Country Profile
Formal Name: The Federal Republic of Somalia
Short Form: Somalia.
Capital: Mogadishu.
National Language: Somali
Foreign Languages: English, Arabic, Italian
Somalia, is located at easternmost part of the African continent, on the Horn of Africa and occupies an important geopolitical position between sub-Saharan Africa and the countries of Arabia and Southwestern Asia. The capital, Mogadishu, is located just north of the Equator on the Indian Ocean.
Somalia has an estimated population of around 14.3 million, and has been described as the most culturally homogeneous country in Africa. Around 85% of its residents are ethnic Somalis. The official languages of Somalia are Somali and Arabic. Most people in the country are Muslims. Somalia is a country of geographic extremes.
The climate is mainly dry and hot, with landscapes of thorn bush savanna and semi-arid, and the inhabitants of Somalia have developed equally demanding economic survival strategies. Apart from a mountainous coastal zone in the north and several pronounced river valleys, most of the country is extremely flat, with few natural barriers to restrict the mobility of the nomads and their livestock.
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Strategic Location
Somalia is Situated in the most eastern tip of the African continent known as the “Horn of Africa.” It has been the Gateway to Africa for business and trade for millennia, this makes Somalia a dynamic meeting place where East meets West.
Strategic Location
Somalia is Situated in the most eastern tip of the African continent known as the “Horn of Africa.” It has been the Gateway to Africa for business and trade for millennia, this makes Somalia a dynamic meeting place where East meets West.
Size and Population
Landmass of 637,000 Sq km and the longest coastline of Africa (3,333 kilometers). Over 15 million population. Additional 2 million Diaspora living across the globe, are a homogeneous society that shares a common ethnicity, religion, and language.
Size and Population
Landmass of 637,000 Sq km and the longest coastline of Africa (3,333 kilometers). Over 15 million population. Additional 2 million Diaspora living across the globe, are a homogeneous society that shares a common ethnicity, religion, and language.
Borders
Borders- Somalia is bordered by the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east, Kenya to the South, Ethiopia to the west, and Djibouti to the northwest. Somalia’s southern and western borders was arbitrarily determined by colonial powers and divides the lands
Borders
Borders- Somalia is bordered by the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east, Kenya to the South, Ethiopia to the west, and Djibouti to the northwest. Somalia’s southern and western borders 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.
Soils
Soils- 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.
Soils
The most fertile soils are found on the alluvial plains of the Jubba and Shebelle rivers. These deep vertosols 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.
Climate
Somalia lies astride the Equator, but unlike typical climates at this latitude, conditions in Somalia range from arid in the northeastern and central regions to semiarid in the northwest and southern region. The climatic year comprises four seasons. The gu, or main rainy season, lasts from April to June; the second rainy season – the dayr, extends from October to December. Each is followed by a dry season—the main one (jilaal) from December to March and the second one (xagaa) from June to September. During the second dry season, showers fall in the coastal zone.
Climate
Long-term mean annual rainfall is less than 4 inches (100 mm) in the northeast and about 8 to 12 inches (200 to 300 mm) in the central plateaus. The southwest and northwest receive an average of 20 to 24 inches (500 to 600 mm) a year. While the coastal areas experience hot, humid, and unpleasant weather year-round, the interior is dry and hot. Somalia has some of the highest mean annual temperatures in the world. At Berbera, on the northern coast, the afternoon high averages more than 100 °F (38 °C) from June through September. Temperature maxima are even higher inland, but along the coast of the Indian Ocean temperatures are considerably lower because of a cold offshore current. The average afternoon high at Mogadishu, for example, ranges from the low 80s F (mid- to upper 20s C) in July to the low 90s F (low 30s C) in April.
Drainage
The flatness of the Somalian plateaus is interrupted by several deep valleys. Starting in the northeast, these are the Dharoor and Nugaaleed (Nogal) valleys; both are waadis that, in season, have rivers flowing into the Indian Ocean at Xaafuun and Eyl, respectively.
Drainage
In the southwest are the only permanent rivers in Somalia, the Jubba and the Shabeelle (Shebeli). Originating in the Ethiopian highlands, these two streams cut deeply into the plateaus before meandering through the alluvial plains toward the coast.
Relief
Relief- The Somali peninsula consists mainly of a tableland of young limestone and sandstone formations. In the extreme north, along the Gulf of Aden, is a narrow coastal plain called the Guban, which broadens northward toward the port of Berbera.
Relief
This gives way inland to a maritime mountain range with a steep north-facing scarp. Near Ceerigaabo (Erigavo) a mountain called Surud Cad reaches the highest elevation in the country, about 7,900 feet (2,408 metres). To the south are the broad plateaus of the Galgodon (or Ogo) Highlands and the Sool and Hawd regions, which drop gradually southward toward the Indian Ocean.
In southern Somalia the crystalline bedrock outcrops to the south of Baydhabo (Baidoa) in the shape of granite formations called inselbergs. These give way further south to alluvial plains, which are separated from the coast by a vast belt of ancient dunes stretching more than 600 miles (1,000 km) from south of Kismaayo (Chisimaio) to north of Hobyo (Obbia).
Whereas the Jubba flows directly from north of Kismaayo into the Indian Ocean, the Shabeelle veers southwest immediately to the north of Mogadishu and flows into a large swamp before reaching the Jubba. The Jubba carries more water than the Shabeelle, which sometimes dries up in its lower course in years of sparse rainfall in the Ethiopian highlands. During dry seasons these rivers are a major source of water for people and animals. Because over most of the country the water table is deep or the groundwater has a high mineral content, the conservation of surface runoff is of primary importance.
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