Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, east of Ethiopia.
Geography: strategic location on Horn of Africa along southern approaches to Bab el Mandeb and route through Red Sea and Suez Canal.
Total area: 637,657 sq km, land area : 627,337 sq km, water area : 10,320 sq km.
Capital: Mogadishu.
Industries:a few light industries, including sugar refining, textiles, wireless communication.
Languages: Somali (official), Arabic, Italian, English.
National Holiday: Foundation of the Somali Republic, 1 July (1960); note - 26 June (1960) in Somaliland.
Currency (Code): Somali shilling (SOS)
Population:10,112,453 This estimate was derived from an official census taken in 1975 by the Somali Government; population counting in Somalia is complicated by the large number of nomads and by refugee movements in response to famine and clan warfare (July 2010 est.).
Labor force: 3.447 million (few skilled laborers) (2007) |