Somalia

Somalia



__Background Info:__ Located on the eastern side of Africa, Somalia has been visited by many cultures from all over the world. Those visitors include the Arabs, the Chinese, Ottoman Empire, and the British. However, because Somalia had mostly deserts that showed little profit, little interest was shown in the region. That is, however, until 1889 when the Italians established their first colony there. Somalia is officially known as the Republic of Somalia and its capital is Mogadishu. At 246,201 sq mi, the official languages are Arabic and Somali. Because of conflicts and drought, much of Somalia suffers from famine and malnutrition. Despite such unpleasantness, Somalia's economy is recovering with the help of foreign nations such as the United States.

 __Geography:__

Somalia is located on the eastern side of Africa and is often referred to as the "horn of Africa". It borders the Gulf of Anden and the Indian Ocean. It's total land area is 2,340 km which is slightly smaller than Texas. Somalia's border countries are Dijbouti, Ethiopia and Kenya. The coast line totals 3,025 km. Somalia is mostly desert. From December through February the northern part of the country has generally moderate temperatures and the southern part has very hot hot temperatures. From May through October, the north is torrid and the south is hot. they have irregular rainfall with hot and humid periods. The land is mostly flat with some plateaus to the north. There are two main rivers, the Shabelle and the Juba. Somalia's natural resources are,uranium, iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt, natural and gas and most likely oil deposits.

__Pre-Imperialism:__ 

Before Somalia was imperialized by the British, French, and Italians, the country was known for their trading ports. Somalia's economy was also based on the nomadic herding of animals. Before the Italians, British, and French arrived, Portuguese traders as well as sultans of Oman and Zanzibar often took over towns on the coast. The Chinese were also interested in Somalia. Between 1416 and 1419, the Chinese Emperor sent a skilled diplomat and mariner, Zheng He, to the Mogadishu to promote the Chinese presence and have imperial control over trade.Because of a large trading port along the coast, Somalia played a large part in commerce during the 1800's. Somalia was ruled by a sultan up until the British established a protectorate in British Somaliland.



__**Western Countries:**__  Somalia was imperialized by Britain, France, and Italy. These countries saw Somalia as a way to gain access to the Red Sea, in the north. They hoped to strengthen their trading links.

Britain saw the area as a source of livestock products, such as mutton. By being on Somalia’s north coast Britain also gained access to the Red Sea. The Red Sea was good for trading in the East. Britain created a protectorate in this area and controlled indirectly.

Next, Italy created the protectorate Italian Somaliland, in the south. Like Britain, Italy used indirect control on the area. Italy was interested in Somalia’s ports for access to the Red Sea, as well as the Suez Canal.

France took direct control in Somalia in order to set up a coaling station on the Red Sea. France’s main goal was to strengthen trade with their Indochina colonies. In the north, they set up a colony and controlled French Somaliland directly.

Throughout World War II, the British kept control of their part of Somalia as a protectorate. However, French Somaliland became the country of Djibouti in 1977. Some natives of Somalia were offered Western education when before they were not educated in any form and transportation systems were improved. However, there were many negative effects of imperialism on the Somalia people. For one, war was more common due to the fact that the controlling countries did not take tribal differences into consideration. Also, disease and infant fatality rates were high because of the diseases brought over from Britain, Italy, and France. Another negative effect of imperialism in Somalia was slavery.  __Independence Struggles:__
 * __Effects of Imperialism:__ **

The people of Somalia wanted the territories to be one country and fought Britain for this. Britain lost many men in battle, but continued to fight and killed the Somali’s leader. During World War II Britain and Italy also fought over Somalia land. In response, Britain made political changes in their territory. In the Italian land political groups participated in an election and the Somali Youth League gained power. A few years after Italian elections began British Somaliland held an election. The Somaliland National League won the British elections. Britain and Italy both decided to grant independence to Somalia and formed the Somali Republic. The French Somaliland became independent at a later time and became Djibouti. The north and the south were very different and unifying the two territories would be a struggle.

__Country Today:__

The capital of Somalia is Mogadishu. The currency is the Somalian Shilling. Somalia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. Civil disturbances have made the economy very unstable and very dependent on agriculture. In fact, 71% of Somalia's labor force is agricultural and 29% is industries and services. The main crops there are bananas, sorghum, corn, sugarcane, mangoes, seasame seeds, beans, cattle, sheep, goats and fish. Somalia's GDP is $4.597 billion. The GDP per capita is about $600. It's government system is a federal system and has only been this way since 2004.Somalia has never had a consistantly working government and currently has no national legal system. There are three branches of government, a judicial branch, legislative branch and executive branch. Somalia does not have many attractions due to its unstable situation, but it does have a few. Sinbusi Beach is one of Somalia's most popular beaches. Shanghai Old City is one of their most famous and largest attractions.



__Extras:__
 * 1: Also called the Horn of Africa
 * 2: Majority of Somalis are Sunni Muslims
 * 3: Lowest HIV infection rates
 * 4: 35% children die before 5 (dehydration & disease)
 * 5: Only African country to be invaded by 35 UN countries [[image:220px-Catha_edulis.jpg align="right" caption="Khat"]]
 * 6: Highest Khat user in the world



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