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

noun:

Somali(s)

adjective:

Somali

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.66 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2011 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)

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 20 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 (Middle Jubba), Jubbada Hoose (Lower Jubba), Mudug, Nugaal, Sanaag, Shabeellaha Dhexe (Middle Shabeelle), Shabeellaha Hoose (Lower Shabeelle), Sool, Togdheer, Woqooyi Galbeed

chief of state:

President HASSAN SHEIKH Mahamud (since 10 September 2012)

head of government:

Prime Minister Abdi Farrah Shirdon SAID (since 6 October 2012)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president approved by the National Parliament; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

president elected by the National Parliament; election last held 10 September 2012

election results:

• HASSAN SHEIKH Mahamud elected president;
• National Parliament vote - HASSAN SHEIKH Mahamud 190, Sheikh SHARIF Sheikh Ahmed 79;
• president chooses the prime minister, who is then elected by National Parliament

• 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 Special Representative for Somalia, James C. Swan operating out of 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

• light blue with a large white five-pointed star in the center;
• the blue field was originally influenced by the flag of the UN, but today is said to denote the sky and the neighboring Indian Ocean;
• the five points of the star represent the five regions in the horn of Africa that are inhabited by Somali people: the former British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland (which together make up Somalia), Djibouti, Ogaden (Ethiopia), and the North East Province (Kenya)

name:

"Soomaaliyeey toosoo" (Somalia Wake Up)

lyrics/music:

Ali Mire AWALE and Yuusuf Xaaji Aadan Cilmi QABILLE

note: adopted 2000; written in 1947, the lyrics speak of creating unity and an end to fighting

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

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 with one company beginning to provide 3G services in late 2012

international:

country code - 252; Mogadishu is a landing point for the EASSy fiber-optic submarine cable system linking East Africa with Europe and North America

• 2 private TV stations rebroadcast Al-Jazeera and CNN;
• Somaliland has 1 government-operated TV station and Puntland has 1 private TV station;
• the transitional government operates Radio Mogadishu;
• 1 SW and roughly 10 private FM radio stations broadcast in Mogadishu;
• several radio stations operate in central and southern regions;
• Somaliland has 1 government-operated radio station;
• Puntland has roughly a half dozen private radio stations;
• transmissions of at least 2 international broadcasters are available (2007)

total:

22,100 km

country comparison to the world: 104

paved:

2,608 km

unpaved:

19,492 km (2000)

total:

1

country comparison to the world: 155

by type:

cargo 1 (2008)

• the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean remain the region of greatest risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships accounting for 50% of all attacks in 2010;
• 217 vessels, including commercial shipping and pleasure craft, were attacked or hijacked both at anchor and while underway;
• hijackings off the coast of Somalia accounted for 92% of all ship seizures in 2010;
• as of May 2011, 26 vessels and 522 hostages were being held for ransom by Somali pirates;
• 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 piracy incidents in that body of water;
• in response Somali-based pirates, using hijacked fishing trawlers as "mother ships" to extend their range, shifted operations as far south as the Mozambique Channel and eastward to the vicinity of the Maldives

males age 16-49:

2,260,175

females age 16-49:

2,159,293 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,331,894

females age 16-49:

1,357,051 (2010 est.)

male:

101,634

female:

101,072 (2010 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