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| Somali Democratic
Republic
Location Somalia is a coastal country on the Horn of
Africa, stretching from the Equator to the
Red Sea. It is bounded on the north by the Gulf of Aden and
Djibouti, on the west by Ethiopia and Kenya, and on the east
and the south by the Indian Ocean. It has an area of 637,657 square
km and a population of 7,253,137. Its capital,
Mogadishu, is on the coast not far north of the Equator. The weather is hot throughout the year,
except at the higher elevations. Rainfall is sparse, and most of
Somalia has a semiarid-to- arid environment. Mean daily maximum
temperatures range from 30C to 42C (86F -102F). Along the Gulf of Aden is the Guban
(scrubland) plain, a semi-arid, hot and humid area with low
rainfall. Heading south the plain rises to high cliffs which form
the east-west ranges of the Kar Kaar Mountains. The highest
elevation is at Surud Cad, 2,407 m. There are some small forests of
trees that produce the resins frankincense and myrrh. These trees
are indigenous to Somalia and are found on the northern mountain
slopes. Two permanent rivers rise in Ethiopia and
flow across southern Somalia to the Indian Ocean. The Jubba River
enters the Indian Ocean at Kisimayu. Although the Shabeelle
River at one time also reached the sea near Merca, its course is
thought to have changed in prehistoric times. It now turns southwest
as it approaches Mogadishu and parallels the coast for more than
eighty-five kilometers. At Baraawe south of Mogadishu, the Shabeelle
disperses into swampy areas and finally dries up and disappears into
the sand east of Jilib, not far from the Jubba River. The Somali people are divided into clans, which in turn are divided into subclans. Communities are united into a larger social and political unit called a rer, each with its own elected leader. Of the 7 million Somalis living in Somalia,
80% belongs to the Somali or Samaale group in the north; the
remaining 20% belongs to the Sab, or southern Somali. All believe
they are descended from the same male ancestor and his two sons,
Somali and Sab. This close relationship brought both strong
alliances and bloody feuds. Somali groups descended from the Samaal
consist of four pastoral nomadic clan-families (Dir, Daarood, Isaaq,
and Hawiye). The Sab consist of two agricultural clan-families (Digil
and Rahanwayn). Primary education is compulsory and free.
Some private schools continued to function after the 1991 government
overthrow. The Somalia National University was founded in 1970 in
Mogadishu. It has been closed indefinitely due to damage from wars.
Mogadishu University is a non-government university
established in 1993. Somali theater has been well established
since the 1950s. Playwright Xasan Sheikh Muumin wrote
“Shabeelnagood” (Leopard among the Women), the story of a heartless
trickster who marries a naïve young woman. First performed in
Mogadishu in 1968, the play was serialized on radio. An English
translation was published in 1974. Nuruddin Farah is a Somali
novelist who writes in English and has achieved international
recognition. Cultural institutions are the National Museum, the
National Theatre, the Histor Islam spread to Somalia though Arabs who established trading centers along the coast between the seventh and the twelfth centuries. Beginning in the twelfth century the coastal towns were independent Muslim sultanates, the interior was controlled by Ethiopian Christians. Gradually Islam spread to the interior of the country. Most Somalis belong to the Shafi’ sect of Sunni Islam. Other represented sects are the Qadiriyah, the Ahmadiya and the Salihiya. Less than 1% of the population is
Christian. Somalia’s agriculture economy is based on
the rearing of livestock, sheep, goats, camels and cattle. Only a
small percent of Somali land is arable. The main export commodities
are livestock and bananas. Less important exports are fish, hides,
frankincense and
myrrh. There are medium-sized irrigated
plantations along the Jubba and Sheebelle rivers; bananas,
sugarcane, rice, cotton, vegetables, mangoes and papayas are the
major crops. Somalia’s mineral resources are tin,
uranium, iron ore, phosphate and coal, oil and natural gas, all in
limited quantities. Sea salt is collected along the coastal regions.
In the south central region are the world’s largest known reserves
of the clay mineral sepiolite, or meerschaum. The northern and eastern coasts of Somalia
have been open to the outside world from early time as a place for
trade between Arabia and Ethiopia. Somalis were among the earliest
converts to Islam through their contact with Arab traders in the 7th
century. The ports of Kisimayu and Mogadishu in the southwest to
Berbera and Saylac in the far northwest were founded between the
eighth to the tenth centuries A.D. by Arab and Persian traders. The
port cities became centers of commerce with the interior, a function
they continued to perform in the 1990s. Somalia’s development has been hindered by territorial claims on Somali-inhabited areas of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti, and a troubled relationship with Ethiopia. In May of 1991, northern clans unilaterally declared an independent Republic of Somaliland. Although the territory is not recognized by any government, it has been relatively stable, aided by the economic infrastructure left behind by British, Russian, and American military assistance programs. The south remains fragmented. A Transitional National Government (TNG) was created in October 2000 with the three-year mandate of creating a permanent national Somali government. The TNG has been unable to reunite the country. Peace talks began in late-2002 and are ongoing. Somaliland has refused to participate in these talks saying that while it would welcome peace in former Italian Somalia. In early January 2007 Ethiopian forces
invaded southern Somalia, while Somaliland secessionists provided
port facilities in Berbera to landlocked Ethiopia. Kenya tries to
prevent the clan and militia fighting in Somalia from spreading
south across the border, which has long been open to nomadic
pastoralists Various attempts continue to be made to end the
conflict and form a central government. Nature reserves: Somalia’s Constitution, Universities, Tourism
References: http://seawaste.uwc.ac.za/archive/somali coast 2000.pdf; http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/horn_africa/impacts.xml http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1072592.stm http://countrystudies.us/somalia/35.htm http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/ene_cou_706.pdf http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/hornafrica.html http://www.soas.ac.uk/soaslit/issue1/AFRAX.PDF http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/africaonyourstreet/awalekullane.shtml http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mpa/nrsmpa/global/volume3/chapter12.html http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+so0075) |
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Location:
Horn of Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean,
east of Ethiopia 
Along
the Indian Ocean between Mogadishu to Kisimayu lies a stretch of
sand dunes. The dunes were covered with scrub and grasses, but
overgrazing has resulted in the destruction of the vegetation,
causing the dunes to move inland. Beginning in the early 1970s,
efforts were made to stabilize these dunes by replanting. 
ical
Museum, and the Somali Academy of Sciences and Arts, all located in
Mogadishu. 