| |||||
| Anthem | "Long Live Somalia" | ||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Mogadishu | ||||
| Language official |
Somali, Arabic | ||||
| others | English, Italian | ||||
| Ethnic Groups main |
Somalis | ||||
| others | Bantus, Bajuni, Oromo | ||||
| Government | Unitary one-party Marxist-Leninist socialist republic | ||||
| Legislature | People's Assembly | ||||
| President | Maslah Mohammed Siad Barre | ||||
| Area | 916,909 km² | ||||
| Population | 28,393,219 | ||||
| Currency | Somali shilling (SOS)
| ||||
| Calling Code | +252 | ||||
| Internet TLD | .so | ||||
Somalia, officially the Somali Democratic Republic, is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east, and Kenya to the southwest. The country has an estimated population of around 15 million, of which over 2 million live in the capital and largest city Mogadishu and has been described as Africa's most culturally homogeneous nation, with ethnic Somalis making up 85% of the population.
Somalia had established itself as an important trade center in the region since antiquity. In the late 19th century, the various Somali Sultanates were colonized by Italy, Britain and Ethiopia. European colonists merged the tribal territories into two colonies, which were Italian Somaliland and the British Somaliland Protectorate. A two-decade long confrontation between the native Dervish movement and European colonial authorities had resulted in the fall of the Dervishes in the 1920 Somaliland campaign. In 1960, the two territories united to form the independent Somali Republic under a civilian government.
The Supreme Revolutionary Council headed by Siad Barre seized power in the country following a coup d'état in 1969. Following Somalia's military victory in the 1977 Ogaden War, it annexed the Somali region of neighbouring Ethiopia. To this day, Somalia remains a one-party socialist government led by the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party.
| ||||||||||||
