Global Studies Africa Textbook: An Open Global Historical Studies Textbook

Somalia

Somalia is located on the east side of Africa touching the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, east of Ethiopia. Somalia was once a Britain territory until 1960 when Britain withdrew from British Somaliland. This allowed the territory to join with an Italian Somaliland and formed the new nation of Somalia. June 1st, 1960 is when Somalia gained its independence. In 1991, Somalia started moving in the direction of turmoil, factional fighting, and anarchy. Later that May, the northern clans declared an independent Republic of Somaliland that includes the administrative regions of Awdal, Woqooyi Galbeed, Togdheer, Sanaag, and Sool. This is not recognized by any government; the Republic of Somaliland maintains a stable existent and continues its effort to establish a constitutional democracy. Which include, holding municipal, parliamentary, and presidential elections. In 2000, the Somalia National Peace Conference formatted an interim government, known as the Transitional National Government (TNG). Later in 2004, TNG added two hundred and seventy-five members to the parliamentary body to create the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP). By September 2012, two hundred and seventy-five new members were appointed, who elected a new president.

This section will describe the government structure of Somalia, as well as the modern history of the country and the international relations among other countries. There will be some similarities and differences in government structure compared to other countries. Somalia’s modern history shows the country’s independence, prosperity and democracy in the 1960s, dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s, and a decline in the civil war. The last section will talk about Somalia’s relations with other African states and countries.

 

Fun Fact 
Somalia is almost five times the size of Alabama, but slightly smaller than Texas.

Study Questions

  1. What Somalian general had too much power for their good?
  2. Who is Somalia’s president now and their first-ever president?

This page has paths:

  1. East African Politics, Modern History, and International Relations Jennifer Coronado

Contents of this path:

  1. Somalia Politics
  2. Somalian Modern History
  3. Somalian International Relations

This page references: