Outline of Somalia

Outline of Somalia
The location of Somalia
An enlargeable map of the Somali Republic

Somalia (pronounced /soʊˈmɑːliə/ soh-mah-lee-ə; Somali: Soomaaliya; Arabic: الصومالaṣ-Ṣūmāl), officially the Republic of Somalia (Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliya, Arabic: جمهورية الصومالJumhūriyyat aṣ-Ṣūmāl) and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under communist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, the Gulf of Aden with Yemen to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east, and Ethiopia to the west. With the longest coastline on the continent,[1] its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains and highlands.[2]

In antiquity, Somalia was an important centre for commerce with the rest of the ancient world. Its sailors and merchants were the main suppliers of frankincense, myrrh and spices, items which were considered valuable luxuries by the Ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians, Mycenaeans and Babylonians with whom the Somali people traded.[3][4] According to most scholars, Somalia is most likely where the ancient Land of Punt was situated.[5][6] The ancient Puntites were a nation of people that had close relations with Pharaonic Egypt during the times of Pharaoh Sahure and Queen Hatshepsut. The pyramidal structures, temples and ancient houses of dressed stone littered around the country are said to date from this period.[7] During the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali empires dominated the regional trade, including the Ajuuraan State, the Sultanate of Adal, the Warsangali Sultanate and the Gobroon Dynasty.

Somalia was never formally colonized.[8][9] Muhammad Abdullah Hassan's Dervish State successfully repulsed the British Empire four times and forced it to retreat to the coastal region.[10] Due to these successful expeditions, the Dervish State was recognized as an ally by the Ottoman and German Empires. The Turks also named Hassan Emir of the Somali nation,[11] and the Germans promised to officially recognize any territories the Dervishes were to acquire.[12] After a quarter of a century of holding the British at bay, the Dervishes were finally defeated in 1920 as a direct consequence of Britain's new policy of aerial bombardment.[13] As a result of this bombardment, former Dervish territories were turned into a protectorate of Britain. Italy faced similar opposition from Somali Sultans and armies, and did not acquire full control of parts of modern Somalia until the Fascist era in late 1927. This occupation lasted until 1941, and was replaced by a British military administration. Northern Somalia would remain a protectorate, while southern Somalia became a trusteeship. The Union of the two regions in 1960 formed the Somali Republic. A civilian government was formed, and on July 20, 1961, through a popular referendum, a new constitution that had first been drafted the year before was ratified.[14]

Due to its longstanding ties with the Arab world, Somalia was accepted in 1974 as a member of the Arab League.[15] During the same year, the nation's former socialist administration also chaired the Organization of African Unity, the predecessor of the African Union.[16] In 1991, the Somali Civil War broke out, which saw the collapse of the federal government. Somalia's inhabitants subsequently reverted to local forms of conflict resolution, either secular, Islamic or customary law, with a provision for appeal of all sentences.[2] As with other previously nationalized sectors, informal providers stepped in to fill the void and replaced the former government monopoly over healthcare, with access to facilities witnessing a significant increase and general living conditions improving.[17][18] Through similar grass-roots initiatives, many educational institutions were restored and newer ones were developed; several are now ranked among the 100 best universities in Africa.[19] Additionally, a Transitional Federal Government was created in 2004, which saw the restoration of numerous national institutions, including the Military of Somalia. While it still has room for improvement, the interim government continues to reach out to both Somali and international stakeholders to help grow the administrative capacity of the Transitional Federal Institutions and to work toward eventual national elections in 2011.[2] According to the CIA and the recently re-established Central Bank of Somalia, despite experiencing civil unrest, Somalia has also maintained a healthy informal economy, based mainly on livestock, remittance/money transfer companies, and telecommunications.[2][20] Libertarian economist Peter T. Leeson attributes this increased economic activity to the Somali traditional law (referred to as Xeer), which provides a stable environment to conduct business in.[17]

General reference

An enlargeable basic map of Somalia

Geography of Somalia

An enlargeable topographic map of Somalia
 Djibouti 58 km
 Ethiopia 1,600 km
 Kenya 682 km
  • Coastline: 3,025 km

Environment of Somalia

An enlargeable satellite image of Somalia
  • Climate of Somalia
  • Environmental issues in Somalia
  • Ecoregions in Somalia
  • Renewable energy in Somalia
  • Geology of Somalia
  • Protected areas of Somalia
    • Biosphere reserves in Somalia
    • National parks of Somalia
  • Wildlife of Somalia

Natural geographic features of Somalia

  • Glaciers in Somalia: none [22]
  • Islands of Somalia
  • Lakes of Somalia
  • Mountains of Somalia
    • Volcanoes in Somalia
  • Rivers of Somalia
    • Waterfalls of Somalia
  • Valleys of Somalia
  • World Heritage Sites in Somalia

Regions of Somalia

Ecoregions of Somalia

Administrative divisions of Somalia

Regions of Somalia

Demography of Somalia

Government and politics of Somalia

Main article: Government of Somalia and Politics of Somalia

Branches of the government of Somalia

Executive branch of the government of Somalia

Legislative branch of the government of Somalia

Judicial branch of the government of Somalia

  • Transitional Supreme Court of Somalia (seated at Mogadishu)
  • Transitional Appeals Court of Somalia

Foreign relations of Somalia

International organization membership

The Republic of Somalia is a member of:[23]

Somalia is one of only 7 U.N member countries, which are not a member state of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Law and order in Somalia

Military of Somalia

Local government in Somalia

History of Somalia

Main article: History of Somalia, Timeline of the history of Somalia, and Current events of Somalia

Culture of Somalia

Art in Somalia

Sports in Somalia

Economy and infrastructure of Somalia

Education in Somalia

See also

References

  1. ^ International Traffic Network, The world trade in sharks: a compendium of Traffic's regional studies, (Traffic International: 1996), p.25.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Somalia". World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 2009-05-14. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/so.html. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
  3. ^ John Kenrick, Phoenicia, (B. Fellowes: 1855), p.199.
  4. ^ Jeanne Rose, John Hulburd, The aromatherapy book: applications & inhalations, (North Atlantic Books: 1992), p.94.
  5. ^ Christine El Mahdy, Egypt : 3000 Years of Civilization Brought to Life, (Raincoast Books: 2005), p.297.
  6. ^ Stefan Goodwin, Africa's legacies of urbanization: unfolding saga of a continent, (Lexington Books: 2006), p.48.
  7. ^ John G. Jackson, J. Hampden Jackson, Man, God and Civilization, (Citadel Press: 1972), p.216.
  8. ^ David D. Laitin, Politics, Language, and Thought: The Somali Experience, (University Of Chicago Press: 1977), p. 135
  9. ^ Don R. Hoy, Leonard Berry, Essentials of geography and development: concepts and processes, (C.E. Merrill Pub. Co.: 1984), p. 305.
  10. ^ Kevin Shillington, Encyclopedia of African history‎, (CRC Press: 2005), p.1406.
  11. ^ I.M. Lewis, The modern history of Somaliland: from nation to state, (Weidenfeld & Nicolson: 1965), p. 78
  12. ^ Thomas P. Ofcansky, Historical dictionary of Ethiopia, (The Scarecrow Press, Inc.: 2004), p.405
  13. ^ Samatar, Said Sheikh (1982). Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 131 & 135. ISBN 0521238331. 
  14. ^ Greystone Press Staff, The Illustrated Library of The World and Its Peoples: Africa, North and East, (Greystone Press: 1967), p.338.
  15. ^ Benjamin Frankel, The Cold War, 1945-1991: Leaders and other important figures in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China, and the Third World, (Gale Research: 1992), p.306.
  16. ^ Oihe Yang, Africa South of the Sahara 2001, 30th Ed., (Taylor and Francis: 2000), p.1025.
  17. ^ a b "Better Off Stateless: Somalia Before and After Government Collapse" (PDF). http://www.peterleeson.com/Better_Off_Stateless.pdf. Retrieved 2010-06-27. 
  18. ^ Benjamin Powell, Ryan Ford, Alex Nowrasteh (November 30, 2006). "Somalia After State Collapse: Chaos or Improvement?". http://www.independent.org/pdf/working_papers/64_somalia.pdf. 
  19. ^ The African Executive. "Somalia: The Resilience of a People". Africanexecutive.com. http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/article_print.php?article=4693. Retrieved 2010-06-27. 
  20. ^ Central Bank of Somalia - Economy and Finance
  21. ^ Paul Dickson, Labels for locals: what to call people from Abilene to Zimbabwe, (Merriam-Webster: 1997), p.175.
  22. ^ The only glaciers in Africa are on Mt Kenya (in Kenya), on Kilimanjaro (in Tanzania), and in the Ruwenzori Mountains (which are located in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo). See Proceedings of the Riederalp Workshop, September 1978; Actes de l'Atelier de Riederalp, septembre 1978): IAHS-AISH Publ. no. 126, 1980.
  23. ^ "Somalia". The World Factbook. United States Central Intelligence Agency. July 3, 2009. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/so.html. Retrieved July 23, 2009. 

External links

Wikimedia Atlas of Somalia

Government
Geography
News;
Economy
General information
Religion

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Outline of Puntland — …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of Somaliland — …   Wikipedia

  • Somalia — Somali Republic Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliya جمهورية الصومال‎ Jumhūriyyat as Sūmāl‎ …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of Africa — See also: Index of Africa related articles The following outline provides an overview of and topical guide to the continent Africa: Africa – world s second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of history — History articles Alphabetical index: 0 9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Outline  |  Portal  |  Timelines  |  Category The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to… …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of politics — Politics articles Alphabetical index: 0 9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Political parties  |  Scandals Lists  |  Outline  |  Portal  |  Category See also: Index of politics articles… …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of Ethiopia — …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of Kenya — The …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of cuisines — Silesian bread buns with caraway seeds The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to cuisines: Cuisine – specific set of cooking traditions and practices, often associated with a specific culture. It is often named… …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of geography — See also: Index of geography articles The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to geography: Geography – science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth.[1] The physical world …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”