Where is Somalia ?

Military of Somalia

2012-04-02T13:00:00.001+01:00

Somalia's Military

Before the outbreak of the civil war in the early 90s and the disintegration of the Armed Forces, Somalia's relationship with the USSR and latterly with the US enabled it to build the biggest army in Africa. The creation of the Transitional Government in 2004 saw the re-enlistment of the Somalian military , which now has a force of 10,000 troops. The Somalian Ministry of Defence is responsible for the Armed Forces.

After nearly 20 years of absence, 500 or so marines were being trained in 2010 as a beginning to re-establish the Somalian Naval force addition, now there are plans for the re-generation of the Somalian Air Force, with six combat and six transport planes already bought. A police force was also formed, with the first police academy to be built in Somalia for quite a few years opening in December 2005 at Armo, 100 km south of Bosaso, the commercial capital of the Puntland region. Also, construction began in 2010 on a naval base Bandar Siyada, situated 25 km west of Bosaso. The naval base is funded by the Puntland administration along with Saracen International, a UK-based security company. It will include a center for training recruits, and a command post for the naval force.

Piracy in Somalia

2012-03-16T14:55:00.001+00:00

Piracy off Somali coast has been a threat to global shipping since the beginning of the 21st century.Piracy has increased shipping cost and has hampered the delivery of shipments. This is now costing 10 billion pounds a year globally. However the insurance companies have benefited from piracy attacks as insurance premiums have risen steeply.
Many sources believe that piracy is, in part, caused by illegal fishing. Also foreign vessels dumping waste in Somali waters has significantly impacted the Somali fisherman to make a decent living so they are turning to piracy as a way of making money. The pirates themselves believe that they are protecting territorial waters and their fishing grounds whilst also exacting justice and gaining compensation for resources taken. Other sources suggest that as a result of civil war and the absence of a coastguard service and armed forces the fisherman formed organised groups to protect their waters. However due to the money involved and the increase in pirate attacks it is suggested that they have been motivated more by financial gain rather than protection.
To deal with the attacks the coalition took on the role and established a combined task force along with a Maritime Security Patrol Area (MSPA) in the Gulf of Aden. India also had a concern as most of its shipping trade routes pass through the Gulf of Aden. They also joined international efforts battling piracy along with Russia
Due to the efforts of the international community piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden have dropped dramatically and have forced the pirates to move on to the Somali basin and the Indian Ocean. Although the pirates are still attacking ships off Somalia's coast they are not being as successful. The pirates are still at present holding several ships along with their crew members.

Quick look Somalia facts

2012-03-16T11:55:00.000+00:00

Somalia's population as of 2011 is estimated to be 9,925,40
The capital city of Somalia is Mogadishu
Somalia gained independence in 1960
Somalia has a coalition government
There are two official languages in Somalia, Somalian and Arabic
Somalia has an area covering 246,200 Square miles
Somalia's currency is the Somali shilling
Somalia's time zone is EAT(East Africa Time) UTC(Coordinated Universal Time) + 3
In Somalia you drive on the right
There are three ethnic groups in Somalia which are Somalian, Benadiris and Bantus

Places to visit in Somalia

2012-03-08T14:01:00.000+00:00

Places to visit in Somalia

Laas Gaal Cave Paintings
An archaeological team from France discovered these ancient artifacts in 2002. In order to preserve the cave, there’s currently a restriction on the number of people allowed to visit the site at a time.

Sheikh
This historic town is home to many British colonial buildings, untouched for decades.

Zeila
Formerly a part of the Ottoman Empire, Zeila was also a dependency of Yemen and Egypt, as it served as a major trading city in the 19th century. Whilst there you can see old colonial landmarks, coral reefs, towering cliffs, and beaches.

Freedom Arch of Hargeisa
The arch and the war memorial in this city’s centre are well worth visiting. Both offer audio commentary on Somalia’s unbelievable progress.

Naasa Hablood Hill
Situated on the outskirts of Hargeisa, these two hills are considered by native Somalians a wonderful natural landmark.

Mogadishu, Capital city of Somalia

2012-03-07T19:17:00.000+00:00

Mogadishu is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries.

Tradition and old records assert that southern Somalia, including the Mogadishu area, was historically inhabited by hunter-gatherers of Bushman physical stock. These were later joined by Cushitic agro-pastoralists, who would go on to establish local aristocracies. Starting in the late 9th or 10th centuries, Arab and Persian traders also began to settle in the region.

During its medieval Golden Age, Mogadishu was ruled by the Somali-Arab Muzaffar dynasty, a vassal of the Ajuuraan State. It subsequently fell under the control of an assortment of local Sultanates and polities, most notably the Gobroon Dynasty. The city later became the capital of Italian Somaliland in the colonial period.

After the ousting of the Siad Barre regime and the ensuing civil war, various militias fought for control of the city, later to be replaced by the Islamic Courts Union. The ICU subsequently splintered into more radical groups, notably Al Shabaab, which have since been fighting the Transitional Federal Government and its allies. With a change in administration in late 2010, federal control of Mogadishu steadily expanded. The pace of territorial gains also greatly accelerated, as more trained government and troops entered the city. In early August 2011, government troops and their partners had reportedly succeeded in forcing out Al-Shabaab from the parts of the city that the group had previously controlled.

Somalia's Enemies

2012-03-07T14:07:00.000+00:00

The following is a short list of Somalia's Enemies

United states
Pakistan
Israel
United Kingdom and some western countries

Somalia's Allies

2012-03-07T14:04:00.000+00:00

The following is a list of countries who support the Transitional Government of Somalia.

Russia
China
India
Eastern Europe
Germany
France
Italy
Cuba
Canada
Saudi Arabia
Kuwait
Qatar
Egypt

Brief history of Somalia

2012-03-05T20:11:00.000+00:00

The country of the Somalia, much of it dry and inhospitable, has for thousands of years been close to civilization and international trade. To the north, is Saba, the land of the legendary Queen of Sheba and the earliest part of Arabia to prosper. To the west is Ethiopia, where the kingdom of Aksum was established by the 5th century BC.
Situated on the so-called Horn of Africa, jutting out into the India Ocean, Somalia's harbours are natural ports of call for traders sailing to and from India. So the coastline of the region is much visited by foreigners, in particular Arabs and Iranians.
The victory of the Muslims over the Quraysh in the 7th century had a significant impact on Somalia's merchants and sailors, and the major trading routes in the Mediterranean sea  and the Red sea came under the sway of the Muslims. Through commerce, Islam spread amongst the Somali population in the coastal cities of Somalia. Instability in the Arabian Peninsula saw a lot of migrations of Arabs to Somalia's coastal cities. The century between 1150 and 1250 marked a decisive turn in the role of Islam in Somali history. The Somalis were a prosperous Muslim nation during that period.
Trading relations were established with many countries in the 15th century with ambergris cloth  and Porcelain being the main items of the trade. Trading were also opened to the Chinese with the exporting of animals such as Zebras and Giraffes.
In the 16th century, many ships from the modern-day India sailed to Mogadishu with spices and cloth which they swapped for wax, ivory and gold. On the coastal markets, fruit,meat,barley,wheat and even horses made merchants very rich men.
In the late 19th century European powers had an interest in Africa this caused the Horn of Africa s nations to stand together and start a colonial war. Somalia from the early nineties to 2006, was regarded as a real-world example of bad society with a poor legal system. Since the fall of the government in early 1991, there had been no permanent government in Somalia until the current transitional one.  The areas, including the capital Mogadishu, were divided into smaller territories ruled by violent Warlords. In many areas there were no formal regulations or licensing requirements for businesses and individuals.Somalia is currently claimed as a sovereign territory by the internationally recognized Government of Somalia.

Where is Somalia

2012-03-04T20:15:00.000+00:00

Somalia lies in the Eastern most part of Africa. Somalia is bordered by Djibouti to the North West, Kenya to the South West, the Gulf of Aden with Yemen to the North, the Indian Ocean to the East, and Ethiopia to the West. Somalia has the longest coastline on the continent,and its terrain consists mainly of plateaus,plains and highlands. Hot conditions prevail all year round in Somalia, along with periodic Monsoon winds and irregular rainfall.