Somalia

Somalia (/sɵˈmɑːliə/ so-mah-lee-ə; Somali: Soomaaliya; Arabic: الصومال‎ aṣ-Ṣūmāl), officially the Federal Republic of Somalia[1] (Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Federaalka Soomaaliya, Arabic: جمهورية الصومال الفدرالية‎ Jumhūrīyat aṣ-Ṣūmāl al-Fidirālīyah), is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east, and Kenya to the southwest. Somalia has the longest coastline on the continent's mainland,[6] and its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains and highlands.[3] Climatically, hot conditions prevail year-round, with periodic monsoon winds and irregular rainfall.[7] 
Somalia has a population of around 10 million. Around 85% of its residents are ethnic Somalis,[3] who have historically inhabited the northern part of the country. Ethnic minorities are largely concentrated in the southern regions.[8] The official languages of Somalia are Somali and Arabic, both of which belong to the Afro-Asiatic family.[3] Most people in the country are Muslim,[9] with the majority being Sunni.[10]
In antiquity, Somalia was an important commercial centre.[11][12] It is among the most probable locations of the fabled ancient Land of Punt.[13][14][15][16] During the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali empires dominated the regional trade, including the Ajuran Empire, the Adal Sultanate, the Warsangali Sultanate, and the Geledi Sultanate. In the late 19th century, through a succession of treaties with these kingdoms, the British and Italians gained control of parts of the coast and established the colonies of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland.[17][18] In the interior, Muhammad Abdullah Hassan's Dervish State successfully repelled the British Empire four times and forced it to retreat to the coastal region.[19] The Dervishes were finally defeated in 1920 by British airpower.[20] Italy acquired full control of the northeastern and southern parts of the area after successfully waging the so-calledCampaign of the Sultanates against the ruling Majeerteen Sultanate and Sultanate of Hobyo.[18] Italian occupation lasted until 1941, yielding to British military administration. Northern Somalia would remain a protectorate, while southern Somalia became a United Nations Trusteeship in 1949. In 1960, the two regions united to form the independent Somali Republic under a civilian government.[21] Mohamed Siad Barre seized power in 1969 and established the Somali Democratic Republic. In 1991, Barre's government collapsed as the Somali Civil War broke out.
Various armed factions began competing for influence in the power vacuum, particularly in the south. During this period, due to the absence of a central government, Somalia was a "failed state", and residents returned tocustomary and religious law in most regions. A few autonomous regions, including the Somaliland, Puntland and Galmudug administrations, emerged in the north. The early 2000s saw the creation of fledgling interim federal administrations. The Transitional National Government (TNG) was established in 2000, followed by the formation of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004, which reestablished national institutions such as themilitary.[3][3][22] In 2006, the TFG, assisted by Ethiopian troops, assumed control of most of the nation's southern conflict zones from the newly formed Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The ICU subsequently splintered into more radical groups such as Al-Shabaab, which battled the TFG and its AMISOM allies for control of the region.[3] Due to the instability, violence, and protracted lack of a permanent central authority, Somalia also topped the Failed States Index (FSI) between 2008 and 2013. By mid-2012, the insurgents had lost most of the territory that they had seized. In 2011–2012, a political process providing benchmarks for the establishment of permanent democratic institutions was launched.[23] Within this administrative framework a new provisional constitution was passed in August 2012,[24][25] which reformed Somalia as a federation.[26] Following the end of the TFG's interim mandate the same month, the Federal Government of Somalia, the first permanent central government in the country since the start of the civil war, was formed.[27] By 2014, the nation had been dislodged atop the FSI, dropping to second place.[28] International stakeholders and analysts have also begun to describe Somalia as a "fragile state" that is making some progress towards stability.[29][30][31][32] The nation has concurrently experienced a period of intense reconstruction, particularly in the capital, Mogadishu.[23][33] Through the years, Somalia has maintained an informal economy, mainly based on livestock, remittances from Somalis working abroad, and telecommunications.[3][34]
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