120 Unknown Facts About Somalia


Somalia Flag

120 Unknown Facts About Somalia

  • Somalia is one of the poorest countries in the world.
  • On July 1, 1960, the new country of Somalia was formed.
  • At over 800kg, Somalia’s camels are the largest in Africa.
  • The 2009 highjacking of the Maersk Alabama inspired the 2013 movie, Captain Phillips.
  • Somalia is currently ranked the 2nd poorest country in the world (after Burundi) according to 2018 GDP per capita.
  • Prehistoric rock paintings dating back 5,000 years have been found in parts of Somalia, including one of the earliest known depictions of a mounted hunter.
  • With 3,025km of coastline, Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa’s mainland. The only African country with more coastline is the island of Madagascar.
  • In 2010, it’s believed that Mike Spencer Bown became the first tourist to visit Somalia since 1990. When he arrived, officials didn’t believe he was a tourist and accused him of being a spy.
  • Livestock accounts for over 66% of Somalia’s exports. Sheep and goats account for 44% with bovine (cattle) exports accounting for 22%.
  • Mo Farah, one of Britain’s most successful Olympic athletes, is from Somalia. He was born in Mogadishu in 1983 and moved to the UK in 1991.
  • Recently, Somalia has again been struggling with famine following a two-year drought that ended in 2017. Millions are at risk of hunger following dry rainy seasons which has led to failed crops and the death of livestock.
  • In 1993, US Army Rangers were killed when Somali militias shot down two US helicopters in Mogadishu. In the ensuing Battle of Mogadishu, hundreds of Somalis and 18 Americans died.
  • The event was depicted in the 1999 book by Mark Bowden, Black Hawk Down, and a 2001 movie by Ridley Scott.
  • England’s first female Muslim football referee is from Somalia. Jawahir Roble used to live Mogadishu but now referees football matches in northwest London.
  • In 1991, Somaliland declared unilateral independence from Somalia. Although not officially recognised, Somaliland is far more stable and open to foreign visitors.
  • Injera (pictured above) is a traditional bread in Somalia. The spongy flatbread is usually topped with meat and vegetable curries such as okra, chickpeas and lentils.
  • In the year 2000, residents in Somalia have been working to rebuild the cities from the destruction created during the Civil War.
  • The United States provided Somalia financial assistance, which helped improve the seaports and Mogadishu International Airport.
  • Many of the industries in Somalia were built with the help of foreign nationals.
  • The only industries that exist in Somalia are fish and meat canneries, mild processing plants, leather tanning factories, and electrical and pharmaceutical factories.
  • More than half of the residents of Somalia are self-employed. They are farmers, herders, and independent business owners.
  • During the Battle of Mogadishu, an American pilot named Michael Durant was captured. He was freed on October 14, 1993.
  • Due to unsanitary water, hundreds of Somalians were killed during a cholera outbreak. This lead to a severe drought in Somalia.
  • In 2001, The United Nations was forced to pull staff and aid workers from the country due to the dangerous fighting and kidnappings, due to arguments about religion, government, education, and health.
  • On August 8, 2011, United States President Barack Obama announced $105 million would be given for emergency funding in the country.
  • Over 73 percent of Somalis live on less than $2 U.S. Dollars per day.
  • The 2011 famine in Southern Somalia was the first in that region in over 30 years.
  • About one in 8 children in Somalia is acutely malnourished.
  • Today, over one million people in the country are in desperate need of emergency food assistance.
  • Due to the two decades of conflict, 1.1 million Somalis are displaced in their own country.
  • On April 8, 2009, Somali pirates hijacked the U.S. Maersk Alabama. The captain, Richard Phillips, offered himself as a hostage to protect his crew.
  • In 1969, in a bid to become the dictator, Mohamed Siad Barre led a non-violent, bloodless coup.
  • Between 1977 and 1978, Somalia invaded the Ogaden portion of Ethiopia.
  • In 1988, Ethiopia and Somalia finally signed a peace treaty.
  • In December 1992, a coalition force was launched by the U.N. and led by the United States to restore order so that food could be delivered to the starving Somali people.
  • There is virtually no infrastructure in many parts of the country due to the ongoing civil war. This affects the ability of a community to access clean water. Only 34 percent of individuals have access to sanitation services and, because plumbing is uncommon in many rural areas, 50 percent of individuals in these areas practice open defecation. Currently, progress on this issue is created through building wells, as well as implementing community programs to improve sanitation. Mercy USA has built over 580 wells in order to improve water access in Somalia. The WASH program is implementing underground wells that are attached to solar-powered sanitation systems.
  • In 2017, there were over 79,000 cases of acute watery diarrhea or cholera alone. Only 6 percent of Somali residents have access to antenatal doctor’s appointments. The transmission of infectious diseases is amplified by the nomadic tendencies of pastoral clans, and the presence of large refugee camps. The WHO and UNICEF have been able to decrease measles outbreaks by administering vaccines to over 45,000 children in these camps. Nearly 50 percent of children under the age of 1 have been vaccinated for this disease.
  • The main language spoken in Somalia is Somali. Some also speak Arabic, Italian, and English.
  • Educated young adults in Somalia who come from well to do families speak five languages or more.
  • The Civil War in Somalia has been going on for over a decade.
  • The Civil War has been going on against Ethiopia, warlord-led groups, and even the United States.
  • Since the Civil War in Somalia broke out in the early 1990’s, over 500,000 people have died.
  • During the Civil War in Somalia, an American Black Hawk helicopter was shot down. The three soldiers who were on board died.
  • On March 25, 1994, the United States withdrew from Somalia and the Civil War after being there for 15 months.
  • Since the beginning of the Civil War in the early 1990’s, not one tourist visited Somalia until 2010, when a man from Canada Mike Spencer Brown arrived, shocking authorities by declaring himself a tourist. Read about his adventures journeys here.
  • Due to the Civil War, the capital of Somalia is an extremely dangerous city. It is where different clans are always battling for control.
  • The federal government only controls part of the country and formal economic activity is limited to the urban areas. Businesses are scarce due to the probability of looting and high inflation. It is 137 percent more expensive to live in Mogadishu, country’s capital, than in Tokyo. The main income of the country is international trade, but constant civil discourse prohibits this sector from experiencing significant growth. The new Public Financial Management bill should increase the government’s revenue security and control of expenses.
  • There are two seceded states in the north: Somaliland and Puntland created after the civil war. Constant border disputes between the three regions have created unrest and violence. Around 2.1 million individuals have been displaced by federal government evictions, random acts of violence and climatic conditions. Foreign aid has made efforts to provide assistance to displaced peoples, but Al-Shabaab placed sanction prohibiting humanitarian organizations.
  • Restaurants are popular in many cities in Somalia, however, women very rarely dined out with men until the late 1990’s.
  • While dining at home, it is customary for the women to serve the men first. After the men have finished their meals, they will sit down and eat with the children.
  • When eating, people in Somalia scoop the food from their bowl using their first three fingers. Some will roll a banana leaf and use that for scooping. Urban Somalis will use silverware while dining, but many would rather use their fingers.
  • Somali women are expected to submit to men, and fulfill their duties as daughters, mothers, and wives.
  • Somali women do not wear the Muslim veil, however, they are not allowed to socialize with men in public.
  • Nomads in Somalia consider the country’s pastureland available to all. If a family digs a water well, it is not considered the property of all. It would just belong to the family.
  • When a family has a wedding, a birth, or a circumcision, it calls for a huge celebration which involves food. The family would slaughter animals, make bread, and prepare food for guests as well as for the poor who are invited to the celebration as well.
  • The most widely recognized symbol in Somalia is the camel. This is because the camel provides meat, milk, transportation, income, and status for those who own one.
  • The people of Somalia are suffering from famine and drought. Unfortunately, due to the fighting among the competing clans, food delivery is restricted.
  • The power struggle that has been going on is between two warring clan lords, Mohamed Farah Aideed and Ali Mahdi Mohamed.
  • Due to the Civil War, over 350,000 innocent civilians have died of disease and starvation because they could not get food. Due to the problem, George H.W. Bush ordered emergency airlifts of food and supplies to help the residents.
  • Traditionally, Small clans in Somalia have men and older boys do the important work, such as tending camels and cattle. Girls and young boys tend to the sheep and goats.
  • Many men were killed during the Civil War or due to diseases, such as tuberculosis. This left it up to the women to fend for themselves.
  • Women in Somalia have shown a remarkable adaptability and talent for business. Many international organizations have helped them with their education and job training.
  • When people in Somali get married, there is not just a bond between the man and his wife, but also between the clans and the families.
  • The Battle of Mogadishu is one of the worst battles in Somalia. Eighteen American soldiers were killed and over 70 were wounded.
  • The U.S. Navy SEALs fatally shot three of the pirates and the fourth was taken into custody.
  • A book was written and a movie was made about the Captain’s ordeal.
  • The pirate who survived was taken to the United States, where he was sentenced to over 33 years in a U.S. federal prison.
  • The surviving pirate agreed to plead guilty, and the charge of piracy and possession of a machine gun were dropped. He pleaded guilty to kidnapping and hostage-taking.
  • Somalia is the easternmost country of Africa, located on what is known as the Horn of Africa.
  • The northern and eastern Somali coasts have been open to the outside world for centuries. Somalia formed part of Punt, an ancient region of Africa known as ‘the land of aromatics and incense’. It was cited in ancient Egyptian and Greek scripts.
  • Between the 7th and 19th centuries Somalia was ruled by a series of sultanates following the arrival of Islam in the 7th century.
  • Somalia was created in 1960 from an Italian colony and a former British protectorate.
  • Following the overthrow of the military regime in 1991, Somalia collapsed into anarchy and has been struggling to recover ever since.
  • In 1992 it was estimated that 350,000 Somalis had died of disease, starvation or civil war. Reacting to news images of the famine and war, U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered emergency airlifts of food and supplies to Somalia.
  • Madagascar got its name from the Somali capital city of Mogadishu. Famous 13th-century explorer Marco Polo confused the island of Madagascar with Mogadishu and called it ‘Madageiscar’ – a corrupted transliteration of Mogadishu.
  • Somalia has a very simple flag consisting of a white star on a light blue background. The light blue was inspired by the United Nations flag as they played an intrinsic role in supporting Somalia’s move towards independence. The white star is the Somali national symbol. Each of its five points represents a Somali homeland.
  • An intrinsic part of Somali culture is the camel. Camels provide milk, transportation, income and status for owners. Camel meat is also a delicacy in Somali cuisine.
  • Throughout the 2000s pirates operated in the busy shipping lanes of the Gulf of Aden regularly seizing ships and taking hostages. Piracy in the region reached its peak in 2010 when Somali pirates hijacked 49 ships and took over 1,000 hostages.
  • Somalia is the fifth-highest source country of refugees. In 2018 over 900,000 people fled the country.
  • Somalia is among the 10 most dangerous countries in the world according to the International SOS Travel Risk Map. It has been assessed as carrying an ‘extreme travel security risk’.
  • Somalia has four seasons, two rainy and two dry ones. These seasons are combined with some of the highest mean temperatures worldwide. These conditions make farming incredibly difficult, in fact, only 0.05 percent of the land is inhabited by permanent crops. Most agricultural employment takes place through livestock. Somalia is also a large exporter of bananas, sorghum, corn, coconuts and rice. However, without consistent trade, much of this has gone to waste and has created a famine.
  • Around 2.1 million people have been displaced internally in refugee camps. The surrounding countries have placed sanctions on incoming peoples seeking asylum due to limited resources. Those seeking asylum are also unable to travel across the disputed borders of Somaliland and Puntland because of convoys along them. With large numbers of people moving around so sporadically, it is also hard to create a consistent source of nutrition.
  • Women and children face danger on a daily basis. Armed men often take sexually violent acts against women and girls without prosecution. Children are recruited and indoctrinated by the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab. Somalia is ranked as one of the worst five places to be a woman in the world due to the widespread practice of Sharia law and restriction of gender-based freedoms. There is also limited access to health care and the prevalence of human trafficking. The Somali federal government did implement an incredibly comprehensive Sexual Offences Bill in May 2018, the bill that criminalizes sexual offenses.
  • According to the WHO, the average life expectancy of a Somali individual is 53 years. The average expectancy of an individual to live a healthy life is only 45 years. Due to a lack of access to health care services and adequate sanitation, most adults die of infectious disease. Upon birth, only 9 percent of women are attended by a health professional. Maternal, neonatal and nutritional deaths account for approximately 18,000 deaths across both genders.
  • The split between Puntland, Somaliland and the Somali Republic causes constant border disputes. There is no judiciary system to solve these issues and these disputes devolve into violent attacks. The influx of pastoral clans and refugees into major cities and ports during the dry season cause looting and disease.
  • The government provides exponentially less health assistance than nongovernmental organizations. Regions within WHO jurisdiction have nearly twice the utilization of health services than regions without it. Maternal and child mortality rates are also much lower in these areas. Less than 50 out of 1,000 children die versus approximately 150 out of 1,000 in regions without aid. The Somali federal government has increased spending on health care services and has had 88 percent of the population for tuberculosis tested in regions without organizations’ assistance.
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