Somalia

National name: Soomaaliya

Geography 

Capital: Mogadishu
Major Towns: Mogadishu, Baidoa, Beledweyne, Garoowe, Berbera
Location (geographical coordinates/latitude and longitude): Mogadishu: 2°02'N, 45°21'E
Time Zone: EAT (UTC+3)
Size (Land and Sea): 637,661 km²; Water: 1.6%
Borders with Djibouti, Kenya, the Gulf of Aden with Yemen, the Indian Ocean and Ethiopia
Elevation extremes: Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m, highest point: Shimbiris 2,450 m 
 
Politics  

Head of State: President: Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (2004); Prime Minister: Nur Hassan Hussein (2007)
Form of Government: Transitional Federal Government
Independancy (from the UK and Italy): July 1, 1960
Currency: Somali Shilling
 
Industry  

Main Industries: a few light industries, including sugar refining, textiles, wireless communication.
Natural resources: uranium and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt, natural gas, likely oil reserves
Agriculture: bananas, sorghum, corn, coconuts, rice, sugarcane, mangoes, sesame seeds, beans; cattle, sheep, goats; fish
 
Population and People  

Population:  9,118,773 (2007 est.); 10,700,000 (2003); 7,114,431 (1987)
Population density per sq mi: 38
Growth rate: 2.8% (2007 est.)
Birth rate: 44.6 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate: 6.68 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 113.1/1000
Religion: almost entirely Sunni Muslims; Christianity's influence was abolished in the 1970s
Languages: Somali (majority), others (Arab, Af-Maay, Swahili)
Ethnic groups / Tribes: Somali 85%, Bantu and other non-Somali 15% (including Arabs 30,000)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 44.4% (male 2,031,682/female 2,019,629); 15-64 years: 53% (male 2,423,602/female 2,410,126); 65 years and over: 2.6% (male 97,932/female 135,802) (2007 est.) 
Life expectancy: 48.8
Literacy: Total population: 37.8%; male: 49.7%, female: 25.8% (2001 est.)

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