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Somalia

 
Somalia,  «soh MAH lee uh or soh MAHL yuh», is the easternmost country on the mainland of Africa. Its coastline, which runs along the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, forms the outer edge of what is known as the horn of Africa.

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Mogadishu, Somalia

Almost all of Somalia’s people are Sunni Muslims and speak the Somali language. Somalia's capital and largest city is Mogadishu. The country's official name is the Somali Democratic Republic. Somalia became an independent nation in 1960. Before then, the United Kingdom ruled the northern part, and Italy ruled the south.

Government. Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991. That year, rebels overthrew the country’s military rulers. The rebels soon split into rival factions, with some factions establishing control over different regions. The northern part of Somalia declared independence as Somaliland in 1991, but no country yet recognizes its independence.

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Somalia flag

In 2004, Somali politicians and faction leaders established a new transitional government. Under this arrangement, a federal parliament elects a president, and the president appoints a prime minister. Somaliland is not represented in the parliament.

People. About 95 percent of Somalia's people share the same language, culture, and religion. But they are sharply divided according to traditional clan groupings. Most Somalis belong to one of four clans that together are known as the Samaal. The Samaal are primarily nomadic herders. Members of two other clans, called the Sab (or Saab), live along the rivers in southern Somalia. Most Sab are farmers. Many Somalis are loyal only to their clan, and fighting between clans has been common. People of Arab, Bantu, Indian, and Pakistani descent also live in Somalia. Somali is the official language, but Arabic, English, and Italian are also spoken.

Except for the coastlands, small trade centers, and cultivated areas, much of Somalia is unsettled. Nomads make up about half the population. They live in small, collapsible shelters that have arched wooden braces covered with skins and grass mats. Their chief foods are milk and camel and goat meat. They also eat rice and other grains. Many people in Somalia drink tea.

In much of Somalia, the people wear traditional clothing that consists of a piece of brightly colored cloth draped over the body like a toga. Many men wear a kiltlike garment called a lungi or a ma'owey. In the cities and towns, some people wear clothing similar to that worn in Europe and North America.

Less than one-fifth of all Somali children attend school. Most of Somalia's adults cannot read or write.

Somali craftworkers make fine leather goods, such as handbags and dagger sheaths. The people enjoy soccer and other sports and games. Reciting poetry and chanting are favorite forms of entertainment. Many of the poems and chants tell of love, death, or war, or of a prized possession, such as a horse or camel.

Land and climate. Dry, grassy plains cover almost all of Somalia. A mountain ridge rises behind a narrow coastal plain in the north. Altitudes in some parts of northern Somalia reach more than 7,000 feet (2,100 meters) above sea level. The flat central and southern areas of Somalia have an average altitude of less than 600 feet (180 meters) above sea level.

The average temperature ranges from 85 to 105 °F (29 to 41 °C) in northern Somalia, and from 65 to 105 °F (18 to 41 °C) in the south. Average annual rainfall is approximately 11 inches (28 centimeters). Rainfall is seldom more than 20 inches (51 centimeters) a year, even in the south, the wettest region. Parts of the north receive only 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 centimeters) of rain a year. In general, rain falls during two seasons—from March to May, and from October to December—but droughts occur frequently.

Most of the land in Somalia is generally suitable only for grazing livestock. However, in the south, two major rivers—the Jubba and the Shabeelle—provide water for irrigation. Farmers in this region grow crops.

Somalia has a wide variety of plant and animal life. Acacia thorn trees, aloes, baobabs, candelabras, and incense trees grow in the drier parts of the country. Such plants as kapok, mangrove, and papaya grow along the rivers. Wild animals include the crocodile, elephant, gazelle, giraffe, hippopotamus, hyena, and lion.

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Herding goats in Somalia

Economy. Somalia has limited economic resources. Its economy has long been based on the herding of camels, cattle, goats, and sheep. During Somalia's colonial period, Italian settlers established banana plantations along the Shabeelle and Jubba rivers. Somalis continue to grow such crops as bananas and sugar cane. Other crops include corn and sorghum.

Fishing employs some people, mainly in the north. Somalia has such light industries as sugar refining and cotton milling. The country has deposits of gypsum, iron ore, and uranium, but they have not been mined.

The chief exports include animal hides and skins; bananas; and camels, goats, and sheep. Imports include construction materials, food, and petroleum products. Most trade is with African and Middle Eastern countries.

Somalia has no railways, and the majority of its roads are unpaved. Travel is generally by truck or bus. A number of cities have airports. Small air charter firms provide most air transportation.

History. The land that is now northern Somalia was well known in the ancient world because of its location on a major trade route between the Mediterranean Sea and the lands to the east. During the A.D. 800's or 900's, Somalis began to move south from the Gulf of Aden coast, and Arabs and Persians began to establish settlements along the Indian Ocean coast. The Somalis were probably converted to Islam by about 1100.

Most of the Somali-inhabited area came under colonial rule in the 1800's. In the mid-1880's, the British took over much of northern Somalia, which became British Somaliland. The Italians gained control of most of the Indian Ocean coast in the 1880's and 1890's. They gradually advanced inland toward Ethiopia and established the colony of Italian Somaliland. In the early 1900's, Somali nationalists led by Sayyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan fought against British, Italian, and Ethiopian forces.

Italy conquered Ethiopia in 1936. Italian Somaliland then became part of the Italian East African Empire, based in Ethiopia. In 1940, Italy entered World War II (1939-1945) and seized British Somaliland. But the British drove the Italians out of eastern Africa in 1941. A temporary British military administration was then set up in British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland. In 1948, Ethiopia regained control of an area with a large Somali population, historically called the Ogaden region.

In 1950, the United Nations (UN) ruled that Italian Somaliland should be placed in the care of Italy for 10 years, after which it was to become independent. At the same time, Somalis in British Somaliland were demanding self-government. In the summer of 1960, the United Kingdom and Italy granted their Somali territories independence. The two territories united to form the independent state of Somalia on July 1, 1960. The new government encouraged national expansion, particularly into the Somali-inhabited areas of Ethiopia, Kenya, and French Somaliland (now Djibouti). This action led to tension between Somalia and all three of its neighbors.

Somalia experienced economic difficulties, and many people felt that only a small number of individuals and clans were benefiting from independence. These concerns prompted military officers, led by Major General Mohamed Siad Barre, to seize control of the government in 1969. All Somali land, transport systems, electrical plants, banks, schools, and medical services came under government control. Many of these changes took place in the midst of a serious drought in the mid-1970's.

More problems followed when Somalia encouraged antigovernment Somali rebels in Ethiopia in 1974. Fighting broke out between Somalia and Ethiopia. In 1977 and 1978, Somali forces took over the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. But Ethiopian forces pushed back the Somalis, leaving Somalia militarily weak. In 1988, Ethiopia and Somalia signed a peace agreement, ending the fighting.

In 1991, a rebel group called the United Somali Congress (USC) overthrew Somalia's military regime and took control of the capital. Fighting broke out in and around Mogadishu between USC factions. Other rebel groups gained power in other parts of Somalia. The Somali National Movement declared the independence of northern Somalia, calling it the Republic of Somaliland. But other countries have not recognized it.

The fighting in Somalia caused disruptions in food production and distribution, which, coupled with a drought, led to widespread starvation. Other countries and international relief groups sent food to Somalia. However, Somalia had no central government to protect the food, and armed criminals stole much of it. The lack of a central government also led Somalia to become a base for pirates capturing ships in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.

By December 1992, about 270,000 Somalis had starved to death. That month, the UN Security Council sent a coalition of military forces from several countries to Somalia. Led by the United States, the coalition provided security for relief organizations and helped get large amounts of food to needy people. See Back in Time: Somalia (1992).

In 1993, UN troops replaced most coalition forces. Mohammed Farah Aidid, a clan leader, accused UN officials of favoring his rivals, and his forces killed several UN peacekeepers. The UN then shelled Aidid's headquarters in Mogadishu. Fighting between Aidid's forces and UN troops, including U.S. forces, heightened the tensions in Somalia. See Back in Time: Somalia (1993).

United States forces were withdrawn from Somalia in 1994 to help promote a negotiated settlement. Rival clan leaders signed a peace accord at a UN-sponsored conference that year. The agreement called for a cease-fire and the formation of a transitional government. But fighting continued. In 1995, UN forces left Somalia. Talks held in 1997 also failed to stop the fighting. In 1998, the region of Puntland in northeastern Somalia declared itself an autonomous (self-governing) state. See Back in Time: Somalia (1994); Somalia (1995).

A conference of about 2,000 Somali leaders elected a Transitional National Assembly for Somalia in 2000. The assembly elected a president, who appointed a prime minister. This government, however, had little control of the country outside Mogadishu. Several faction leaders refused to support the government and remained in control of parts of Somalia. Somaliland continued to claim independence, and both Somaliland and Puntland continued to maintain separate governments. In 2002, the Somali government and more than 20 faction leaders agreed to a cease-fire. But some fighting continued.

In January 2004, Somali politicians and the major faction leaders signed an agreement in Kenya to establish a new Transitional Federal Government (TFG). Somaliland did not participate, but Puntland did. A new Transitional Federal Parliament was created later that year. The parliament elected Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Puntland’s leader, as president of Somalia. In November, he appointed Ali Mohamed Ghedi as prime minister. The transitional government operated from Kenya until 2005.

In February 2006, the parliament met in Somalia for the first time. They met in the town of Baydhabo (also called Baidoa) to avoid violence in Mogadishu. By July, militias of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) movement had taken control of Mogadishu by force. The UIC ruled the city using a version of the Shari`āh (Islamic law). They gradually gained control of most of southern Somalia.

In December, Ethiopia sent troops to assist the TFG government. With Ethiopia’s help, the government was able to establish itself in Mogadishu, and the leaders of the UIC fled the country. However, many Somalis resented the presence of Ethiopian troops in their country, and some clans began fighting against them.

In March 2007, the African Union (AU)—an organization that promotes cooperation among African governments and peoples—began sending peacekeeping forces into Somalia. Occasional fighting continued between Ethiopian and AU troops, UIC militias, and clan factions.

Prime Minister Ghedi resigned in October 2007 because of major disagreements with the president. In November, President Yusuf Ahmed named Nur Hassan Hussein as prime minister, but the two soon clashed. In December 2008, President Yusuf Ahmed fired Nur Hassan Hussein before himself stepping down. In January 2009, Ethiopian troops began to pull out of Somalia to be replaced by AU troops, though fighting continued. Later that month, Somalia's parliament elected Sharif Sheik Ahmed, a leading figure in the UIC, to the presidency. In February, President Ahmed named Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke as prime minister. In June, the president declared a state of emergency due to an increase in rebel violence.

In the early 2000's, pirates based in Somalia attacked many ships traveling in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. In 2008, pirates captured a tanker from the Philippines and held it hostage for five months. In 2009, pirates hijacked an American cargo ship and held its captain hostage until he was rescued by the United States Navy.

See also Mogadishu; Puntland; Somaliland.