SOMALIA
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 637,660 km2; land area: 627,340 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Texas
Land boundaries: 2,340 km total; Djibouti 58 km, Ethiopia
1,600 km, Kenya 682 km
Coastline: 3,025 km
Maritime claims:
Territorial sea: 200 nm
Disputes: southern half of boundary with Ethiopia is a Provisional
Administrative Line; territorial dispute with Ethiopia over the Ogaden;
possible claims to Djibouti and parts of Ethiopia and Kenya based on
unification of ethnic Somalis
Climate: desert; northeast monsoon (December to February),
cooler southwest monsoon (May to October); irregular rainfall; hot, humid
periods (tangambili) between monsoons
Terrain: mostly flat to undulating plateau rising to hills in north
Natural resources: uranium, and largely unexploited reserves
of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt
Land use: arable land 2%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 46%; forest and woodland 14%; other 38%; includes irrigated 3%
Environment: recurring droughts; frequent dust storms over eastern
plains in summer; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion;
desertification
Note: strategic location on Horn of Africa along southern
approaches to Bab el Mandeb and route through Red Sea and Suez Canal
PEOPLE
Population: 6,709,161 (July 1991), growth rate 3.3% (1991)
Birth rate: 46 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 13 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 116 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 56 years male, 56 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 7.2 children born/woman (1991)
Language: Somali (official); Arabic, Italian, English
Literacy: 24% (male 36%, female 14%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 2,200,000; very few are skilled laborers; pastoral
nomad 70%, agriculture, government, trading, fishing, handicrafts, and
other 30%; 53% of population of working age (1985)
Organized labor: General Federation of Somali Trade Unions is
controlled by the government
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Somali Democratic Republic
Independence: 1 July 1960 (from a merger of British Somaliland,
which became independent from the UK on 26 June 1960, and Italian
Somaliland, which became independent from the Italian-administered UN
trusteeship on 1 July 1960, to form the Somali Republic)
Constitution: 25 August 1979, presidential approval 23 September
1979
National holiday: Anniversary of the Revolution, 21 October (1969)
Executive branch: president, two vice presidents, prime minister,
Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Chief of State--Interim President ALI Mahdi Mohamed (since 27
January 1991);
Head of Government--Prime Minister OMAR Arteh Ghalib
(since 27 January 1991); Deputy Prime Minister MOHAMED Abshir Mussa
(since 27 January 1991)
Political parties and leaders: the United Somali Congress (USC)
ousted the former regime on 27 January 1991; note--formerly the only
party was the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP), headed by
former President and Commander in Chief of the Army Maj. Gen. Mohamed
Siad BARRE
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
President--last held 23 December 1986 (next to be held
NA);
results--President Siad was reelected without opposition;
People's Assembly--last held 31 December 1984 (next to be held NA);
results--SRSP was the only party;
seats--(177 total, 171 elected) SRSP 171;
note--the United Somali Congress (USC) ousted the regime of Maj. Gen.
Mohamed SIAD Barre on 27 January 1991; the provisional government
has promised that a democratically elected government will be
established
Communists: probably some Communist sympathizers in the government
hierarchy
Member of: ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD,
ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IGADD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC,
IOM (observer), ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador ABDIKARIM Ali Omar; Chancery
at Suite 710, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037;
telephone (202) 342-1575; there is a Somali Consulate General in
New York;
US--Ambassador James K. BISHOP; Embassy at K-7, AFGOI Road,
Mogadishu (mailing address is P. O. Box 574, Mogadishu); telephone
252 (01) 39971; note--US Embassy evacuated and closed indefinitely in
January 1991
Flag: light blue with a large white five-pointed star in the
center; design based on the flag of the UN (Italian Somaliland was a UN
trust territory)
ECONOMY
Overview: One of the world's poorest and least developed countries,
Somalia has few resources. Agriculture is the most important sector of
the economy, with the livestock sector accounting for about 40% of GDP
and about 65% of export earnings. Nomads and seminomads who are
dependent upon livestock for their livelihoods make up more than half
of the population. Crop production generates only 10% of GDP and employs
about 20% of the work force. The main export crop is bananas; sugar,
sorghum, and corn are grown for the domestic market. The small industrial
sector is based on the processing of agricultural products and accounts
for less than 10% of GDP. Serious economic problems facing the nation are
the external debt of $1.9 billion and double-digit inflation.
GDP: $1.7 billion, per capita $210; real growth rate - 1.4% (1988)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 210% (1989)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $190 million; expenditures $195 million, including
capital expenditures of $111 million (1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate - 5.0% (1988); accounts for 5%
of GDP
Electricity: 72,000 kW capacity; 60 million kWh produced,
7 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: a few small industries, including sugar refining,
textiles, petroleum refining
Agriculture: dominant sector, led by livestock raising (cattle,
sheep, goats); crops--bananas, sorghum, corn, mangoes, sugarcane; not
self-sufficient in food; fishing potential largely unexploited
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $639
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-87), $3.2 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $1.1 billion;
Communist countries (1970-89), $336 million
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: 15,215 km total; including 2,335 km bituminous surface,
2,880 km gravel, and 10,000 km improved earth or stabilized soil (1983)
Pipelines: 15 km crude oil
Ports: Mogadishu, Berbera, Chisimayu
Merchant marine: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,913
GRT/9,457 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo
Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft
Airports: 61 total, 46 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways;
2 with runways over 3,659 m; 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 22 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: minimal telephone and telegraph service; radio
relay and troposcatter system centered on Mogadishu connects a few towns;
6,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT
earth station; scheduled to receive an ARABSAT station
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Somali National Army (including Navy, Air Force, and
Air Defense Force), National Police Force, National Security Service
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,601,690; 902,732 fit for
military service
