About my home country Somalia

Somali Democratic Republic, republic in eastern Africa, bounded on the north by the Gulf of Aden, on the east and south by the Indian Ocean, on the southwest by Kenya, on the west by Ethiopia, and on the northwest by Djibouti. The total area is 637,657 sq. km (about 246,200 sq. MI). Mogadishu is the capital and largest city

Land and Resources

Somalia has a long coastline, extending for about 3025 km (about 1880 MI), but it has few natural harbors. A sandy coastal plain borders on the Gulf of Aden in the north. A series of mountain ranges, with average elevations between about 915 and 2135 m (about 3000 and 7000 ft), dominates the northern part of the country. To the south, the interior consists of a rugged plateau, ranging in elevation from about 500 m (about 1640 ft) in the north to less than 180 m (less than 600 ft) in the south. In the south, a wide coastal plain, which has many sand dunes, borders on the Indian Ocean. The country's two major rivers are found on the southern plateau, the Jubba in the southern part and the Shabeelle in the south central section.

Climate

The climate of Somalia ranges from tropical to subtropical and from arid to semiarid. Temperatures usually average 28° C (82° F), but may be as low as 0° C (32° F) in the mountain areas and as high as 47° C (116° F) along the coast. The monsoon winds bring a dry season from September to December and a rainy season from March to May. The average annual rainfall is only about 280 mm (about 11 in).

Vegetation and Animal Life

Vegetation in Somalia consists chiefly of coarse grass and stunted thorn and acacia trees. Aromatic flora, producing frankincense and myrrh, are indigenous to the mountain slopes. In southern Somalia, eucalyptus, euphorbia, and mahogany trees are found. Wildlife is abundant and includes crocodiles, elephants, giraffes, leopards, lions, zebras, and many poisonous snakes.

Natural Resources

Somalia has few natural resources. The grasslands are suitable for grazing livestock, and the fertile land in the river valleys of the Jubba and Shabeelle and in some coastal areas is used for agricultural crops. Mineral resources are relatively diverse but have not been exploited. Known deposits include petroleum, copper, manganese, gypsum, iron, marble, salt, tin, and uranium.

Population

The vast majority of the population consists of Somali, a Cushitic people. A small minority of Bantu-speaking people live in the southern part of the country. Other minority groups include Arabs, Indians, Italians, and Pakistanis. Some 70 percent of the people are nomadic or seminomadic pastoralists. The remainder are either crop farmers or inhabitants of the few urban centers.

Population Characteristics

The population of Somalia (1995 estimate) is about 10,173,000. The overall population density is about 16 persons per sq. km (41 per sq. mi.). The principal cities are Mogadishu, the capital, with a population (1985 estimate) of about 700,000, Hargeysa (1981 estimate, 70,000), Kismayu (70,000), and Marka (60,000).

Religion and Language

Islam is the state religion in Somalia, and most of the people are Sunni Muslims. The official languages are Somali and Arabic; English and Italian are also used.

Education

Before Somalia's government collapsed in 1991 and fighting escalated among clans seeking control of the country, education was free and compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 14. The literacy rate increased from about 5 percent in the early 1970s to 24 percent in 1990 following an intensive government-sponsored literacy campaign. In 1990 primary schools had an annual enrollment of about 377,000 pupils and general secondary schools had 44,000 students. As a result of Somalia's civil war, the educational system has collapsed and most schools have closed, including the Somali National University (1954-1991) in Mogadishu, which previously had an enrollment of about 4600. In 1993 a primary school opened in its building; the only other primary schools are being operated by fundamentalist Islamic groups.

Economy

Until the civil war intensified, the economy of Somalia was based primarily on livestock raising. Crop farming was of importance only in the south. Efforts to diversify and modernize the economy were directed by the government through a series of development plans, extensively assisted by foreign grants and loans. In the late 1980s the gross national product (GNP) was estimated at only $290 per capita. In the early 1990s, with the Somalian economy in a state of collapse because of the war, the GNP had fallen to $36 per capita.

Agriculture

Livestock raising was the principal occupation until in Somalia war disrupted the economy in the early 1990s. In 1990 the number of livestock was estimated at about 6 million goats, 4 million sheep, and 1 million cattle, a decline in numbers of more than three times from two years before. The principal crops were maize (101,000 metric tons), sorghum (92,000), bananas (55,000), sugarcane (50,000), and cassava (30,000). Each crop showed a significant decline from yields in earlier years. But by 1994 agriculture was recovering and Somalia again was producing nearly enough food to feed its population.

Forestry and Fishing

While most wood is cut for fuel, major forestry export products of Somalia until the 1990s were frankincense and myrrh. The annual timber harvest was about 7.3 million cu m (about 258 million cu ft). Fishing provided for local consumption and exports. In 1991 about 16,100 metric tons of fish were caught.

Manufacturing

Before the civil war escalated in the early 1990s, manufacturing in Somalia was in the early stages of development. A cement factory, a cotton gin, a meat and fish cannery, and a textile plant were established. Other industries included oilseed and fruit processing plants, leather and shoe factories, and petroleum and sugar refineries. Most industry is believed shut down as a result of civil disorder.

Currency and Banking

The unit of currency is the Somali shilling, consisting of 100 centesimi (3900 shillings equal U.S.$1; 1994), issued by the Central Bank of Somalia (1960). Somalia is a member of the Islamic Development Bank and the African Development Bank.

Foreign Trade

In 1991 Somalia's exports totaled an estimated $80 million, and imports an estimated $160 million. The chief exports were livestock and bananas. Other exports included meat, fish, leather and hides, and wood. The principal imports are foodstuffs, chemicals, machinery, textiles, and petroleum. Major trading partners in the mid-1980s were the United States, Italy, Germany, Kenya, Great Britain, and Saudi Arabia. Foreign trade resumed in 1994 with the export of livestock and fruit, including nearly 13,000 metric tons of bananas, to Yemen and Persian Gulf countries. Traders were active in Mogadishu, benefiting from its duty-free status, even as clan fighting continued.

Transportation and Communications

Somalia has no railroads; of about 22,500 km (about 14,000 mi.) of roads, about 25 percent are paved or gravel. Mogadishu is the leading port. A government-owned airline provides international service. Until the early 1990s, two government-owned radio stations broadcast in Arabic, English, Italian, Somali, and several other languages, but the collapse of Somalia's infrastructure because of the civil war has caused much of the country's telecommunications to be disrupted. Three of the competing factions provide some broadcasting.

Government

The ouster of President Muhammad Siad Barre in January 1991 left Somalia in a state of civil war, with no clear central governmental authority. The following six sections describe how the government functioned before the civil war.

Executive

Under the 1979 constitution, as subsequently amended, executive power is held by a president, who is head of state and leader of the country's sole legal political party, the Somali Revolutionary Socialist party. The president is nominated by the party's Central Committee, is elected to a seven-year term by direct universal vote, and serves as commander in chief of the armed forces.

Legislature

Legislative power is vested in the 177-member People's Assembly. The president appoints 6 members, and the other 171 are popularly elected; all serve five-year terms.

Judiciary

The highest civilian courts in Somalia are the Supreme Court, two courts of appeal, and eight regional courts. The 84 district courts have civil and criminal sections.

Local Government

For purposes of local administration Somalia is divided into 18 regions and 84 districts.

Health and Welfare

Hospital and clinic services in Somalia are free, but resources were severely strained in the early 1990s by Somalia's civil war. The average life expectancy in 1993 was 33 years; the infant mortality rate was 163 per 1000 live births. Although international relief ended a famine crisis, primary health care remained an urgent need in the countryside. In 1995 cholera was endemic.

Defense

Until the early 1990s military service of 18 months was compulsory for men between the ages of 18 and 40. In 1990 the army had a force of some 60,000; the navy, 1200; and the air force, 2500. Since the overthrow of Muhammad Siad Barre in January 1991, there have been no national armed forces, although the clans maintained separate armies.

History

The history of the region now included in Somalia dates from antiquity, when the land was known to the ancient Egyptians as Punt. From the 2nd to the 7th century AD parts of the area belonged to the Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum. Arab tribes in the 7th century settled along the coast of the Gulf of Aden and established the sultanate of Adel, which centered on the port of Zeila. The Somali people began slowly to migrate into this region from Yemen in the 13th century. The sultanate disintegrated during the 16th century into small independent states, many of which were ruled by Somali chiefs. Zeila became a dependency of Yemen, and was then captured by the Ottoman Empire.

European Colonization

The first European power in the region was Great Britain. In order to protect British trade routes and provide safe anchorage for ships, Great Britain took possession of Aden (now in the Republic of Yemen) on the Arabian coast in 1839. Subsequently, about 1875, Egypt, disregarding Turkish claims, occupied some of the towns on the Somali coast and part of the adjacent interior. When the Egyptian troops left the area in 1882 to help stem the revolt of the Mahdi in the Sudan, Great Britain occupied the territory in order to safeguard the route to India through the Suez Canal, which had been opened in 1869. In 1887 a British protectorate, known as British Somaliland, was proclaimed. The protectorate, initially a dependency of Aden, was placed under the administration of the British foreign office in 1898 and of the colonial office in 1905.

Italian interest in the Somali coast developed in the late 19th century. By the terms of the treaties with native Somali sultans, and conventions with Great Britain, Ethiopia, and Zanzibar, Italy acquired a foothold along the Indian Ocean coast.

British control of the interior of the protectorate was challenged by native revolts between 1899 and 1910. In 1910 the British abandoned the interior and withdrew to the coastal regions. They finally subdued the rebels in 1920. During this period Italy extended control over the area inland from the Indian Ocean coast by the Treaty of London in 1915 and by various postwar agreements. In 1936 Italy merged Italian Somaliland, Eritrea, and the newly conquered Ethiopia into the colonial state of Italian East Africa. After the Italian entrance into World War II (1939-1945) on the side of Germany in 1940, Italian troops invaded British Somaliland and succeeded in expelling the British. Great Britain reconquered its protectorate in 1941.

By the terms of the Italian peace treaty adopted in 1947, Italy was forced to renounce title to the possessions in Africa, and responsibility for disposition of these colonies was allocated to the so-called Big Four (the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR). In 1948 the Big Four, having failed to reach an agreement on disposition, referred the matter to the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN). A plan granting independence to Italian Somaliland after ten years as a UN trust territory under Italian administration was approved by the General Assembly in November 1949. On April 1, 1950, after Italy had accepted the terms of a UN trusteeship agreement, the British military government was replaced by a provisional Italian administration. The territory was named Somalia.

Independence

On July 1, 1960, by agreement with the UN Trusteeship Council, Somalia was granted independence. It merged thereupon with the former British protectorate, to which Great Britain, by prearrangement, had given independence on June 26. The first president, Aden Abdullah Osman Daar, elected in 1960, was defeated for reelection in 1967 by the former premier Abdi Rashid Ali Shirmarke. On October 15, 1969, Shirmarke was assassinated, and days later a military group, led by Major General Muhammad Siad Barre, seized power. In 1970 Barre declared Somalia a socialist state, and in the following years most of the modern economy of the country was nationalized. A drought in 1974 and 1975 caused widespread starvation.

In mid-1977 ethnic Somalis in the adjacent Ogaden region of Ethiopia initiated open warfare aimed at ending Ethiopian control of the area. The rebels were armed by Somalia, which also contributed troops to the effort. The Somalis captured most of the Ogaden by late 1977, but Ethiopia, aided by Cuba and the USSR, reasserted control over the region in early 1978, as Somalia's army suffered heavy losses. Subsequent fighting in the Ogaden precipitated a flood of refugees into Somalia; the number of homeless in 1981 was estimated at close to 2 million. The United States gave both humanitarian and military aid and was in return granted use of the naval facilities at Berbera, previously a Soviet base.

Opposition to Barre's rule began to coalesce in 1981 after Barre chose members of his own Marehan clan for government positions while excluding members of the Mijertyn and Isaq clans. Insurgent groups from those clans initiated clashes with government troops beginning in 1982. A peace accord ended hostilities with Ethiopia in 1988, but the civil war intensified, despite Barre's attempts to placate insurgents by proposing a multiparty government. By 1989 only Mogadishu and portions of Hargeysa and Berbera were firmly in government control. In 1990 the clans opposing Barre formed a united front to fight the war. Barre was forced to flee the capital in January 1991, and was eventually accepted for asylum in Lagos, Nigeria, where he died of a heart attack in 1995.

While the clans had been successful in coordinating their efforts to depose Barre, forming a coalition to govern the country proved more difficult. During the 23 months following Barre's overthrow about 50,000 people were killed in factional fighting, and an estimated 300,000 died of starvation as it became impossible to distribute food in the war-ravaged nation. On December 9, 1992, a contingent of U.S. Marines landed near Mogadishu, the vanguard of a UN peacekeeping force sent to restore order. International agencies soon resumed food distribution and other humanitarian aid, interrupted in 1993 by sporadic outbreaks of violence. The UN mission became mired as it evolved from one of relief to that of rebuilding a Somali government. Clashes between Somali factions and UN troops became frequent, and an estimated 1000 Somali were killed. Troops from the United States, which had withdrawn in March 1994 after 30 of its members were killed and 175 wounded, returned in February 1995 to cover the departure of the remaining UN peacekeeping force. As the last of the UN forces left in March 1995, Somalia still was without a central government and Mogadishu remained divided between two competing clans, although an estimated 300,000 lives had been saved from famine by the international relief effort.

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