Keep Up With Global Black News

Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest updates and events from the leading Afro-Diaspora publisher straight to your inbox.

BY Sandra Appiah, 12:00am March 03, 2011,

SOMALIA

by Sandra Appiah, 12:00am March 03, 2011,

 Somalia is a semiarid land in the Horn of Africa, and it is flat in the south, with mountains in the north reaching more than 2,000 meters (6,500 feet). In 1960 northern British Somaliland voted to join southern Italian Somaliland to create Somalia. The Somalis are one of the most homogeneous peoples in Africa, but unity is thwarted by clan-based rivalries. Civil war ended a 21-year dictatorship in 1991, and Somalia has been without a national government since that time. UN efforts from 1992 to 1995 to stop clan fighting failed, and UN and U.S. forces left after suffering high casualties. In southern Somalia the absence of a government means declining health and increasing poverty.

More prosperous is the "Republic of Somaliland," which seceded from the rest of Somalia in 1991—within the old borders of British Somaliland. Somaliland’s capital is Hargeysa, and its port, Berbera, provides goods to landlocked Ethiopia. The independence of Somaliland, while widely acknowledged, is not officially recognized by the international community—as efforts continue to reunify Somalia. Somaliland’s peace, stability, and democracy have been recently threatened by drought and by regional warlords.
SOMALIA
Fast Facts
Population:
8,592,000
Capital:
Mogadishu; 1,175,000
Area:
637,657 square kilometers (246,201 square miles)
Language:
Somali, Arabic, Italian, English
Religion:
Sunni Muslim
Currency:
Somali shilling
Life Expectancy:
46
GDP per Capita:
U.S. $600
Literacy Percent:
38

ECONOMY
  • Industry: A few light industries, including sugar refining, textiles, petroleum refining (mostly shut down)
  • Agriculture: Bananas, sorghum, corn, coconuts; cattle; fish
  • Exports: Livestock, bananas, hides, fish, charcoal
 
Source: The National Geographic
              CIA- The World Factbook

Last Edited by: Updated: February 25, 2014

Conversations

Must Read

Connect with us

Join our Mailing List to Receive Updates

Face2face Africa | Afrobeatz+ | BlackStars

Keep Up With Global Black News and Events

Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest updates and events from the leading Afro-Diaspora publisher straight to your inbox, plus our curated weekly brief with top stories across our platforms.

No, Thank You