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Somalia is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Djibouti to its north-west, Kenya to its south-west, the Gulf of Aden to its north, the Indian Ocean to its east and Ethiopia to its west. Somalia has a rich sea faring
history, and is home of the ancient kingdom of Punt. Between 1896 and 1920 it
was known as the Dervish State and it became an ally of the German empire during
the first world war. In 1920 it was defeated by the
British and areas of it became a British protectorate, although the entire
country was never formally colonised. Italy too acquired parts of what
is now Somalia and, following the countries' independence in 1960, the two became
one as the Somali Democratic Republic. In 1969 a coup installed Mohamed Siad
Barre as president and, although
a harsh socialist regime then ruled the country until its collapse in 1991, many
improvements were achieved, particularly in the field of literacy. Barre ruled until his government collapsed in 1991 when, armed and supported by Ethiopia, clans from across Somalia brought down his regime and successfully ejected him from power leading to the Somali Civil War that forced him into exile where he died in Nigeria in 1995.
Although the civil war was 'won', it badly affected food distribution and left
an estimated third of a million people dead. Since that time, the country has
been in almost perpetual conflict and is currently run by a coalition comprising the Internationally recognized Transitional Federal Government and the former Islamist government. However violence is ever present with Al Shabaab and other groups opposed to the Somali government carrying out deadly attacks in and around Mogadishu on an almost daily basis. Somalia is badly fractionalised and
in dispute with itself and its neighbours over borders and territories with
prospects for peace low with daily outbreaks of fighting
across the land and particularly around the capital city of Mogadishu.
Such is the situation in Somalia that when ranked in terms of life expectancy,
literacy, access to knowledge and the living standards of a country Somalia is not rated as there is too little data on the level of national economic development in the country due to political instability and the ongoing conflict. The
life expectancy in Somalia is 57.4 years (2019) and 44% of the country' population are children under the
age of fifteen. Of those over fourteen, just 37.8% are literate (male, 49.7%; female 25.8%) and 71% of all children suffer from malnourishment. Shockingly, an
estimated 200,000 Somalia children are believed to have taken up arms during the
conflict there. Aid agencies do operate in Somalia, however workers have been
kidnapped and killed as well as facing other threats. Most of
the work in Somalia is to get humanitarian aid in quickly then
withdraw and leave longer term planning until there is some
semblance of order in the country. As a result, millions are suffering both physical and emotional
trauma as well as shortages of life essentials. Find out more
about Somalia today in the profile articles below.
Somalia Profile: Volunteer in Somalia
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Somalia Profile: History of Somalia
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Somalia Profile: Somalia Conflict
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Somalia Profile: Somalia Children
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Somalia Profile: Somalia Images
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Somalia Profile: Somalia Quiz
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Mogadishu Airport: Mogadishu Profile
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Somalia Profile: Mogadishu Airport
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Somalia Profile: Sponsor Children in Somalia
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Somalia Profile: Somalia Map
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Somalia Profile: Somalia News
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