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 The Somali Flag
Light blue with a large white five-pointed star in the centre; blue field influenced by the flag of the UN.
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| history |
 Shaykh Abdulaziz Mosque, one of Mogadishu's oldest historical structures
LOCATED IN THE HORN OF AFRICA, adjacent to the Arabian Peninsula,
Somalia is steeped in thousands of years of history. The ancient Egyptians spoke of it as "God's Land" (the Land of Punt). Chinese merchants frequented the Somali coast in the tenth and fourteenth centuries and, according to tradition, returned home with giraffes, leopards, and tortoises to add colour and variety to the imperial menagerie. Greek merchant ships and medieval Arab dhows plied the Somali coast; for them it formed the eastern fringe of Bilad as Sudan, "the Land of the Blacks." More specifically, medieval Arabs referred to the Somalis, along with related peoples, as the Berber.
By the eighteenth century, the Somalis essentially had developed their present way of life, which is based on pastoral nomadic and the Islamic faith. During the colonial period (approximately 1891 to 1960), the Somalis were separated into five mini-Somali lands: British Somaliland (north central); French Somaliland (east and southeast); Italian Somaliland (south); Ethiopian Somaliland (the Ogaden); and, what came to be called the Northern Frontier District (NFD) of Kenya. In 1960 Italian Somaliland and British Somaliland were merged into a single independent state, the Somali Republic. In its first nine years the Somali state, although plagued by territorial disputes with Ethiopia and Kenya, and by difficulties in integrating the dual legacy of Italian and British administrations, remained a model of democratic governance in Africa; governments were regularly voted into and out of office.
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| geography |
Size: Land area 637,540 square kilometres; coastline 3,025 kilometres; sovereignty claimed over territorial waters up to 200 nautical miles.
Topography: Flat plateau surfaces and plains predominate; principal exception rugged east-west ranges in far north that include Shimbir Berris, highest point at 2,407 meters.
Climate and Hydrology: Continuously hot except at higher elevations in north; two wet seasons bring erratic rainfall, largely April to June and October and November, averaging under 500 millimetres in much of the country; droughts frequent; only Jubba River in somewhat wetter southwest has permanent water flow. Shabeelle River, also in southwest, flows about seven months of year.
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| society |
Population: Estimates vary; United Nations 1991 estimate shows population of 7.7 million not including Ethiopian refugees but other estimates place at 8.4 million in mid-1990. Until early 1990s, predominantly nomadic pastorals and semi nomadic herders made up about three-fifths of total; cultivators about one-fifth; town dwellers (vast majority in Mogadishu) about one-fifth. Pattern of residency dramatically altered by civil war in late 1980s onward, raising urban population of Mogadishu to 2 million.
Languages: Somali (script officially introduced January 1973) predominates. Several dialects; Common Somali most widely used; Coastal Somali spoken on the Banaadir Coast; Central Somali spoken in the interriverine area. English and Italian used by relatively small proportion (less than 10 percent) of urban population. Somali and Italian used at university level; Somali used at all school levels below university. Arabic used in religious contexts.
Religion: Former Somali state officially Islamic; overwhelming majority of nationals Sunni Muslims.
Education and Literacy: Until 1991 modern public education offered free at all levels; nationally owned educational facilities closed after collapse of Somali state; school attendance grew rapidly in settled areas in 1970s; primary education extended to nomadic children in early 1980s. Literacy campaigns resulted in substantial increases in 1970s but less than government's estimate of 60 percent, with relapse among nomads by 1977; United Nations estimate shows 24 percent literacy rate in 1990.
Health: Improvement in numbers of health care personnel and facilities during 1970s offset by civil war, refugee burden, and failure to expand services beyond urban areas; weak modern medical infrastructure deteriorated dramatically after 1991 collapse of central government. High incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis, malaria, tetanus, parasitic and venereal infections, leprosy, and a variety of skin and eye ailments; relatively low incidence of human Immune virus (HIV) (less than 1 percent) through 1992; general health severely affected by widespread malnutrition and famine in 1992.
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economy
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 Pastoralism is the dominant mode of life; both nomadic and sedentary herding of cattle, sheep, goats, and camels are carried on. The major cash crop is bananas. Other important crops include sugarcane, sorghum, corn, mangoes, sesame seeds, and cotton. There is a small fishing industry. Livestock, bananas, hides and skins, and fish are exported. Somalia's most valuable mineral resource is uranium. Oil, iron ore, and other minerals have been discovered but are not produced commercially. Agricultural processing constitutes the bulk of Somalian industry, which includes meat and fish (notably tuna) canning, sugar refining, oilseed processing, leather tanning, and the production of cotton textiles. There is also some petroleum refining; however, much of Somalia's industry has been shut down due to civil strife. The chief trading partners include Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Djibouti, Yemen, and Italy.cate for civil society participation both in peace negotiations and institution building process.
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