Somalia

Federal Republic of Somalia
Jamhuuriyadda Federaalka Soomaaliya (Somali)
جمهورية الصومال الفيدرالية (Arabic)
Jumhūriyah aṣ-Ṣūmāl al-Fīdirāliyah Somali: [soːmaːlija] ⓘ
Anthem: Qolobaa Calankeed
علم أي امة
"Every Nation Has Its Own Flag"
Location of Somalia
Capital
and largest city
Mogadishu
2°2′N 45°21′E / 2.033°N 45.350°E / 2.033; 45.350
Official languages
Ethnic groups
(2021)[1][2]
Religion
Sunni Islam (official)[1]
Demonym(s)Somali[1]
GovernmentFederal parliamentary republic
• President
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
Hamza Abdi Barre
Abdi Hashi Abdullahi
Aden Madobe
LegislatureFederal Parliament
• Upper house
Senate
• Lower house
House of the People
Establishment
2350 BC
• Macrobia
980 BC
• Barbaria
100 BC
9th century[3][4]
10th century
13th century
13th century
16th century
1695-1911
1648–1927
1878–1927
1749–1884
1884
1889
• Independence and union with the State of Somaliland
1 July 1960
1 August 2012
Area
• Total
637,657[1] km2 (246,201 sq mi) (43rd)
Population
• 2023 estimate
18,143,378[5] (78th)
• Density
27.2[6]/km2 (70.4/sq mi) (199th)
GDP (PPP)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $34.03 billion[7] (145th)
• Per capita
Increase $2,060[7] (181st)
GDP (nominal)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $12.8 billion[7] (152nd)
• Per capita
Increase $775[7] (178th)
Gini (2017)36.8[8]
medium inequality
HDI (2022)Steady 0.380[9]
low (193rd)
CurrencySomali shilling (SOS)
Time zoneUTC+3 (EAT)
Drives onright
Calling code+252
ISO 3166 codeSO
Internet TLD.so

Somalia,[a] officially the Federal Republic of Somalia,[b] is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti[14] to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, and the Indian Ocean to the east. Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa's mainland.[15] Somalia has an estimated population of 18.1 million,[16][17][18] of which 2.7 million live in the capital and largest city, Mogadishu. Around 85% of its residents are ethnic Somalis and the official languages of the country are Somali and Arabic, though the former is the primary language. Somalia has historic and religious ties to the Arab world.[19] As such the people in Somalia are Muslims,[20] the majority of them Sunni.[21]

In antiquity, Somalia was an important commercial center.[22][23] During the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali empires dominated the regional trade, including the Ajuran Sultanate, Adal Sultanate, and the Sultanate of the Geledi. In the late 19th century, Somali sultanates were colonized by the Italian and British Empires,[24][25][26] who merged all of these tribal territories into two colonies: Italian Somaliland and British Somaliland.[27][28] In 1960, the two territories united to form the independent Somali Republic under a civilian government.[29] Siad Barre of the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) seized power in 1969 and established the Somali Democratic Republic, brutally attempting to squash the Somaliland War of Independence in the north of the country.[30] The SRC collapsed in 1991 with the onset of the Somali Civil War.[31] The Transitional National Government of Somalia (TNG) was established in 2000, followed by the formation of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) in 2004, which reestablished the Somali Armed Forces.[1][32]

At the end of 2006, a US-backed Ethiopian invasion overthrew the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), leading to the installation of the TFG in Mogadishu under an Ethiopian military occupation.[33][34] The subsequent insurgency which emerged saw the ICU fragment into various rebel factions, including the hardline group al-Shabaab, which waged a protracted conflict against Ethiopian forces.[34] al-Shabaab soon began asserting territorial control for the first time,[35] and by late 2008 the insurgency had driven the Ethiopian army out of much of Somalia.[36] In 2009, a new TFG government was established.[37][38] By mid-2012, al-Shabaab lost most of its territories during fighting against the TFG and African Union troops.[39] That same year, al-Shabaab pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda.[40] The insurgents still control much of central and southern Somalia,[41][42] and wield influence in government-controlled areas,[42] with the town of Jilib acting as the de facto capital for the insurgents.[41][43]

A new provisional constitution was passed in August 2012,[44][45] reforming Somalia as a federation.[46] The same month, the Federal Government of Somalia was formed[47] and a period of reconstruction began in Mogadishu, despite al-Shabaab frequently carrying out attacks there.[39][48] Somalia is among the least developed countries in the world, as evidenced by its ranking in metrics such as GDP per capita,[49] Human Development Index,[50] and the Fragile States Index.[51] It has maintained an informal economy mainly based on livestock, remittances from Somalis working abroad, and telecommunications.[52] It is a member of the United Nations,[53] the Arab League,[54] African Union,[55] Non-Aligned Movement,[56] East African Community,[57] and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.[58]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Somalia". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 10 November 2021. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  2. ^ Lewis, I. M. (1998). Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar, and Saho. Red Sea Press. ISBN 978-1-56902-104-0.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Encyamer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Lewis, I. M. (1969). Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho. International African Institute. p. 140.
  5. ^ "World Bank Open Data". Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
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  7. ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2024 Edition. (Somalia)". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. 26 April 2024. Archived from the original on 4 March 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Gini Index coefficient". The World Factbook. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  9. ^ "Human Development Report 2023/24" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  10. ^ Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Peter Roach; James Hartmann; Jane Setter (eds.), English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 3-12-539683-2
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  12. ^ "Somalia". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
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  15. ^ "Coastline". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 16 July 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
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  17. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  18. ^ "World Bank Open Data". Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  19. ^ Studies, American University (Washington, D. C. ) Foreign Area (1969). Area Handbook for Somalia: Co-authors: Irving Kaplan [et Al.] Research and Writing Were Completed on June 15, 1969. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 235.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ "Middle East Policy Council – Muslim Populations Worldwide". Mepc.org. 1 December 2005. Archived from the original on 14 December 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  21. ^ Abdullahi 2001, p. 1.
  22. ^ John Kenrick 1855) Phoenicia, B. Fellowes, p. 199.
  23. ^ Casson, Lionel (1984). Ancient Trade and Society. Mich. p. 235. ISBN 0-8143-1740-5. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  24. ^ Truhart, P. (1984). Regents of nations: systematic chronology of states and their political representatives in past and present : a biographical reference book. pp.72
  25. ^ Suárez, Jorge Alejandro. Geopolítica de lo Desconocido: Una visión diferente de la Política Internacional. p. 227. ISBN 979-8393720292.
  26. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, inc, Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 1, (Encyclopædia Britannica: 2005), p.163
  27. ^ Laitin 1977, p. 8
  28. ^ Abdisalam M. Issa-Salwe (1996). The Collapse of the Somali State: The Impact of the Colonial Legacy. London: Haan Associates. pp. 34–35. ISBN 1-874209-91-X.
  29. ^ The Illustrated Library of The World and Its Peoples: Africa, North and East, Greystone Press: 1967, p. 338.
  30. ^ Kapteijns, Lidwien (18 December 2012). Clan Cleansing in Somalia: The Ruinous Legacy of 1991. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-0758-3. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  31. ^ "Council on Foreign Relations". Archived from the original on 9 May 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  32. ^ Jeffrey Gettleman (23 June 2011). "Harvard-Educated Technocrat Chosen as Somalia Premier". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  33. ^ Samatar, Abdi Ismail (2007). "Ethiopian Invasion of Somalia, US Warlordism & AU Shame". Review of African Political Economy. 34 (111): 155–165. ISSN 0305-6244. JSTOR 20406369 – via JSTOR.
  34. ^ a b Mueller, Jason C. (2 January 2018). "The Evolution of Political Violence: The Case of Somalia's Al-Shabaab". Terrorism and Political Violence. 30 (1): 116–141. doi:10.1080/09546553.2016.1165213. ISSN 0954-6553. S2CID 148494845.
  35. ^ Cook, Joana; Maher, Shiraz, eds. (2023). The Rule Is For None But Allah. Oxford University Press. p. 111. ISBN 9780197690390.
  36. ^ Samatar, Abdi Ismail (2013), Bereketeab, Redie (ed.), "The Production of Somali Conflict and the Role of Internal and External Actors", The Horn of Africa, Intra-State and Inter-State Conflicts and Security, Pluto Press, pp. 156–177, doi:10.2307/j.ctt183p650.14, ISBN 978-0-7453-3311-3, JSTOR j.ctt183p650.14, retrieved 11 January 2024
  37. ^ Rice, Xan (29 December 2008). "Somali president resigns amid power struggle". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
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  39. ^ a b Muddassar Ahmed (8 August 2012). "Somalia rising after two decades of civil war and unrest". Al Arabiya. Archived from the original on 10 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  40. ^ "Somalia's al-Shabab join al-Qaeda". BBC News. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
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  42. ^ a b "Somalia conflict: Al-Shabab 'collects more revenue than government'". BBC News. 26 October 2020. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  43. ^ "Kenyan troops seize al-Shabaab base in Somalia". www.aa.com.tr. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  44. ^ "Somalia: Somali Leaders Adopt Draft Constitution". ANP/AFP. Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  45. ^ "Somali leaders back new constitution". BBC News. 1 August 2012. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  46. ^ "Somalia's newly-endorsed constitution widely hailed". Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
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  48. ^ Dinfin Mulupi (21 June 2012). "Mogadishu: East Africa's newest business destination?". Archived from the original on 27 June 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
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  56. ^ "Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) | What is the Non-Aligned Movement?". Nuclear Threat Initiative. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  57. ^ "Somalia joins East African Community". 24 November 2023. Archived from the original on 26 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  58. ^ "Member States". Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2021.


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