The World Factbook (1982)/Somalia

by the Central Intelligence Agency

SOMALIA

(See reference map VII)

LAND

637,140 km²; 13% arable (0.3% cultivated), 32% grazing, 14% scrub and forest, 41% mainly desert, urban, or other

Land boundaries: 2,263 km

WATER

Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 200 nm

Coastline: 3,025 km

PEOPLE

Population: 6,124,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 3.5%

Nationality: noun—Somali(s); adjective—Somali

Ethnic divisions: 85% Hamitic, rest mainly Bantu; 30,000 Arabs, 3,000 Europeans, 800 Asians

Religion: almost entirely Muslim

Language: Somali (written form instituted by government in 1972); Arabic, Italian, English

Literacy: 5-10%

Labor force: 965,000 (1968 est.); very few are skilled laborers; 70% pastoral nomads, 30% agriculturists, government employees, traders, fishermen, handicraftsmen, other

Organized labor: General Federation of Somali Trade Unions, a government-controlled organization, established in 1977

GOVERNMENT

Official name: Somali Democratic Republic

Type: republic

Capital: Mogadishu

National holiday: 21 October

Political subdivisions: 16 regions, 60 districts

Organization: executive authority is exercised by the Supreme Revolutionary Council, composed of military officers and headed by President Siad

Government leader: President Maj. Gen. MOHAMED Siad Barre

Political party and leader: the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP), created on 1 July 1976, is sole legal party; Maj. Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre is general secretary of the SRSP

Communists: probably some Communist sympathizers in the government hierarchy

Member of: AFDB, Arab League, EAMA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ISCON, ITU, NAM, OAU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO

ECONOMY

GDP: $411.1 million (1978 est.), $187.0 per capita

Agriculture: mainly a pastoral country, raising livestock; crops—bananas, sugarcane, cotton, cereals

Major industries: a few small industries, including a sugar refinery, tuna and beef canneries, textiles, iron rod plant, and petroleum refining

Electric power: 90,000 kW capacity (1980); 100 million kWh produced (1980), 20 kWh per capita

Exports: $137 million (f.o.b., 1980); livestock, hides, skins, and bananas

Imports: $463 million (c.i.f., 1980); textiles, cereals, transport equipment, machinery, construction materials and equipment, petroleum products; also military materiel in 1977

Major trade partners: Arab countries and Italy; $21.4 million imports from Communist countries (1975 est.)

External debt: $700 million (1980); external debt service payments, 5%

Budget: (1981) revenues $400 million, current expenditures $381 million, development expenditures $50 million

Monetary conversion rate: 6.295 Somali shillings=US$1

Fiscal year: calendar year

COMMUNICATIONS

Railroads: none

Highways: 15,215 km total; 2,335 km bituminous surface, 2880 km gravel, and 10,000 km unimproved earth, crushed stone, gravel, or stabilized soil, remainder improved or unimproved earth (est.)

Pipelines: 15 km crude oil

Ports: 3 major (Mogadishu, Berbera, Chisimaio)

Civil air: 8 major transport aircraft

Airfields: 50 total, 41 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 6 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 16 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: fair telephone and telegraph service; radio-relay system centered on Mogadishu connects a few towns; 6,000 telephones (0.2 per 100 popl.); 1 INTELSAT ground station; 2 AM stations, no FM or TV stations

DEFENSE FORCES

Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,176,000; 634,000 fit for military service; no conscription