SOMALIA
(Arab State of Somalia)

Capital: Mogadishu (Mukdisho)

Flag: national flag light blue with a five-pointed white star in the center.

Anthem: Somalia Long Live Somalia.

MONETARY BLOCK: Somali shilling (sh) of 100 cents - paper currency. There are coins from 1, 5, 10 and 50 cents and 1 shilling and also banknotes from 5, 10, 20, 100, 500 and 1000 shillings. sh1 = $0,00009 (or $1 = sh11,000, since 2000).

WEIGHT AND MEASURES: The metric system is used.

HOLIDAYS: New year, on January 1; Labor Day, on May 1; Day of national independence, on June 26; Fund of the Republic, on July 1. Religious holidays of Muslims include "Ides al-Fitr", "Eid al-Adha", Ashura and "Milad a-Nabi".

TIME: 15:00 - 12:00.

ARRANGEMENT, SIZE AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Located on a horn of East Africa, Somalia has the area of 637 657 sq.km (246,201 quarter. Miles), 1 847 km long (1148 miles) N-ssv and 835 km (519 miles) of ese-wnw. Rather, the area occupied with Somalia is a little less than State of Texas. He is limited on n by Gulf of Aden, in the east and in the Indian Ocean, in the southeast of Kenya, on w and nw Ethiopia, and in the northwest of Djibouti with the general overland border in 2,340 km (1,454 miles) and the coastline of 3025 km (1880 miles). The border with Djibouti was recorded by the international agreement, and the western border with Ethiopia remains debatable.
The capital of Somalia, Mogadishu, is located on the coast of the Indian Ocean.

TOPOGRAPHY

The northern region a little mountain, with two main ridges, Migyurtina and Wow, with the plateau reaching from 900 to 2100 m (3000-7000 feet). On the northeast is extremely dry dismembered by the plateau, reaching the maximum height nearly 2450 m (8 000 feet). To the South and to the west from this area stretching to the Shabelle River the area of the plateau called by the plain Mudug which maximum height is 685 m (2250 feet) lies. The region between the rivers Juba and Shabelle is a low farmland, and area which stretches for the southwest from the river the Jubbah to Kenya, are low pastures.

The rivers the Jubbah and Shabelle occur in Ethiopia and flow to the Indian Ocean. They provide water for irrigation, but aren't navigable commercial vessels. Shabel dries before reaching the ocean. Despite coastline extent, in Somalia there is only one natural harbor Berbera.

CLIMATE

In Somalia there is a tropical, but not hot climate, and little seasonal change of temperature is observed. In low areas average temperature fluctuates from 24 °C to 31 °C (75 ° up to 88 °F). Area of the plateau more cool, southwest. Periodic winds, a southwest monsoon (June-September) and a northeast monsoon (December-March) influence temperature and an amount of precipitation. The rain drops out during two seasons of year: heavy rains from March to May and a sprinkling from September to December. The average annual amount of precipitation is estimated less than on 28 cm (11 inches). Droughts are frequent.