Solomon Islands (continued)
Aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1985), $16.1 million
Currency: Solomon Islands dollar (plural—dollars); 1 Solomon Islands dollar (SI$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Solomon Islands dollars (SI$) per US$1—2.4067 (January 1990), 2.3090 (1989), 2.0825 (1988), 2.0033 (1987), 1.7415 (1986), 1.4808 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Highways: about 2,100 km total (1982); 30
km sealed, 290 km gravel, 980 km earth,
800 private logging and plantation roads
of varied construction
Ports: Honiara, Ringi Coye
Civil air: no major transport aircraft
Airports: 29 total, 27 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 2,439 m; 5 with runways 1, 220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: 3,000 telephones; stations—4 AM, no FM, no TV; 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth station
Defense Forces
Branches: NA
Military manpower: NA
Defense expenditures: NA
Somalia
_Somalia.jpg)
See regional map VII
Geography
Total area: 637,660 km²; land area:
627,340 km²
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Texas
Land boundaries: 2,340 km total; Djibouti 58 km, Ethiopia 1,600 km, Kenya 682 km
Coastline: 3,025 km
Maritime claims:
- Territorial sea: 200 nm
Disputes: southern half of boundary with Ethiopia is a Provisional Administrative Line; territorial dispute with Ethiopia over the Ogaden; possible claims to Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya based on unification of ethnic Somalis
Climate: desert; northeast monsoon (December to February), cooler southwest monsoon (May to October); irregular rainfall; hot, humid periods (tangambili) between monsoons
Terrain: mostly flat to undulating plateau rising to hills in north
Natural resources: uranium, and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt
Land use: 2% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 46% meadows and pastures; 14% forest and woodland; 38% other; includes 3% irrigated
Environment: recurring droughts; frequent dust storms over eastern plains in summer; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Note: strategic location on Horn of Africa along southern approaches to Bab el Mandeb and route through Red Sea and Suez Canal
People
Population: 8,424,269 (July 1990), growth
rate 0.8% (1990)
Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: -24 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 125 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 53 years male, 54 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 7.3 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Somali(s); adjective—Somali
Ethnic divisions: 85% Somali, rest mainly Bantu; 30,000 Arabs, 3,000 Europeans, 800 Asians
Religion: almost entirely Sunni Muslim
Language: Somali (official); Arabic, Italian, English
Literacy: 11.6% (government est.)
Labor force: 2,200,000; very few are skilled laborers; 70% pastoral nomad, 30% agriculture, government, trading, fishing, handicrafts, and other; 53% of population of working age (1985)
Organized labor: General Federation of Somali Trade Unions is controlled by the government
Government
Long-form name: Somali Democratic
Republic
Type: republic
Capital: Mogadishu
Administrative divisions: 16 regions (plural—NA, singular—gobolka); Bakool, Banaadir, Bari, Bay, Galguduud, Gedo, Hiiraan, Jubbada Dhexe, Jubbada Hoose. Mudug, Nugaal, Sanaag, Shabeellaha Dhexe, Shabeellaha Hoose, Togdheer, Woqooyi Galbeed
Independence: 1 July 1960 (from a merger of British Somaliland, which became independent from the UK on 26 June 1960, and Italian Somaliland, which became independent from the Italian-administered UN trusteeship on 1 July 1960, to form the Somali Republic)
Constitution: 25 August 1979, presidential approval 23 September 1979
National holiday: Anniversary of the Revolution, 21 October (1969)
Executive branch: president, two vice presidents, prime minister. Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral People's Assembly
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State—President and Commander in Chief of the Army Maj. Gen. Mohamed SIAD Barre (since 21 October 1969);
Head of Government—Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ali SAMANTAR (since 1 February 1987)
