Uzbekistan (2001) | Somalia (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | 12 wiloyatlar (singular - wiloyat), 1 autonomous republic* (respublikasi), and 1 city** (shahri); Andijon Wiloyati, Bukhoro Wiloyati, Farghona Wiloyati, Jizzakh Wiloyati, Khorazm Wiloyati (Urganch), Namangan Wiloyati, Nawoiy Wiloyati, Qashqadaryo Wiloyati (Qarshi), Qoraqalpoghiston* (Nukus), Samarqand Wiloyati, Sirdaryo Wiloyati (Guliston), Surkhondaryo Wiloyati (Termiz), Toshkent Shahri**, Toshkent Wiloyati
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses) |
18 regions (plural - NA, singular - gobolka); Awdal, Bakool, Banaadir, Bari, Bay, Galguduud, Gedo, Hiiraan, Jubbada Dhexe, Jubbada Hoose, Mudug, Nugaal, Sanaag, Shabeellaha Dhexe, Shabeellaha Hoose, Sool, Togdheer, Woqooyi Galbeed |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
36.32% (male 4,646,341; female 4,489,265) 15-64 years: 59.06% (male 7,351,908; female 7,504,626) 65 years and over: 4.62% (male 466,029; female 696,895) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 44.5% (male 1,918,209/female 1,905,974)
15-64 years: 52.9% (male 2,278,406/female 2,263,602) 65 years and over: 2.6% (male 96,256/female 129,182) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cotton, vegetables, fruits, grain; livestock | cattle, sheep, goats; bananas, sorghum, corn, coconuts, rice, sugarcane, mangoes, sesame seeds, beans; fish |
Airports | 267 (2000 est.) | 60 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
10 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 6
over 3,047 m: 4 2438 to 3047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
257 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 222 |
total: 54
2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 19 914 to 1,523 m: 29 under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
447,400 sq km land: 425,400 sq km water: 22,000 sq km |
total: 637,657 sq km
land: 627,337 sq km water: 10,320 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than California | slightly smaller than Texas |
Background | Russia conquered Uzbekistan in the late 19th century. Stiff resistance to the Red Army after World War I was eventually suppressed and a socialist republic set up in 1925. During the Soviet era, intensive production of "white gold" (cotton) and grain led to overuse of agrochemicals and the depletion of water supplies, which have left the land poisoned and the Aral Sea and certain rivers half dry. Independent since 1991, the country seeks to gradually lessen its dependence on agriculture while developing its mineral and petroleum reserves. Current concerns include insurgency by Islamic militants based in Tajikistan and Afghanistan, a non-convertible currency, and the curtailment of human rights and democratization. | The regime of Mohamed SIAD Barre was ousted in January 1991; turmoil, factional fighting, and anarchy have followed in the years since. In May of 1991, northern clans declared an independent Republic of Somaliland that now includes the administrative regions of Awdal, Woqooyi Galbeed, Togdheer, Sanaag, and Sool. Although not recognized by any government, this entity has maintained a stable existence, aided by the overwhelming dominance of a ruling clan and economic infrastructure left behind by British, Russian, and American military assistance programs. The regions of Bari and Nugaal and northern Mudug comprise a neighboring self-declared autonomous state of Puntland, which has been self-governing since 1998, but does not aim at independence; it has also made strides towards reconstructing a legitimate, representative government, but has suffered some civil strife. Puntland disputes its border with Somaliland as it also claims portions of eastern Sool and Sanaag. Beginning in 1993, a two-year UN humanitarian effort (primarily in the south) was able to alleviate famine conditions, but when the UN withdrew in 1995, having suffered significant casualties, order still had not been restored. The mandate of the Transitional National Government (TNG), created in August 2000 in Arta, Djibouti, expired in August 2003. New Somali President Abdullahi YUSUF Ahmed has formed a new Transitional Federal Government (TFG) consisting of a 275-member parliament. It was established in October 2004 to replace the TNG but has not yet moved to Mogadishu. Discussions regarding the establishment of a new government in Mogadishu are ongoing in Kenya. Numerous warlords and factions are still fighting for control of the capital city as well as for other southern regions. Suspicion of Somali links with global terrorism further complicates the picture. |
Birth rate | 26.1 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 45.62 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$4 billion expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.) |
revenues: NA
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA |
Capital | Tashkent (Toshkent) | Mogadishu |
Climate | mostly midlatitude desert, long, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid grassland in east | 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 |
Coastline | 0 km; note - Uzbekistan includes the southern portion of the Aral Sea with a 420 km shoreline | 3,025 km |
Constitution | new constitution adopted 8 December 1992 | 25 August 1979, presidential approval 23 September 1979
note: the formation of transitional governing institutions, known as the Transitional Federal Government, is currently ongoing |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Uzbekistan conventional short form: Uzbekistan local long form: Uzbekiston Respublikasi local short form: none former: Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Somalia former: Somali Republic, Somali Democratic Republic |
Currency | Uzbekistani sum (UZS) | - |
Death rate | 8 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 16.97 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $3.3 billion (1999 est.) | $3 billion (2001 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador John Edward HERBST embassy: 82 Chilanzarskaya, Tashkent 700115 mailing address: use embassy street address; US Embassy Tashkent, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-7110 telephone: [998] (71) 120-5444 FAX: [998] (71) 120-6335 |
the US does not have an embassy in Somalia; US interests are represented by the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya at United Nations Avenue, Gigira, Nairobi; mailing address: Unit 64100, Nairobi; APO AE 09831; telephone: [254] (20) 363-6000; FAX [254] (20) 363-6157 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Shavkat HAMRAKULOV chancery: 1746 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 887-5300 FAX: [1] (202) 293-6804 consulate(s) general: New York |
Somalia does not have an embassy in the US (ceased operations on 8 May 1991); note - the TNG and other factions have representatives in Washington and at the United Nations |
Disputes - international | occasional target of Islamic insurgents based in Tajikistan and Afghanistan | "Somaliland" secessionists provide port facilities to land-locked Ethiopia and establish commercial ties with regional states; "Puntland" and "Somaliland" "governments" seek support from neighboring states in their secessionist aspirations and in conflicts with each other; Ethiopia has only an administrative line with the Oromo region of southern Somalia and maintains alliances with local Somali clans opposed to the unrecognized Somali Interim Government, which plans eventual relocation from Kenya to Mogadishu; rival militia and clan fighting in southern Somalia periodically spills over into Kenya; most of the remaining 23,000 Somali refuges in Ethiopia are expected to be repatriated in 2005 |
Economic aid - recipient | $276.6 million (1995) | $60 million (1999 est.) |
Economy - overview | Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country of which 10% consists of intensely cultivated, irrigated river valleys. More than 60% of its population lives in densely populated rural communities. Uzbekistan is now the world's third largest cotton exporter, a large producer of gold and oil, and a regionally significant producer of chemicals and machinery. Following independence in December 1991, the government sought to prop up its Soviet-style command economy with subsidies and tight controls on production and prices. Faced with high rates of inflation, however, the government began to reform in mid-1994, by introducing tighter monetary policies, expanding privatization, slightly reducing the role of the state in the economy, and improving the environment for foreign investors. The state continues to be a dominating influence in the economy and has so far failed to bring about much-needed structural changes. The IMF suspended Uzbekistan's $185 million standby arrangement in late 1996 because of governmental steps that made impossible fulfillment of Fund conditions. Uzbekistan has responded to the negative external conditions generated by the Asian and Russian financial crises by tightening export and currency controls within its already largely closed economy. Economic policies that have repelled foreign investment are a major factor in the economy's stagnation. A growing debt burden, persistent inflation, and a poor business climate led to stagnant growth in 2000, with little improvement predicted for 2001. | Somalia's economic fortunes are driven by its deep political divisions. The northwestern area has declared its independence as the "Republic of Somaliland"; the northeastern region of Puntland is a semi-autonomous state; and the remaining southern portion is riddled with the struggles of rival factions. Economic life continues, in part because much activity is local and relatively easily protected. Agriculture is the most important sector, with livestock normally accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of export earnings, but Saudi Arabia's recent ban on Somali livestock, because of Rift Valley Fever concerns, has severely hampered the sector. Nomads and semi-nomads, who are dependent upon livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population. Livestock, hides, fish, charcoal, and bananas are Somalia's principal exports, while sugar, sorghum, corn, qat, and machined goods are the principal imports. Somalia's small industrial sector, based on the processing of agricultural products, has largely been looted and sold as scrap metal. Despite the seeming anarchy, Somalia's service sector has managed to survive and grow. Telecommunication firms provide wireless services in most major cities and offer the lowest international call rates on the continent. In the absence of a formal banking sector, money exchange services have sprouted throughout the country, handling between $500 million and $1 billion in remittances annually. Mogadishu's main market offers a variety of goods from food to the newest electronic gadgets. Hotels continue to operate, and militias provide security. The ongoing civil disturbances and clan rivalries, however, have interfered with any broad-based economic development and international aid arrangements. In 2004 Somalia's overdue financial obligations to the IMF continued to grow. Statistics on Somalia's GDP, growth, per capita income, and inflation should be viewed skeptically. In late December 2004, a major tsunami took an estimated 150 lives and caused destruction of properity in coastal areas. |
Electricity - consumption | 43.455 billion kWh (1999) | 223.5 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 3.92 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 7.5 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 42.876 billion kWh (1999) | 240.3 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
86.4% hydro: 13.6% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Sariqarnish Kuli -12 m highest point: Adelunga Toghi 4,301 m |
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Shimbiris 2,416 m |
Environment - current issues | drying up of the Aral Sea is resulting in growing concentrations of chemical pesticides and natural salts; these substances are then blown from the increasingly exposed lake bed and contribute to desertification; water pollution from industrial wastes and the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides is the cause of many human health disorders; increasing soil salination; soil contamination from agricultural chemicals, including DDT | famine; use of contaminated water contributes to human health problems; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection |
Ethnic groups | Uzbek 80%, Russian 5.5%, Tajik 5%, Kazakh 3%, Karakalpak 2.5%, Tatar 1.5%, other 2.5% (1996 est.) | Somali 85%, Bantu and other non-Somali 15% (including Arabs 30,000) |
Exchange rates | Uzbekistani sums per US dollar - 325.0 (January 2001), 141.4 (January 2000), 111.9 (February 1999), 110.95 (December 1998), 75.8 (September 1997), 41.1 (1996) | Somali shillings per US dollar - 11,000 (November 2000), 2,620 (January 1999), 7,500 (November 1997 est.), 7,000 (January 1996 est.), 5,000 (1 January 1995)
note: the Republic of Somaliland, a self-declared independent country not recognized by any foreign government, issues its own currency, the Somaliland shilling |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Islom KARIMOV (since 24 March 1990, when he was elected president by the then Supreme Soviet) head of government: Prime Minister Otkir SULTONOV (since 21 December 1995) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president with approval of the Supreme Assembly elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 9 January 2000 (next to be held NA January 2005); note - extension of President KARIMOV's original term for an additional five years overwhelmingly approved - 99.6% of total vote in favor - by national referendum held 27 March 1995; prime minister and deputy ministers appointed by the president election results: Islom KARIMOV reelected president; percent of vote - Islom KARIMOV 91.9%, Abdulkhafiz DZHALALOV 4.2% |
chief of state: Abdullahi YUSUF Ahmed (since 14 October 2004); note - a new Transitional Federal Government consisting of a 275-member parliament was established in October 2004 but remains resident in Nairobi, Kenya, and has not extablished effective governance inside Somalia
head of government: Prime Minister Ali Muhammad GHEDI (since 24 December 2004) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister and approved by the Transitional Federal Assembly election results: Abdullahi YUSUF Ahmed, the leader of the Puntland region of Somalia, was elected president by the Transitional Federal Assembly |
Exports | $2.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA |
Exports - commodities | cotton, gold, natural gas, mineral fertilizers, ferrous metals, textiles, food products, automobiles | livestock, bananas, hides, fish, charcoal, scrap metal |
Exports - partners | Russia 13%, Switzerland 10%, UK 10%, Belgium 3%, Kazakhstan 4%, Tajikistan 4% (1999) | UAE 39.3%, Thailand 24.3%, Yemen 12.2%, Oman 4.7% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | NA |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and green separated by red fimbriations with a white crescent moon and 12 white stars in the upper hoist-side quadrant | light blue with a large white five-pointed star in the center; blue field influenced by the flag of the UN |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $60 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
28% industry: 21% services: 51% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 65%
industry: 10% services: 25% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,400 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $600 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.1% (2000 est.) | 2.8% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 41 00 N, 64 00 E | 10 00 N, 49 00 E |
Geography - note | along with Liechtenstein, one of the only two doubly landlocked countries in the world | strategic location on Horn of Africa along southern approaches to Bab el Mandeb and route through Red Sea and Suez Canal |
Government - note | - | although an interim government was created in 2004 other governing bodies continue to exist and control various cities and regions of the country, including the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, and traditional clan and faction strongholds |
Highways | total:
81,600 km paved: 71,237 km (these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, and include, in addition to conventionally paved roads, some that are surfaced with gravel or other coarse aggregate, making them trafficable in all weather) unpaved: 10,363 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1996) |
total: 22,100 km
paved: 2,608 km unpaved: 19,492 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
3.1% highest 10%: 25.2% (1993) |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Illicit drugs | limited illicit cultivation of cannabis and very small amounts of opium poppy, mostly for domestic consumption, almost entirely eradicated by an effective government eradication program; increasingly used as transshipment point for illicit drugs from Afghanistan to Russia and Western Europe and for acetic anhydride destined for Afghanistan | - |
Imports | $2.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals; foodstuffs | manufactures, petroleum products, foodstuffs, construction materials, qat |
Imports - partners | Russia 14%, South Korea 14%, Germany 11%, US 8%, Turkey 4%, Kazakhstan 4% (1999) | Djibouti 30.1%, Kenya 13.7%, India 8.6%, Brazil 8.5%, Oman 4.4%, UAE 4.2% (2004) |
Independence | 1 September 1991 (from Soviet Union) | 1 July 1960 (from a merger of British Somaliland, which became independent from the UK on 26 June 1960, and Italian Somaliland, which became independent from the Italian-administered UN trusteeship on 1 July 1960, to form the Somali Republic) |
Industrial production growth rate | 6.4% (2000 est.) | NA |
Industries | textiles, food processing, machine building, metallurgy, natural gas, chemicals | a few light industries, including sugar refining, textiles, wireless communication |
Infant mortality rate | 71.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 116.7 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 126.06 deaths/1,000 live births female: 107.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 40% (2000 est.) | note - businesses print their own money, so inflation rates cannot be sensibly determined (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | AsDB, CCC, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) | ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AU, CAEU, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ITU, LAS, NAM, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 42 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 40,000 sq km (1993 est.) | 2,000 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (judges are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Supreme Assembly) | following the breakdown of the central government, most regions have reverted to local forms of conflict resolution, either secular, traditional clan-based arbitration, or Islamic (Shari'a) law with a provision for appeal of all sentences |
Labor force | 11.9 million (1998 est.) | 3.7 million (very few are skilled laborers) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 44%, industry 20%, services 36% (1995) | agriculture (mostly pastoral nomadism) 71%, industry and services 29% |
Land boundaries | total:
6,221 km border countries: Afghanistan 137 km, Kazakhstan 2,203 km, Kyrgyzstan 1,099 km, Tajikistan 1,161 km, Turkmenistan 1,621 km |
total: 2,340 km
border countries: Djibouti 58 km, Ethiopia 1,600 km, Kenya 682 km |
Land use | arable land:
9% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 46% forests and woodland: 3% other: 41% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 1.67%
permanent crops: 0.04% other: 98.29% (2001) |
Languages | Uzbek 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1% | Somali (official), Arabic, Italian, English |
Legal system | evolution of Soviet civil law; still lacks independent judicial system | no national system; Shari'a and secular courts are in some localities |
Legislative branch | unicameral Supreme Assembly or Oliy Majlis (250 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 5 December and 19 December 1999 (next to be held NA December 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NDP 48, Self-Sacrificers Party 34, Fatherland Progress Party 20, Adolat Social Democratic Party 11, MTP 10, citizens' groups 16, local government 110, vacant 1 note: not all seats in the last Supreme Assembly election were contested; all parties in the Supreme Assembly support President KARIMOV |
unicameral National Assembly
note: fledgling parliament; a 275-member Transitional Federal Assembly; the new parliament consists of 61 seats assigned to each of four large clan groups (Darod, Digil-Mirifle, Dir, and Hawiye) with the remaining 31 seats divided between minority clans |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
63.81 years male: 60.24 years female: 67.56 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 48.09 years
male: 46.36 years female: 49.87 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (yearend 1996) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 37.8% male: 49.7% female: 25.8% (2001 est.) |
Location | Central Asia, north of Afghanistan | Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, east of Ethiopia |
Map references | Commonwealth of Independent States | Africa |
Maritime claims | none (doubly landlocked) | territorial sea: 200 nm |
Military branches | Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, Security Forces (internal and border troops), National Guard | A Somali National Army was attempted under the interim government; numerous factions and clans maintain independent militias, and the Somaliland and Puntland regional governments maintain their own security and police forces |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $200 million (FY97) | $18.9 million (2003) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2% (FY97) | 0.9% (2003) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
6,550,587 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
5,318,418 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
274,602 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 1 September (1991) | Foundation of the Somali Republic, 1 July (1960); note - 26 June (1960) in Somaliland |
Nationality | noun:
Uzbekistani(s) adjective: Uzbekistani |
noun: Somali(s)
adjective: Somali |
Natural hazards | NA | recurring droughts; frequent dust storms over eastern plains in summer; floods during rainy season |
Natural resources | natural gas, petroleum, coal, gold, uranium, silver, copper, lead and zinc, tungsten, molybdenum | uranium and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt, natural gas, likely oil reserves |
Net migration rate | -2.06 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 5.19 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 250 km; petroleum products 40 km; natural gas 810 km (1992) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party [Anwar JURABAYEV, first secretary]; Democratic National Rebirth Party (Milly Tiklanish) or MTP [Aziz KAYUMOV, chairman]; Fatherland Progress Party [Anwar Z. YOLDASHEV]; People's Democratic Party or NDP (formerly Communist Party) [Abdulkhafiz JALOLOV, first secretary]; Self-Sacrificers Party or Fidokorlar National Democratic Party [Ahtam TURSUNOV, first secretary] | none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Birlik (Unity) Movement [Abdurakhim PULAT, chairman]; Erk (Freedom) Democratic Party [Muhammad SOLIH, chairman] was banned 9 December 1992; Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan [Abdumanob PULAT, chairman]; Independent Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan [Mikhail ARDZINOV, chairman] | numerous clan and subclan factions are currently vying for power |
Population | 25,155,064 (July 2001 est.) | 8,591,629
note: this estimate was derived from an official census taken in 1975 by the Somali Government; population counting in Somalia is complicated by the large number of nomads and by refugee movements in response to famine and clan warfare (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA |
Population growth rate | 1.6% (2001 est.) | 3.38% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Termiz (Amu Darya river) | Boosaaso, Berbera, Chisimayu (Kismaayo), Merca, Mogadishu |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 20, FM 7, shortwave 10 (1998) | AM 0, FM 11, shortwave 1 in Mogadishu; 1 FM in Puntland, 1 FM in Somaliland (2001) |
Radios | 10.8 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
3,380 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines broad gauge: 3,380 km 1.520-m gauge (300 km electrified) (1993) |
- |
Religions | Muslim 88% (mostly Sunnis), Eastern Orthodox 9%, other 3% | Sunni Muslim |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
antiquated and inadequate; in serious need of modernization domestic: the domestic telephone system is being expanded and technologically improved, particularly in Tashkent and Samarqand, under contracts with prominent companies in industrialized countries; moreover, by 1998, six cellular networks had been placed in operation - four of the GSM type (Global System for Mobile Communication), one D-AMPS type (Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System), and one AMPS type (Advanced Mobile Phone System) international: linked by landline or microwave radio relay with CIS member states and to other countries by leased connection via the Moscow international gateway switch; after the completion of the Uzbek link to the Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic cable, Uzbekistan will be independent of Russian facilities for international communications; Inmarsat also provides an international connection, albeit an expensive one; satellite earth stations - NA (1998) |
general assessment: the public telecommunications system was almost completely destroyed or dismantled by the civil war factions; private wireless companies offer service in most major cities and charge the lowest international rates on the continent
domestic: local cellular telephone systems have been established in Mogadishu and in several other population centers international: country code - 252; international connections are available from Mogadishu by satellite |
Telephones - main lines in use | 1.98 million (1999) | 100,000 (2002 est.) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 26,000 (1998) | 35,000 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 4 (plus two repeaters that relay Russian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Tadzhik programs) (1997) | 4
note: two in Mogadishu; two in Hargeisa (2001) |
Terrain | mostly flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes; broad, flat intensely irrigated river valleys along course of Amu Darya, Sirdaryo (Syr Darya), and Zarafshon; Fergana Valley in east surrounded by mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan; shrinking Aral Sea in west | mostly flat to undulating plateau rising to hills in north |
Total fertility rate | 3.06 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 6.84 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 10% plus another 20% underemployed (1999 est.) | NA |
Waterways | 1,100 km (1990) | - |