Somalia

Airports

53 total, 40 usable; 7 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 6 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 15 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

1 major transport aircraft

Highways

15,215 km total; including 2,335 km paved, 2,880 km gravel, and 10,000 km improved earth or stabilized soil (1983)

Merchant marine

3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,913 GRT/8,718 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo

Pipelines

crude oil 15 km

Ports

Mogadishu, Berbera, Chisimayu, Bosaso

Telecommunications

minimal telephone and telegraph service; microwave and troposcatter system centered on Mogadishu connects a few towns; 6,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 2 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station; scheduled to receive an ARABSAT ground station

Branches

NA

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 1,673,542; 942,153 fit for military service

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

Budget

revenues $190 million; expenditures $195 million, including capital expenditures of $111 million (1989 est.)

Currency

Somali shilling (plural - shillings); 1 Somali shilling (So. Sh.) = 100 centesimi

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $639 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $3.8 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $1.1 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $336 million

Electricity

75,000 kW capacity; 60 million kWh produced, 10 kWh per capita (1991)

Exchange rates

Somali shillings (So. Sh.) per US$1 - 3,800.00 (December 1990), 490.7 (1989), 170.45 (1988), 105.18 (1987), 72.00 (1986)

Exports

$58.0 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.) commodities: bananas, livestock, fish, hides, skins partners: US 0.5%, Saudi Arabia, Italy, FRG (1986)

External debt

$1.9 billion (1989)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

exchange rate conversion - $1.7 billion, per capita $210; real growth rate -1.4% (1988)

Imports

$249 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.) commodities: petroleum products, foodstuffs, construction materials partners: US 13%, Italy, FRG, Kenya, UK, Saudi Arabia (1986)

Industrial production

growth rate -5.0% (1988); accounts for 5% of GDP

Industries

a few small industries, including sugar refining, textiles, petroleum refining

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

210% (1989)

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. Greatly increased political turmoil in 1991-92 has resulted in a substantial drop in output, with widespread famine a grim fact of life.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Climate

desert; northeast monsoon (December to February), cooler southwest monsoon (May to October); irregular rainfall; hot, humid periods (tangambili) between monsoons

Coastline

3,025 km

Comparative area

slightly smaller than Texas

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

Environment

recurring droughts; frequent dust storms over eastern plains in summer; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Land area

627,340 km2

Land boundaries

2,340 km total; Djibouti 58 km, Ethiopia 1,600 km, Kenya 682 km

Land use

arable land 2%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 46%; forest and woodland 14%; other 38%; includes irrigated 3%

Maritime claims

Territorial sea: 200 nm

Natural resources

uranium and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt

Note

strategic location on Horn of Africa along southern approaches to Bab el Mandeb and route through Red Sea and Suez Canal

Terrain

mostly flat to undulating plateau rising to hills in north

Total area

637,660 km2

Administrative divisions

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

Capital

Mogadishu

Constitution

25 August 1979, presidential approval 23 September 1979

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador (vacant); 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; note - Somalian Embassy ceased operations on 8 May 1991 US: Ambassador (vacant); 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

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

Executive branch

president, two vice presidents, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

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)

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)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Leaders

Chief of State: Interim President ALI Mahdi Mohamed (since 27 January 1991) Head of Government: Prime Minister OMAR Arteh Ghalib (since 27 January 1991)

Legislative branch

unicameral People's Assembly (Golaha Shacbiga)

Long-form name

none

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

National holiday

NA

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

Type

none

Birth rate

46 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate

13 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

Ethnic divisions

Somali 85%, rest mainly Bantu; Arabs 30,000, Europeans 3,000, Asians 800

Infant mortality rate

115 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

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)

Languages

Somali (official); Arabic, Italian, English

Life expectancy at birth

56 years male, 57 years female (1992)

Literacy

24% (male 36%, female 14%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality

noun - Somali(s); adjective - Somali

Net migration rate

-12 migrants/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor

General Federation of Somali Trade Unions was controlled by the government prior to January 1991; the fall of SIAD regime may have led to collapse of Trade Union organization

Population

7,235,226 (July 1992), growth rate 2.1% (1992)

Religions

almost entirely Sunni Muslim

Total fertility rate

7.1 children born/woman (1992)