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Somalia is situated in the eastern Africa. It is bordered by the Gulf of Aden and Yemen in the North, the indian Ocean in the East, Ethiopia towards the west, Djibouti to the northwest and Kenya on its southwest. It has a total land boundary stretching upto 2,340 km, and has a coastline stretching upto 3,025 km. Somalia claims a territorial sea of about 200 nm. Geographical terrain is mostly flat to undulating plateau rising to hills in north.
The lowest point is indian Ocean with 0 m and highest point is the Shimbiris with about 2,416 m.
The natural resources to be found in Somalia is uranium and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt, natural gas and likely oil reserves.
Climate.
Somalia is principally a desert. It witness northeast monsoon from December to February, with moderate temperatures in north and hot in south. It faces southwest monsoon from May to October, torrid in the north and hot in the south. It has irregular rainfall, hot and humid periods between monsoons. |
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| People |
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The total population estimated to be in Somalia is 9,558,666. The process of calculating the population is rather a complicated matter as there is a lot of movement with large number of nomads and refugee with effect to famine and clan warfare.
The chief ethnic group is Somali comprising 85% of the population, Bantu and other non-Somali with 15% which also includes 30000. The religion followed by people chiefly is Sunni Muslim. The official language is Somali and other languages are Arabic, Italian and English. |
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| Government |
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Somalia has no permanent national government since 1991. Somalia has a transitional, parliamentary federal government. Many small political organization exist some are clan-based, others seeking a Somalia free from clan-based politics. The political situation is very unstable. In the northwest, there is Somaliland a secessionist region with its capital in Hargesia that declared its independence in 1991.This Issaq-dominated governing zone is not recognized by any major international organization or country, it has remained more stable and much more peaceful than the rest of Somalia. Puntland located in the northeast remains autonomous but supports the Transitional Government and, unlike Somaliland, considers itself a part of the Somali Republic.
Maakhir, which is a self-proclaimed autonomous state within Somalia on an area disputed by Somaliland and Puntland, Maakhir comprises of Sanaag region and some parts of Bari region. It was declared in July 1, 2007, it remains unrecognized by the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. Warsangali clan are the inhabitants of Maakhir. Chief of the state is the Transitional Federal President and head of the government is the Prime Minister. The Cabinet is appointed by the Prime Minister and approved by the Transitional Federal Assembly.
Jubaland and Southwestern Somalia in the southwestern interior have both recognized the Transitional Federal Government and local leaders are part of the government.
Somalia is administratively divided into 18 regions: Awdal, Bakool, Banaadir, Bari, Bay, Gedo, Galguduud, Hiiraan, Jubbada Dhexe, Jubbada Hoose, Mudug, Nugaal, Sanaag, Shabeellaha Dhexe, Shabeellaha Hoose, Sool, Togdheer and Woqooyi Galbeed
Capital: Mogadishu
Independence: 1 July 1960
Transitional Federal President: Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
Prime Minister: Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein
Currency: Somali Shillings |
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| Economy |
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Somalia has maintained a healthy informal economy, based largely on livestock, money transfer companies and telecommunications, despite of all the political inadequacies. Agriculture is the chief sector, with livestock accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of export earnings. 71% of the labor force is into agriculture sector. Nomads and semi-pastoralists, dependent upon livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population. Somalia has a small industrial sector, which is based on the processing of agricultural products; it has largely been looted and sold as scrap metal. The service sector has also grown. Telecommunication firms provide wireless services in most major cities and offer the lowest international call rates on the continent. As there is no formal banking sector, money exchange services have sprouted throughout the country, handling between $500 million and $1 billion in transfer annually. Mogadishu's which is the main market offers a variety of goods from food to the newest electronic gadgets.
Chief agricultural products to be found in Somalia are bananas, sorghum, corn, coconuts, rice, sugarcane, mangoes, sesame seeds, beans; cattle, sheep, goats and fish. The industrial produce and service are a few light industries, including sugar refining, textiles and wireless communication |
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