accepted the terms of a UN trusteeship agreement, the British military government was replaced by a provisional Italian administration. The territory was designated Somalia.

Independence.

On July 1, 1960, by agreement with the UN Trusteeship Council, Somalia was granted independence. It merged thereupon with the former British protectorate, to which Great Britain, by prearrangement, had given independence on June 26. The first president, Aden Abdullah Osman Daar (1908–    ), elected in 1960, was defeated for reelection in 1967 by the former premier Abdi Rashid Ali Shirmarke (1919–69). On Oct. 15, 1969, Shirmarke was assassinated, and days later a military group, led by Maj. Gen. Muhammad Siad Barre, seized power. In 1970 Barre declared Somalia a socialist state, and in the following years most of the modern economy of the country was nationalized. A drought in 1974–75 caused widespread starvation.

Conflict with Ethiopia.

In mid-1977 ethnic Somalis in the adjacent Ogaden region of Ethiopia initiated open warfare aimed at ending Ethiopian control of the area. The rebels were armed by Somalia, which also contributed troops to the effort. The Somalis captured most of the Ogaden by late 1977, but Ethiopia, aided by Cuba and the USSR, reasserted control over the region in early 1978, as Somalia's army suffered heavy losses. Subsequent fighting in the Ogaden precipitated a flood of refugees into Somalia; the number of homeless in 1981 was estimated at close to 2 million. The U.S. gave both humanitarian and military aid and was in return granted use of the naval facilities at Berbera, previously a Soviet base. Hostilities with Ethiopia and Ethiopian-backed Somali rebels continued sporadically until 1988, when a peace accord was signed.

Civil War and Anarchy.

As fighting inside Somalia intensified, Barre was forced to flee the capital, escaping to Nigeria in January 1991. Subsequent fighting among the parties, clans, and guerrilla groups plunged the country into civil war that lasted into the early 2000s. In 1991 and 1992 alone, some 50,000 people were killed in factional conflict, and an estimated 300,000 died of starvation as it became impossible to distribute food in the war-ravaged nation. On Dec. 9, 1992, a contingent of U.S. Marines landed near Mogadishu, the vanguard of a UN peacekeeping force sent to restore order. International agencies soon resumed food distribution and other humanitarian aid, interrupted in 1993 by sporadic outbreaks of violence, including the ambush murder of 24 UN soldiers from Pakistan. In the same year, the UN authorized the arrest of Gen. Mohammad Farrah Aidid (1935?–96), leader of one of the factions fighting to control the capital; the death of 18 U.S. soldiers in the unsuccessful operation helped prompt the U.S. to end its peacekeeping role in Somalia in March 1994.

When the last UN troops pulled out a year later, ending a mission that cost more than $2 billion, there was still no functioning government in Mogadishu, and some two dozen armed factions controlled different parts of the country. In June 1995 Aidid declared himself president of the country and refused to enter peace talks with other clan leaders unless they recognized his government. After Aidid's death from gunshot wounds in August 1996, his son Hussein Mohamed Aidid (1963–    ) assumed his place, as factional fighting continued.

During the next ten years the country had no effective government, as rival factions vied for power, and some parts of the country, especially in the south, faced severe food shortages. An accord reached in 2000 led to the formation of a government with veteran politician Abdiqassim Salad Hassan (1942–    ) as president, but it did not control much of the country. A peace agreement signed in 2004 led to the installation of a new legislature and president, Abdullah Yusuf Ahmed (1934–    ). However, the new, UN-backed transitional federal government, based in Baidoa, lacked control over much of the country, including the capital city of Mogadishu. On June 5, 2006, an Islamist militia took over Mogadishu, having defeated secular warlords widely believed to be backed by the United States, which said the Islamists were linked to and shielding al-Qaeda terrorists. The Islamists imposed Islamic law in areas under their control, and they denounced the intervention of Ethiopian troops that entered Somalia on the side of the federal government.

On Sept. 18, 2006, Yusuf narrowly survived assassination, in a suicide bombing that killed his brother and several others. Islamists were blamed, but disavowed responsibility. By the end of the year, the Islamists had been routed by forces loyal to the transitional government, with the help of Ethiopian troops, and on Jan. 8, 2007, President Yusuf returned from its base in Baidoa to Mogadishu. Ethiopian troops began leaving Somalia in late January. Prospects for the future remained uncertain.

For further information on this topic, see the Bibliography, sections 131. Islam, 1009. Geography of Africa, 1010. African culture, 1011. African history, 1030. Somalia.