Country Fast Facts: Somalia

Britain withdrew from British Somaliland in 1960 to allow its protectorate to join with Italian Somaliland and form the new nation of Somalia. In 1969, a coup headed by Mohamed SIAD Barre ushered in an authoritarian socialist rule that managed to impose a degree of stability in the country for a couple of decades. After the regime's collapse early in 1991, Somalia descended into turmoil, factional fighting, and anarchy.

In May 1991, northern clans declared an independent Republic of Somaliland that now includes the administrative regions of Awdal, Woqooyi Galbeed, Togdheer, Sanaag, and Sool. Although not recognized by any government, this entity has maintained a stable existence and continues efforts to establish a constitutional democracy, including holding municipal, parliamentary, and presidential elections.

The regions of Bari, Nugaal, and northern Mudug comprise a neighboring self-declared autonomous state of Puntland, which has been self-governing since 1998 but does not aim at independence; it has also made strides toward reconstructing a legitimate, representative government but has suffered some civil strife. Puntland disputes its border with Somaliland as it also claims portions of eastern Sool and Sanaag. Beginning in 1993, a two-year UN humanitarian effort (primarily in the south) was able to alleviate famine conditions, but when the UN withdrew in 1995, having suffered significant casualties, order still had not been restored.

A two-year peace process, led by the Government of Kenya under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), concluded in October 2004 with the election of Abdullahi YUSUF Ahmed as President of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and the formation of an interim government, known as the Somalia Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs).

The TFIs included a 275-member parliamentary body, known as the Transitional Federal Assembly (TFA). President YUSUF resigned late in 2008 while United Nations-sponsored talks between the TFG and the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) were underway in Djibouti.

In January 2009, following the creation of a TFG-ARS unity government, Ethiopian military forces, which had entered Somalia in December 2006 to support the TFG in the face of advances by the opposition Council of Islamic Courts (CIC), withdrew from the country. The TFA was increased to 550 seats with the addition of 275 ARS members of parliament.

The expanded parliament elected Sheikh SHARIF Sheikh Ahmed, the former CIC and ARS chairman as president on 31 January 2009, in Djibouti. Subsequently, President SHARIF appointed Omar Abdirashid ali SHARMARKE, son of a former president of Somalia, as prime minister on 13 February 2009.

The TFIs are based on the Transitional Federal Charter (TFC), which outlines a five-year mandate leading to the establishment of a new Somali constitution and a transition to a representative government following national elections. However, in January 2009 the TFA amended the TFC to extend TFG's mandate until 2011. While its institutions remain weak, the TFG continues to reach out to Somali stakeholders and work with international donors to help build the governance capacity of the TFIs and work towards national elections in 2011.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population:
9,832,017
note: this estimate was derived from an official census taken in 1975 by the Somali Government; population counting in Somalia is complicated by the large number of nomads and by refugee movements in response to famine and clan warfare (July 2009 est.)

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Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (male 2,215,331/female 2,204,503)
15-64 years: 52.6% (male 2,588,356/female 2,579,737)
65 years and over: 2.5% (male 101,764/female 142,326) (2009 est.)

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Median age:
total: 17.5 years
male: 17.4 years
female: 17.6 years (2008 est.)

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Population growth rate:
2.815% (2009 est.)

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Birth rate:
44.12 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

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Death rate:
15.89 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

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Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

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Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

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Infant mortality rate:
total: 109.19 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 118.31 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 99.79 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 49.63 years
male: 47.78 years
female: 51.53 years (2009 est.)

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Total fertility rate:
6.52 children born/woman (2009 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.5% (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
24,000 (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
1,600 (2007 est.)

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Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and Rift Valley fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
animal contact disease: rabies (2009)

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Nationality:
noun: Somali(s)
adjective: Somali

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Ethnic groups:
Somali 85%, Bantu and other non-Somali 15% (including Arabs 30,000)

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Religions:
Sunni Muslim

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Languages:
Somali (official), Arabic, Italian, English

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Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 37.8%
male: 49.7%
female: 25.8% (2001 est.)

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Education expenditures:
NA

Despite the lack of effective national governance, Somalia has maintained a healthy informal economy, largely based on livestock, remittance/money transfer companies, and telecommunications.

Agriculture is the most important sector, with livestock normally accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of export earnings. Nomads and semi-pastoralists, who are dependent upon livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population. Livestock, hides, fish, charcoal, and bananas are Somalia's principal exports, while sugar, sorghum, corn, qat, and machined goods are the principal imports. Somalia's small industrial sector, based on the processing of agricultural products, has largely been looted and sold as scrap metal.

Somalia's service sector also has grown.
Telecommunication firms provide wireless services in most major cities and offer the lowest international call rates on the continent. In the absence of a formal banking sector, money transfer/remittance services have sprouted throughout the country, handling roughly $2 billion in remittances annually.

Mogadishu's main market offers a variety of goods from food to the newest electronic gadgets. Hotels continue to operate and are supported with private-security militias. Somalia's arrears to the IMF continued to grow in 2008. Statistics on Somalia's GDP, growth, per capita income, and inflation should be viewed skeptically.

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GDP (purchasing power parity):
$5.524 billion (2008 est.)
$5.387 billion (2007)
$5.252 billion (2006)

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GDP (official exchange rate):
$2.6 billion (2008 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate:
2.6% (2008 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP):
$600 (2008 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 65%
industry: 10%
services: 25% (2000 est.)

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Labor force:
3.7 million (few skilled laborers) (1975)

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Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 71%
industry and services: 29% (1975)

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Unemployment rate:
NA%

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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
NA%; note - businesses print their own money, so inflation rates cannot be easily determined

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Agriculture - products:
bananas, sorghum, corn, coconuts, rice, sugarcane, mangoes, sesame seeds, beans; cattle, sheep, goats; fish

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Industries:
a few light industries, including sugar refining, textiles, wireless communication

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Industrial production growth rate:
NA%

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Electricity - production:
280 million kWh (2006 est.)

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Electricity - consumption:
260.4 million kWh (2006 est.)

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Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2007 est.)

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Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2007 est.)

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Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

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Oil - consumption:
5,040 bbl/day (2006 est.)

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Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2005)

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Oil - imports:
4,772 bbl/day (2005)

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Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

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Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2007 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2007 est.)

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Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2007 est.)

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Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2007 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves:
5.663 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

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Exports - commodities:
livestock, bananas, hides, fish, charcoal, scrap metal

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Exports - partners:

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UAE 50.7%, Yemen 21%, Oman 6.1% (2007)
Imports:
$798 million f.o.b. (2006)

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Imports - commodities:
manufactures, petroleum products, foodstuffs, construction materials, qat

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Imports - partners:
Djibouti 34.4%, India 9.1%, Kenya 9%, Oman 6%, UAE 5.6%, Yemen 5.5% (2007)

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Debt - external:
$3 billion (2001 est.)

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Exchange rates:
Somali shillings (SOS) per US dollar - NA (2007-08), 1,438.3 (2006) official rate; the unofficial black market rate was about 23,000 shillings per dollar as of February 2007
note: the Republic of Somaliland, a self-declared independent country not recognized by any foreign government, issues its own currency, the Somaliland shilling