Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Somalia. Strategic location on Horn of Africa along southern approaches to Bab el Mandeb and route through Red Sea and Suez Canal. Mother's mean age at first birth is (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 621 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Location | Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, east of Ethiopia |
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Geographic coordinates | 10 00 N, 49 00 E |
Map references | Africa |
Tarrain | mostly flat to undulating plateau rising to hills in north |
Natural Resources | uranium and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt, natural gas, likely oil reserves |
Natural Hazards | recurring droughts; frequent dust storms over eastern plains in summer; floods during rainy season |
Irrigated Land | 2,000 sq km (2012) |
Major rivers (by length in km) | |
Major aquifers | Ogaden-Juba Basin |
Land Boundaries | 2,385 km |
Border Countries | Djibouti 61 km; Ethiopia 1,640 km; Kenya 684 km |
Coastline | 3,025 km |
Climate | principally desert; northeast monsoon (December to February), moderate temperatures in north and hot in south; southwest monsoon (May to October), torrid in the north and hot in the south, irregular rainfall, hot and humid periods (tangambili) between monsoons |
Area | |
Total Area | |
Land Area | 627,337 sq km |
Water Area | 10,320 sq km |
comparative Area | almost five times the size of Alabama; slightly smaller than Texas |
Maritime Claims | |
Territorial sea | 200 nm; note: the US does not recognize this claim |
Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm |
Elevations | |
Highest point | Mount Shimbiris 2,460 m |
Lowest point | Indian Ocean 0 m |
Mean elevation | 410 m |
Land Use | |
Agricultural land | 70.3% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 1.8% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 68.5% (2018 est.) |
Forest | 10.6% (2018 est.) |
Other | 19.1% (2018 est.) |
Distribution varies greatly throughout the country; least densely populated areas are in the northeast and central regions, as well as areas along the Kenyan border; most populated areas are in and around the cities of Mogadishu, Marka, Boorama, Hargeysa, and Baidoa as shown on this population distribution map
In Somalia, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Predominantly Somali with lesser numbers of Arabs, Bantus, and others
Population | |
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Pop growth rate | 2.55% (2024 est.) |
Birth rate | 37.4 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Death rate | 11.2 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Health expenditure | NA |
Physicians Density | |
Hospital bed Density | 0.9 beds/1,000 population (2017) |
Total fertility rate | 5.12 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
Gross reproduction rate | 2.52 (2024 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | 6.9% (2018/19) |
Est married women (ages 15-49) | 62.9% (2023 est.) |
Literacy | |
Education expenditures | 0.3% of GDP (2019) NA |
Net Migration rate | -0.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Nationality | Somali | Somali(s) |
Languages | |
Religions | Muslim 99.9% (Sunni Muslim 98.1%, Shia Muslim 1.2%, Islamic schismatic 0.6%), ethnic religionist 0.1% (2020 est.) |
Age Structure | |
0-14 years | 41.4% (male 2,689,086/female 2,694,372) |
15-64 years | 55.8% (male 3,699,721/female 3,568,163) |
65 years and over | 2.8% (2024 est.) (male 157,505/female 208,426) |
Dependency Ratios | |
Total dependency ratio | 99.4 |
Youth dependency ratio | 94.2 |
Elderly dependency ratio | 5.2 |
Potential support ratio | 19.3 (2021 est.) |
Median Age | |
Total | 19.1 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 19.3 years |
Female | 18.9 years |
Urbanization | |
Urban population | 47.9% of total population (2023) |
Rate of urbanization | 4.2% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
Major urban areas (Pop) | 2.610 million MOGADISHU (capital), 1.127 million Hargeysa (2023). |
Sex Ratio | |
At birth | 1.03 male(s)/female |
0-14 years | 1 male(s)/female |
15-64 years | 1.04 male(s)/female |
65 years and over | 0.76 male(s)/female |
Total population | 1.01 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
Infant Motality | |
Total | 83.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
Male | 93.2 deaths/1,000 live births |
Female | 73.7 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life Expectancy at birth | |
Total population | 56.5 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 54.1 years |
Female | 59 years |
Drinking Water Sources | |
Improved: urban | urban: 96.4% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 73.7% of population |
Improved: total | total: 84.2% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 3.6% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 26.3% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 15.8% of population (2020 est.) |
Sanitation facility acess | |
Improved: urban | urban: 82.4% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 33.8% of population |
Improved: total | total: 56.2% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 17.6% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 66.2% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 43.8% of population (2020 est.) |
Major Infectious diseases | |
Degree of risk | very high (2023) |
Food or waterborne diseases | bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever |
Vectorborne diseases | dengue fever, malaria, Rift Valley fever, and sexually transmitted diseases: hepatitis B (2024) |
Water contact diseases | schistosomiasis |
Animal contact diseases | rabies |
Alcohol consumption per capita | |
Total | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Beer | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Wine | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Spirits | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Other alcohols | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Child marriage | |
Women married by age 15 | 16.8% |
Women married by age 18 | 35.5% |
Men married by age 18 | 5.6% (2020 est.) |
Somalia scores very low for most humanitarian indicators, suffering from poor governance, protracted internal conflict, underdevelopment, economic decline, poverty, social and gender inequality, and environmental degradation. Despite civil war and famine raising its mortality rate, Somalia’s high fertility rate and large proportion of people of reproductive age maintain rapid population growth, with each generation being larger than the prior one. More than 60% of Somalia’s population is younger than 25 as of 2020, and the fertility rate is among the world’s highest at almost 5.5 children per woman – a rate that has decreased little since the 1970s.
A lack of educational and job opportunities is a major source of tension for Somalia’s large youth cohort, making them vulnerable to recruitment by extremist and pirate groups. Somalia has one of the world’s lowest primary school enrollment rates – just over 40% of children are in school – and one of the world’s highest youth unemployment rates. Life expectancy is low as a result of high infant and maternal mortality rates, the spread of preventable diseases, poor sanitation, chronic malnutrition, and inadequate health services.
During the two decades of conflict that followed the fall of the SIAD regime in 1991, hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes. Today Somalia is the world’s fourth highest source country for refugees, after Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan. Insecurity, drought, floods, food shortages, and a lack of economic opportunities are the driving factors.
As of 2022, more than 660,000 Somali refugees were hosted in the region, mainly in Kenya, Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Uganda, while nearly 3 million Somalis were internally displaced. Since the implementation of a tripartite voluntary repatriation agreement among Kenya, Somalia, and the UNHCR in 2013, many Somali refugees have returned home, some 80,000 between 2014 and 2022. The Kenyan Government in March 2021 ordered the closure of its two largest refugee camps, Dadaab and Kakuma, which then hosted more than 410,000 mainly Somali refugees. However, the UN refugee agency presented a road map, including voluntary repatriation, relocation to third countries, and alternative stay options that persuaded the Kenyan Government to delay the closures. The plan was supposed to lead to both camps being closed by 30 June 2022. Yet, as of May 2022, few Somali refugees had decided to return home because of security concerns and the lack of job prospects, instead waiting in the camps unsure of what the future held for them. Other Somali asylum seekers brave the dangers of crossing the Gulf of Aden to reach Yemen – despite its internal conflict – with aspirations to move onward to Saudi Arabia and other locations.
Want to know more about Somalia? Check all different factbooks for Somalia below.