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

agricultural land:

70.3%;

• arable land 1.8%;
• permanent crops 0%;
• permanent pasture 68.5%

forest:

10.6%

other:

19.1% (2011 est.)

total:

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

per capita:

377.6 cu m/yr (2003)

• 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

0-14 years:

1 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.94 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.64 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

degree of risk:

very 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 (2013)

total number:

1,148,265

percentage:

49% (2006 est.)

conventional long form:

Federal Republic of Somalia

conventional short form:

Somalia

local long form:

Jamhuuriyadda Federaalkaa Soomaaliya

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

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

the father must be a citizen of Somalia

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

7 years

chief of state:

President HASSAN SHEIKH Mohamud (since 10 September 2012)

head of government:

Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali SHARMARKE (since 24 December 2014); Deputy Prime Minister Mohamad Omar ARTEH (since 6 February 2015)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the prime minister, approved by the National Parliament

elections/appointments:

• president indirectly elected by the Federal Parliament by two-thirds majority vote in 2 rounds if needed for a single 4-year term;
• election last held on 10 September 2012 (next to be held in 2016);
• prime minister appointed by the president, approved by the Federal Parliament

election results:

• HASSAN SHEIKH Mohamud elected president;
• Federal Parliament second round vote - HASSAN SHEIKH Mohamud (PDP) 190, Sheikh SHARIF Sheikh Ahmed (ARS) 79;
• Omar Abdirashid Ali SHARMARKE approved as prime minister;
• Federal Parliament vote - 218 for approval, none against (6 members not present for vote)

description:

unicameral National Parliament or Golaha Shacabka Soomaaliya consists of the House of the People (275 seats; members directly elected to serve 4-year terms)

note: the inaugural House of the People was appointed in September 2012 by clan elders; slated for 2016, the National Parliament will become bicameral with the formation of an upper house that will consist of 54 seats with members indirectly elected by regional governing councils to serve 4-year terms

highest court(s):

• the provisional constitution stipulates the establishment of the Constitutional Court (consists of 5 judges including the chief judge and deputy chief judge);
• note - under the terms of the 2004 Transitional National Charter, a Supreme Court based in Mogadishu and an Appeal Court were established;
• yet most regions have reverted to local forms of conflict resolution, either secular, traditional Somali customary law, or sharia Islamic law

judge selection and term of office:

judges appointed by the president upon proposal of the Judicial Service Commission, a 9-member judicial and administrative body; judge tenure NA

subordinate courts:

• federal- and federal member state-level courts;
• military courts;
• sharia (Islamic) courts

• CADHI [Abdirahman IBRAHIM]
• Cosmopolitan Democratic Party [Yarow Sharef ADEN]
• Democratic Green Party of Somalia or DGPS [Abdullahi Y. MAHAMOUD]
• Democratic Party of Somalia or DPS [Maslah Mohamed SIAD]
• Green Leaf for Democracy or GLED
• Hiil Qaran
• Justice and Communist Party [Mohamed NUR]
• Liberal Party of Somalia
• National Unity Party (Xisbiga MIdnimo-Quaran) [Abdurahman BAADIYOW]
• Peace and Development Party or PDP
• Somali National Party or SNP [Mohammed Ameen Saeed AHMED]
• Somali People's Party [Mahamud Hassan RAGE]
• Somali Green Party (local chapter of Federation of Green Parties of Africa]
• Tayo or TPP [Mohamed Abdullahi MOHAMED]
• Tiir Party [Fadhil Sheik MOHAMUD]
• United and Democratic Party [Salad Ali JELLE]
• United Somali Parliamentarians

chief of mission:

Ambassador Ahmed Issa AWAD (since 17 September 2015)

chancery:

425 East 61st Street, Suite 702, New York City, NY 10021

telephone:

[1] (212) 688-9410, 688-5046

FAX:

[1] (212) 759-0651

• the US does not have an embassy in Somalia;
• US interests are represented by the US Special Representative for Somalia, Ambassador James P. MCANULTY (since August 2013), 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:

"Qolobaa Calankeed" (Every Nation Has its own Flag)

lyrics/music:

lyrics/music: Abdullahi QARSHE

note: adopted 2012; written in 1959

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

agriculture:

71%

industry and services:

29% (1975)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

revenues:

$NA

expenditures:

$NA

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 (2010)

• 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

paved:

2,608 km

unpaved:

19,492 km (2000)

country comparison to the world: 105

total:

1

by type:

cargo 1 (2008)

country comparison to the world: 155

• despite a dramatic drop in the number of attacks in 2014, the International Maritime Bureau continues to report the territorial and offshore waters in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean as a region of significant risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships accounting for 4% of all attacks in 2014;
• 11 vessels were attacked or hijacked in 2014 compared with 237 in 2011;
• the presence of several naval task forces in the Gulf of Aden and additional anti-piracy measures on the part of ship operators, including the use of on-board armed security teams, 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, eastward to the vicinity of the Maldives, and northeastward to the Strait of Hormuz

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

refugees (country of origin):

3,268 (Yemen) (2015)

IDPs:

1.133 million (civil war since 1988, clan-based competition for resources; 2011 famine; insecurity because of fighting between al-Shabaab and the Transitional Federal Government's allied forces) (2015)