All about the country Somalia
Somalia is a country in Africa bordered by Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Gulf of Yemen, and the Indian Ocean. Somalia’s ties to the Arab world allowed it to be accepted into the Arab League in 1974. Somalia also belongs to the African Union, the Organization of Islamic Conference, and the U.N. It supported anti-apartheid groups and Eritrean secessionists. The country has maintained a free market economy despite its instability. Somalia is a country of geographic extremes. The climate is mainly dry and hot, with landscapes of thornbush savanna and semidesert, and the inhabitants of Somalia have developed equally demanding economic survival strategies. All about the country Somalia
History:
The Republic of Somalia was formed in 1960 by the federation of a former Italian colony and a British protectorate. Mohamed Siad Barre (Maxamed Siyaad Barre) held dictatorial rule over the country from October 1969 until January 1991, when he was overthrown in a bloody civil war waged by clan-based guerrillas. After Siad’s fall from power, warfare continued and the country lacked an effective centralized government—problems that persisted into the 21st century. Moreover, a de facto government declared the formation of an independent Republic of Somaliland in the north in 1991. Similarly, in 1998 the autonomous region of Puntland (the Puntland State of Somalia) was self-proclaimed in the northeast. There are cemeteries in Somalia that date to the 4th millennium BC and show the area’s ancient burial customs. The Jalelo site in northern Somalia is important to the study of Paleolithic times. All about the country Somalia
The State of Somalia:
After World War II, Britain retained control of British and Italian Somaliland despite Somali help to the allies. In 1949, the U.N. allowed Italy a trusteeship of Italian Somaliland. This was granted on the condition that the country would be granted independence within 10 years. This condition was proposed by the Somali Youth League (SYL), Hizbia Digil Mirifle Somali (HDMS), and the Somali National League (SNL). British retained its portion of Somaliland until 1960 as a protectorate.The U.N. trusteeship allowed the Somalis to gain political experience. British Somaliland did not have the advantages of the Italian portion. Britain attempted to make up for past neglect but the area stagnated. This disparity would cause problems when the two parts became integrated.
In 1948, Britain gave an important Somali grazing area to Ethiopia based on an 1897 treaty. Despite the British including a provision that Somali nomads could retain autonomy, Ethiopia claimed sovereignty over them. In response, Britain attempted to purchase the area back in 1956.Djibouti held a referendum in 1958 to decide whether or not to join Somalia or remain with France. The vote ended up in favor of continued French association. Those voting no were Somalis seeking a united Somalia. In 1977, Djibouti gained its independence.
Colonial period:
The year 1884 ended a long period of comparative peace. At the Berlin Conference of 1884, the Scramble for Africa began the long and bloody process of the imperial partition of Somali lands. The French, British, and Italians all came to Somalia in the late nineteenth century. The British claimed British Somaliland as a protectorate in 1886 after the withdrawal of Egypt and the treaty with the Warsangali clan. Egypt sought to prevent European colonial expansion in northeastern Africa. The southern area, claimed by Italy in 1889, became known as Italian Somaliland. The northernmost stretch became part of the French Territory of Afars and Issas, also known as French Somaliland, until it later achieved independence as Djibouti. For twenty years Mohammed Abdullah Hassan was Somalia’s religious and nationalist leader (called the “Mad Mullah” by the British) and led armed resistance to the British, Italian, and Ethiopian forces in Somalia.
Land:
Somalia is bounded by the Gulf of Aden to the north, by the Indian Ocean to the east, by Kenya and Ethiopia to the west, and by Djibouti to the northwest. Somalia’s western border was arbitrarily determined by colonial powers and divides the lands traditionally occupied by the Somali people. As a result, Somali communities are also found in Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya, and the border remains a source of dispute. The types of soil vary according to climate and parent rock. The arid regions of northeastern Somalia have mainly thin and infertile desert soils. The limestone plateaus of the interfluvial area have fertile dark gray to brown calcareous residual soils that provide good conditions for rain-fed agriculture. The most fertile soils are found on the alluvial plains of the Jubba and Shabeelle rivers. These deep vertisols are covered in black soils derived from decomposed lava rocks that are commonly called “black cotton soils” (because cotton often is grown in them). These soils have a high water-retention capacity and are mainly used for irrigation agriculture.
Capital:
Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia, but in 2006, its territory fell under the control of the Islamic Courts Union. While the Transitional Federal Government had its seat in Baidoa, it too was considered a capital. In December 2006, troops of the UN-backed interim government rolled into Mogadishu unopposed, putting an end to six months of domination of the capital by a radical Islamic movement. Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi declared that Mogadishu had been secured, after meeting with local clan leaders to discuss the peaceful hand-over of the city. Yet as of August 2007, the federal transitional government and its Ethiopian allies with AU support were still coping with daily attacks in Mogadishu from a Somali Islamic insurgency.
Politics:
After the civil war, the Tanade and Harti clans declared a self-governing area they named Puntland. They declared it would take part in reconciliation and a new central government. Southwestern Somalia declared its own autonomy in 2002. Inner conflict weakened the Rahanweyn military in 2006, the southwest area was central to the TFG based in Baidoa. The TFG met in Kenya and published a charter for the nation’s government in 2004. Baidoa is the TFG’s current capital. Rivalry between clans continued in 2006 when the Jubaland state declared independence. This region did not want full independence, but federal autonomy.
In 2006, fighting broke out between Mogadishu warlords, known as the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism, and militia loyal to the Islamic Court Union, who were seeking to establish Sharia law. During the fighting, several hundred were killed. The ICU alleged the U.S. CIA was involved in the conflict, which the agency denied. The ICU controlled Mogadishu by June, 2006. The ARPCT forces were defeated in their last stronghold and forced to flee to Ethiopia.
The Transitional Government, supported by Ethiopia, called for peacekeeping intervention, which the ICU opposed. The ICU took control of southern Somalia, primarily through negotiation with clan chiefs. The ICU did steer clear of the Ethiopian border due to the Ethiopians statements that it would protect the Transitional Government there is threatened. After the ICU took Kismayo, the last port in the transitional government’s hands, Ethiopia invaded. In November, 2006, peace talks broke down and international groups fear full scale war. In December, fighting broke out again. Later that month, Ethiopians launched air strikes against the ICU forces. Ethiopia claimed to be entering the war to protect its sovereignty.
Federal government:
At the beginning of 2007 Somalia was consolidating under the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which had carried out a military campaign against the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The TFG is supported by the United Nations. Until recently, it governed out of an administrative capital in Baidoa. In the last days of 2006, forces of the transitional government supported by Ethiopian forces ousted the ICU from Mogadishu. Peacekeeping forces from the African Union are expected to support the transitional government in its bid to control the country.During the war against the ICU, the autonomous states of Puntland, Jubaland, Southwestern Somalia, and Galmudug had closely aligned themselves with the TFG and the supporting Ethiopian forces.
On December 29, 2008, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed announced before a united parliament in Baidoa his resignation as president. Yusuf expressed regret at failing to end the country’s seventeen year conflict as his government had mandated to do. Expressing regrets at the lack of support from the international community, he announced that the speaker of parliament, Aden “Madobe” Mohamed, would succeed him in office per the charter of the Transitional Federal Government.
Languages:
The Somali language belongs to the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Despite several regional dialects, it is understood throughout the country and is an official language. The second official language is Arabic, which is spoken chiefly in northern Somalia and in the coastal towns. Owing to Somalia’s colonial past, many people have a good command of English and Italian, which, in addition to Somali, are used at the country’s colleges and universities. Swahili also is spoken in the south. In 1973 Somalia adopted an official orthography based on the Latin alphabet. Until then, Somali had been an unwritten language.
Religion:
The Somalis are almost entirely Sunni Muslims. Christianity’s influence was significantly reduced in the 1970s when church-run schools were closed and missionaries sent home. There has been no archbishop of the Catholic cathedral in the country since 1989; the cathedral in Mogadishu was severely damaged in the civil war of January-February 1992.
The Somali constitution discourages the promotion and propagation of any religion other than Islam. Loyalty to Islam is what reinforces distinctions that set Somalis apart from their immediate African neighbors, many of whom are either Christians (particularly the Amhara people and others of Ethiopia and Kenya) or adherents of indigenous African faiths.
Education:
Prior to the country’s civil war and the resulting anarchy, the state educational system was somewhat successful despite considerable shortcomings. Enrollment in primary and secondary schools had multiplied, and the proportion of girls attending school also had risen—at least in towns. However, a lack of buildings, furniture, equipment, teaching materials, and teachers, together with the frequent unwillingness of rural people to allow children to attend school instead of working, all prevented a rapid improvement of schooling in rural areas.
After the government was overthrown in 1991, Somalia’s state education system was in shambles. Private schools have managed to function since then, as have schools in the Republic of Somaliland and Puntland. Some Islamic schools are also operational, but traditionally these Qurʾānic schools are responsible for the religious education of children according to Islamic law and do not provide secular education. All about the country Somalia
The main higher education institution had been Somali National University (1969) in Mogadishu, but the campus was destroyed during the civil war. The private Mogadishu University was established in 1997. There are also agricultural secondary schools, a vocational training centre, a teacher-training centre, and an agricultural college in Mogadishu, as well as a technical college in Burgo. Most of these institutions were unable to consistently maintain operations because of warfare. Amoud University (1997) in Borama and the University of Hargeisa (2000) are private universities in the Republic of Somaliland. About one-fifth of Somalis aged 15 and older are literate. All about the country Somalia
Environment:
Somalia is a semi-arid country with about two percent arable land. The civil war had a huge impact on the country’s tropical forests by facilitating the production of charcoal with ever-present, recurring, but damaging droughts. Somali environmentalist and Goldman Environmental Prize winner Fatima Jibrell became the first Somali to step in and initiate a much-needed effort to save the rest of the environment through local initiatives that organized local communities to protect the rural and coastal habitat. All about the country Somalia
Economy:
Since the collapse of the state, Somalia has transformed from what Mohamed siad Barre referred to as “Scientific Socialism” to a free market economy. Somalia has few natural resources and faces major development challenges, and recent economic reverses have left its people increasingly dependent on remittances from abroad. Its economy is pastoral and agricultural, with livestock—principally camels, cattle, sheep, and goats—representing the main form of wealth. Livestock exports in recent years have been severely reduced by periodic bans, ostensibly for concerns of animal health, by Arabian Peninsula states. Drought has also impaired agricultural and livestock production. Because rainfall is scanty and irregular, farming generally is limited to certain coastal districts, areas near Hargeisa, and the Juba and Shabelle River valleys. The agricultural sector of the economy consists mainly of banana plantations located in the south, which has used modern irrigation systems and up-to-date farm machinery. All about the country Somalia
A small fishing industry exists in the north, although production is seriously affected by poaching. Aromatic woods—frankincense and myrrh—from a small and diminishing forest also contribute to the country’s exports. Minerals, including uranium and likely deposits of petroleum and natural gas, are found throughout the country but have not been exploited commercially. Petroleum exploration efforts have ceased due to insecurity and instability. Illegal production in the south of charcoal for export has led to widespread deforestation. With the help of foreign aid, small industries such as textiles, handicrafts, meat processing, and printing are being established. The absence of central government authority, as well as profiteering from counterfeiting, has rapidly debased Somalia’s currency. The self-declared Republic of Somaliland issues its own currency, which is not accepted outside the self-declared republic.
The European Community and the World Bank jointly financed construction of a deep-water port at Mogadishu, which has since closed. The Soviet Union improved Somalia’s deep-water port at Berbera in 1969. Facilities at Berbera were further improved by a U.S. military construction program completed in 1985, but they have since become dilapidated. During the 1990s the United States renovated a deep-water port at Kismayo that serves the fertile Juba River basin and is vital to Somalia’s banana export industry. All about the country Somalia
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