Somalia, officially the Federal
Republic of Somalia Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Federaalka Soomaaliya; Arabic:
جمهورية الصومال الفيدرالية, is a country with its territory
located in the Horn of Africa, a strategic position in the Red Sea and the Gulf
of Aden. Somalia was known to the Egyptians as the Land of Punt. Punt was
famous for frankincense and myrrh. The Chinese traded with Somalia in the tenth
century.
Somalia
has coastlines along the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. The country
encompasses an area of 637,657 square km and has an estimated population of
14,317,996. Ethnic Somalis practicing Islam dominate the demographics of the
nation.
Mogadishu
is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. It is located along the coast
of the Indian Ocean in the southern part of the country. Administratively, the
city is part of Somalia’s Banaadir region. It has an area of 103
square km. As of 2017, it had a
population of 2,425,000 residents.
On
this date in 1960, Somalia gained its independence from Britain.
Situated
in the horn of East Africa, early on Somalia's economy was based upon the
nomadic herding of animals. From the time of America’s Reconstruction (1870s)
until World War II (1942), Britain gained control over the Italian portions of
Somalia. In 1887, Britain became concerned with keeping the route to India open
through the Suez Canal, which was opened in 1869, and as a result, Britain
proclaimed Somalia as a British protectorate and named it British Somaliland.
In
the beginning of the 20th century, native uprisings challenged British control.
In 1910, the British abandoned the interior of Somaliland and withdrew to the
coastal regions. Italy seized the opportunity to extend its control inland and
took over many of the regions that the British had abandoned. After WWII, Italy
relinquished control and Somalia was given to the United Nations. For 10 years,
it was a UN trust territory under Italian administration until 1960, when
Somalia was granted independence, merged with the former British protectorate
and the Somali Republic was formed.
Four
years later, Somalia fought with Ethiopia over the Ogaden region. The country
was run by a civilian government for the first few years, until the 1969
military coup of General Muhammed Siad Barre. Siad Barre held power for more
than two decades. He attempted to regain the territories that the Somalis had
lost over the years, which included portions of Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya,
invading the Ogaden region in 1977. Two years later, a new constitution was
passed into law ensuring the rule of dictatorship with one political party.
While
Siad Barre maintained his military dictatorship, foreign capital flowed into
Somalia. The money came in the form of aid, from the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) as well as individual countries as capital investment. The foreign
aid often came in loans, which led to a massive foreign debt. Coupled with
periods of severe drought, the debt soon made the economy unsustainable. The
years of military dictatorship had disintegrated the social fabric of Somalia,
and its people had no trust in the government.
During
these years, the United States under Reagan and Bush, Sr., gave General Siad
Barre more than U.S. $100 million per year. By the late 1980s, the economy of
Somali was unsustainable, and foreign aid, including that from the
International Monetary Fund, was withdrawn. With the collapse of the Somali
economy, civil unrest directed against the oppressive Barre regime began in the
North. The Somali National Movement (SNM) began activity and for the next three
years, different anti-government factions fought Said Barre, until he fled the
country in early 1991.
The
collapse of the Siad Barre regime plunged Somalia into chaos, with many
factions fighting to seize power. One of them, the United Somali Congress
(USC), appointed a temporary president, which caused a civil war. Unarmed Jubba
villagers starved, died, and fled by the hundreds of thousands and Somalia’s
river valleys became war zones.
In
1992, The UN Security Council mounted “Operation Restore Hope,” led by the U.S.
By September 1993, the American Congress was looking for a way to withdraw from
Somalia without losing credibility. The military forces would not withdraw
until March of 1995. During and after the civil war, many Somalis left the
country. Refugee status was granted to many Somalis by the United States
government. The largest Somali population in the United Sates is in Minnesota.
Population
of Somalia
|
Year
|
Population
|
Yearly % Change
|
|
2018
|
15,181,925
|
2.98 %
|
|
2017
|
14,742,523
|
2.96 %
|
|
2016
|
14,317,996
|
2.95 %
|
|
2015
|
13,908,129
|
2.90 %
|
§ The current population of Somalia is 15,514,253 as
of Friday, March 29, 2019, based on the latest United Nations estimates.
§ Somalia population is equivalent to 0.2% of
the total world population.
§ Somalia ranks number 74 in the list of countries
(and dependencies) by population.
§ The population density in Somalia is 25 per Km2 (65 people per
mi2).
§ The total land area is 627,340 Km2 (242,217 sq. miles)
§ 33.1 % of the population is urban (5,173,187 people
in 2019)
§ The median age in Somalia is 16.6 years.
Ref: https://aaregistry.org
, https://www.britannica.com , http://www.worldometers.info
, https://en.wikipedia.org and other sources
Comments
Post a Comment