Ancient Egypt trade expeditions along the northeastern coast of Africa - including today's Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia - occurred at various times between the 25th and 12th centuries B.C. Between A.D. 800 and 1100, immigrant Muslim Arabs and Persians set up coastal trading posts along the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, solidifying Somalia’s close trading relationship with the Arab Peninsula. In the late 19th century, Britain and Italy established colonies in the Somali Peninsula, where they remained until 1960, when British Somaliland gained independence and joined with Italian Somaliland to form the Republic of Somalia. The country functioned as a parliamentary democracy until 1969, when General Mohamed SIAD Barre took control in a coup, beginning a 22-year authoritarian socialist dictatorship. In an effort to centralize power, SIAD called for the eradication of the clan, the key cultural and social organizing principle in Somali society. Resistance to SIAD’s socialist leadership, which was causing a rapid deterioration of the country, prompted allied clan militias to overthrow SIAD in early 1991, resulting in state collapse. Subsequent fighting between rival clans for resources and territory overwhelmed the country, resulting in a manmade famine and prompting international intervention. Beginning in 1993, the UN spearheaded a humanitarian mission supported by international forces, but the international community largely withdrew by 1995 following an incident that became known as Black Hawk Down in which two American Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in Mogadishu. The fighting and subsequent siege and rescue resulted in 21 deaths and 82 wounded among the international forces.
International peace conferences in the 2000s resulted in a number of transitional governments that operated outside of Somalia. Left largely to themselves, Somalis in the country established alternative governance structures; some areas formed their own administrations, such as Somaliland and Puntland, while others developed localized institutions. Many local populations turned to using sharia courts, an Islamic judicial system that implements religious law. Several of these courts came together in 2006 to form the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The ICU established order in many areas of central and southern Somalia, including Mogadishu, but was forced out when Ethiopia intervened militarily in December 2006 on behalf of the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG). While the TFG settled in the capital, the ICU fled to rural areas or from Somalia altogether, reemerging less than a year later as the Islamic insurgent and terrorist movement al-Shabaab, which is still active today. In January 2007, the African Union (AU) established the AU Mission in Somalia peacekeeping force, which allowed Ethiopia to withdraw its forces, took over security responsibility for the country, and gave the TFG space to develop Somalia’s new government. By 2012, Somali powerbrokers agreed on a provisional constitution with a loose federal structure and established a central government in Mogadishu termed the Somali Federal Government (SFG). Since then, several interim regional administrations have been established and there have been two presidential elections. However, significant and fundamental governance and security problems remain for the SFG since al-Shabaab controls large portions of the country.

arable land: 1.8% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 68.5% (2018 est.)

Buugga Xaqiiqda Aduunka, waa laga maarmaanka macluumaadka assasiga. (Somali)
The Gheos World Guide, the indispensable source for basic information.

urban: 96.4% of population
rural: 73.7% of population
total: 84.2% of population

urban: 3.6% of population
rural: 26.3% of population
total: 15.8% of population (2020 est.)

urban: 82.4% of population
rural: 33.8% of population
total: 56.2% of population

urban: 17.6% of population
rural: 66.2% of population
total: 43.8% of population (2020 est.)

2022: HASSAN SHEIKH Mohamud elected president in third round - Federal Parliament vote in the first round - Said ABDULLAHI DENI (Kaah) 20.2%, Mohamed ABDULLAHI Mohamed "Farmaajo" (TPP) 18.3%, HASSAN SHEIKH Mohamud (PDP) 16.2%, Hassan Ali KHAYRE (Independent) 14.6%, other 30.7%; Federal Parliament vote in the second round - HASSAN SHEIKH Mohamud (PDP) 34.1%, Mohamed ABDULLAHI Mohamed "Farmaajo" (TPP) 25.7%, Said ABDULLAHI DENI (Kaah) 21%, Hassan Ali KHAYRE (Independent) 19.2%; Federal Parliament vote in the third round - HASSAN SHEIKH Mohamud (PDP) 66%, Mohamed ABDULLAHI Mohamed "Farmaajo" (TPP) 34%
2017: Mohamed ABDULLAHI Mohamed "Farmaajo" elected president in second round; Federal Parliament vote in the first round - HASSAN SHEIKH Mohamud (PDP) 88, Mohamed ABDULLAHI Mohamed "Farmaajo" (TPP) 72, Sheikh SHARIF Sheikh Ahmed (ARS) 49, other 37; Federal Parliament vote in the second round - Mohamed ABDULLAHI Mohamed "Farmaajo" (TPP) 184, HASSAN SHEIKH Mohamud (PDP) 97, Sheikh SHARIF Sheikh Ahmed (ARS) 45

info@somaliembassydc.net
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Kenya_ACS@state.gov
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$13.19 billion (2020 est.)
$13.39 billion (2019 est.)
$13.01 billion (2018 est.)

2.3% (2017 est.)
4.4% (2016 est.)
3.9% (2015 est.)

$800 (2020 est.)
$900 (2019 est.)
$900 (2018 est.)

76.7% of GDP (2017 est.)
93% of GDP (2014 est.)

1.5% (2017 est.)
-71.1% (2016 est.)

-$464 million (2017 est.)
-$427 million (2016 est.)

$819 million (2014 est.)
$779 million (2013 est.)

$94.43 billion (2018 est.)
$80.07 billion (2017 est.)

Somali shillings (SOS) per US dollar
23,960 (2016 est.)

5.6% of GDP (2019 est.) (approximately $120 million)
6% of GDP (2018 est.) (approximately $120 million)
5.9% of GDP (2017 est.) (approximately $110 million)
6% of GDP (2016 est.) (approximately $110 million)
5.9% of GDP (2015 est.) (approximately $110 million)