Somalia

• 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

total:

3.29 cu km/yr (0%/0%/100%)

per capita:

400 cu m/yr (2000)

• 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

party to:

Biodiversity, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.72 male(s)/female

total population:

1 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

dengue fever, malaria, and Rift Valley fever

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis

animal contact disease:

rabies (2009)

noun:

Somali(s)

adjective:

Somali

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Somalia

local long form:

Jamhuuriyada Demuqraadiga Soomaaliyeed

local short form:

Soomaaliya

former:

Somali Republic, Somali Democratic Republic

name:

Mogadishu

geographic coordinates:

2 04 N, 45 22 E

time difference:

UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

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

• no national system;
• a mixture of English common law, Italian law, Islamic Sharia, and Somali customary law;
• accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

chief of state:

• Transitional Federal President Sheikh SHARIF Sheikh Ahmed (since 31 January 2009);
• note - a transitional governing entity with a five-year mandate, known as the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs), was established in October 2004;
• the TFIs relocated to Somalia in June 2004

head of government:

Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali SHARMARKE (since 13 February 2009)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the prime minister and approved by the Transitional Federal Assembly

election results:

Sheikh SHARIF Sheikh Ahmed was elected president by the expanded Transitional Federal Assembly in Djibouti

• 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

agriculture:

71%

industry and services:

29% (1975)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

revenues:

$NA

expenditures:

$NA

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

• Somali shillings (SOS) per US dollar - NA (2007-08), 1,438.3 (2006) official rate;
• the unofficial black market rate was about 23,000 shillings per dollar as of February 2007

note: the Republic of Somaliland, a self-declared independent country not recognized by any foreign government, issues its own currency, the Somaliland shilling

general assessment:

• the public telecommunications system was almost completely destroyed or dismantled during the civil war;
• private companies offer limited local fixed-line service and private wireless companies offer service in most major cities while charging the lowest international rates on the continent

domestic:

local cellular telephone systems have been established in Mogadishu and in several other population centers

international:

country code - 252; international connections are available from Mogadishu by satellite (2001)

total:

22,100 km

country comparison to the world: 106

paved:

2,608 km

unpaved:

19,492 km (2000)

total:

1

country comparison to the world: 157

by type:

cargo 1

foreign-owned:

1 (UAE 1) (2008)

• the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean are high risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships;
• numerous vessels, including commercial shipping and pleasure craft, have been attacked and hijacked both at anchor and while underway;
• crew, passengers, and cargo are held for ransom;
• 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 the piracy incidents;
• in response local pirates shifted operations farther south along the east coast of Somalia and eastward along the coast of Oman

males age 16-49:

2,181,050

females age 16-49:

2,125,558 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,301,026

females age 16-49:

1,351,649 (2009 est.)

male:

93,763

female:

93,738 (2009 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