Somalia

Somalia is a country located in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north and the Indian Ocean to the east. The capital and largest city is Mogadishu. Somalia has an estimated population of about 18-million people and operates under a federal parliamentary republic system of government. The economy is primarily based on livestock, agriculture, telecommunications and remittances from the Somali diaspora, with livestock exports being a particularly important source of foreign exchange. The country uses the Somali shilling as its currency. Somalia is a member of the African Union, the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. The nation has faced prolonged challenges including civil conflict, political instability, drought and food insecurity, which have significantly affected economic development and humanitarian conditions. Somalia declared independence in 1960 following the merger of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland, but has experienced decades of internal strife and state fragmentation since the collapse of the central government in 1991. Efforts to rebuild federal governance and institutions have been ongoing since the early 2000s, with international support playing a significant role in stabilisation and development initiatives.