Part 682

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@Somalia -------

Map ---

Location: 10 00 N, 49 00 E -- Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, east of Ethiopia

Flag ----

Description: light blue with a large white five-pointed star in the center; design based on the flag of the UN (Italian Somaliland was a UN trust territory)

Geography ---------

Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, east of Ethiopia

Geographic coordinates: 10 00 N, 49 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area: total area: 637,660 sq km land area: 627,340 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than Texas

Land boundaries: total: 2,366 km border countries: Djibouti 58 km, Ethiopia 1,626 km, Kenya 682 km

Coastline: 3,025 km

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 200 nm

International disputes: southern half of boundary with Ethiopia is a Provisional Administrative Line; territorial dispute with Ethiopia over the Ogaden

Climate: principally desert; December to February - northeast monsoon, moderate temperatures in north and very hot in south; May to October - southwest monsoon, torrid in the north and hot in the south, irregular rainfall, hot and humid periods (tangambili) between monsoons

Terrain: mostly flat to undulating plateau rising to hills in north lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Shimbiris 2,450 m

Natural resources: uranium and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt

Land use: arable land: 2% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 46% forest and woodland: 14% other: 38%

Irrigated land: 1,600 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment: current issues: famine; use of contaminated water contributes to human health problems; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification natural hazards: recurring droughts; frequent dust storms over eastern plains in summer international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Law of the Sea; signed, but not ratified - Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban

Geographic note: strategic location on Horn of Africa along southern approaches to Bab el Mandeb and route through Red Sea and Suez Canal

People ------

Population: 9,639,151 (July 1996 est.) note: this estimate was derived from an official census taken in 1987 by the Somali Government with the cooperation of the UN and the US Bureau of the Census; population estimates are updated year by year between census years by factoring growth rates into them, and by taking account of refugee movements, and of losses due to famine; lower estimates of Somalia's population in mid-1996 (on the order of 6.0 to 6.5 million) have been made by aid and relief agencies, based on the number of persons being fed; population counting in Somalia is complicated by the large numbers of nomads and by refugee movements in response to famine and clan warfare

Age structure: 0-14 years: 44% (male 2,143,775; female 2,139,104) 15-64 years: 52% (male 2,609,911; female 2,387,620) 65 years and over: 4% (male 182,991; female 175,750) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.1% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 44.17 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 13.22 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)