SOMALIA

Have you seen the movie "Black Hawk Down"? It was a story about a group of American special task force end up dying in a God-forsaken country in the remote African desert. America has since relinquished their effort to keep up the presence there. For a country that has never been in peace, the war which just happened last year was just an event as normal as in any other tragic events in this country's history, and its future is as blur as a fading Northen star. The country has been dominated by warlords ever since its independence day. Wrecked havoc by eternally internal conflict and hostile warfares with the biggest neighbor Ethiopia, the country is now awaiting another uprising from the Islamic force after they were driven away by a coalition between Christian-majority Ethiopia and the Interim Somalia Government backed by the US.

" Somalia (Somali: Soomaaliya; Arabic: الصومال‎ transliteration: aṣ-Ṣūmāl), officially the Somali Republic (Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliya, Arabic: جمهورية الصومال‎ transliteration: Jumhūriyyat aṣ-Ṣūmāl) and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is located on the Horn of Africa in East Africa. It is bordered by Djibouti to the north-west, Kenya on its south-west, the Gulf of Aden with Yemen on its north, the Indian Ocean at its east and Ethiopia to the west. The Somali state currently exists solely in a de jure capacity; Somalia has no recognized central government authority nor any other feature associated with an established independent state. De facto authority resides in the hands of the governments for the unrecognized entities of Somaliland and Puntland and the United Nations-recognized, interim Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which until recently controlled only Baidoa. Violence has plagued Mogadishu, the capital, since warlords ousted former President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Capital
Mogadishu2°02′N 45°21′E
Largest city
Mogadishu
Official languages
Somali
Government
Transitional Federal Government
- President
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
- Prime Minister
Ali Mohammed Ghedi
Independence
from the UK and Italy
- Date
July 1, 1960
Area
- Total
637,657 km² (42nd)246,201 sq mi
- Water (%)
1.6
Population
- 2003 estimate
10,700,000 (74st)
- 1987 census
7,114,431
- Density
13 /km² (198th)34 /sq mi
GDP (PPP)
2006 estimate
- Total
$5.023 billion (160th)
- Per capita
$600 (not ranked)
HDI (2003)
n/a (n/a) (unranked)
Currency
Somali shilling (SOS)
Time zone
EAT (UTC+3)
- Summer (DST)
not observed (UTC+3)
Internet TLD
.so
Calling code
+252

Political organization
In 2002, Southwestern Somalia, comprising Bay, Bakool, Middle Juba, Gedo, Lower Shabelle and Lower Juba provinces of Somalia declared itself autonomous. However, at the time of its declaration, the Rahanweyn Resistance Army, established in 1999, was in full control of Bay and Bakool and parts of Gedo and Middle Juba regions only. This temporary secession was reasserted in 2002, leading to de facto autonomy of Southwestern Somalia. An internal armed conflict between Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud and his two deputies, weakened it militarily. From February 2006, this area and the city of Baidoa became central to the Transitional Federal Government. In 2004, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) organized and wrote a charter for the governing of the nation. The government wrote the charter in Nairobi. The TFG capital is presently in Baidoa.
In 2006, the Islamic Courts Union rose to predominant control of Somalia. They took over the capital of Mogadishu in the Second Battle of Mogadishu in May–June and began to spread their control through the rest of the country.
Another secession occurred in July 2006 with the declaration of regional autonomy by the state of Jubaland nominally consisting of parts of Gedo, Middle Juba, and the whole of Lower Juba region. Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale, chairman of the Administration of Juba Valley Alliance, who comes from Galgadud region, in central Somalia is the most powerful leader there. This regional government did not want full statehood.

Languages
Somalia is unique in Africa because all inhabitants speak a native language. Somali is the main language. Somali is used virtually everywhere and nearly every Somali citizen speaks it.
A considerable amount of Somalis speak Arabic due to religious reasons and ties with the Arab world and media. English is also widely used and taught, Italian used to be a major language but due to the civil war and lack of education only the older generation speaks it.

Religion
Eid celebrations in Mogadishu.
The Somalis are Muslims.Loyalty to Islam is what reinforces distinctions that set Somalis apart from their immediate African neighbours, many of whom are either Christians (particularly the Amhara and others of Ethiopia and Kenya) or adherents of indigenous African faiths. "

Somalia has long been fighting against Colonialism from the British and the Italian. The two countries pulled Somalia back and forth and even torn it apart during World War II. The independence of the British Somaliland Protectorate from the United Kingdom was proclaimed on 26 June 1960. On 1 July 1960, unification of the British and ex-Italian Somaliland took place. However, after Independence, the country got into a worse shape with more and more territories vied for secession. The main ally of Somalia was the Communist Soviet but the USSR turned against Somalia and supported Ethiopia in the war between the two countries. Inside the country, a conflict to unseat warlords broke out in May 2006. The battle was fought between an alliance of Mogadishu warlords known as the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism or "ARPCT" and a militia loyal to Islamic Courts Union or "ICU". Outside, Somalia and Ethiopia fought a bitter war in 1977–78 over the Somali province of Ogaden, which has been ruled by the Ethiopians since the partition of Somali lands in the first half of the 20th century by the British Empire. In addition, the ICU claimed that Ethiopia, with its long history as an imperial power, seeks to occupy Somalia, or rule it by proxy.