Somalia

Somalia - the country which has been had on the peninsula with the same name in to northeast Africa and flowed about in the north gulf of Aden, in the east and the south - Indian ocean. The square - 638 thousand sq. km. Before declaration of independence in 1960 of Somalia it has been divided into two colonial possession - the Italian Somalia in the north and British Somalilend in the south. Official languages - Somali and Arabian.

Along southeast coast of the country the narrow bayshore lowland with long-shore dunes, other part - mainly flat plateau in altitude 500-1500 was drew through; m. its highest part - the north where crystal mucks outcrop and form mounts Uarsanzheli-Midzhurtina (a climate - a mount the Surud-hell, 2406 , a terrace terminating to gulf of Aden. The main rivers - Juba and Vebi-Shebeli - are shallow. More often unique sources of water on a plateau are rain-water accumulations in locality reductions. A climate - except for southeast coast - dry and hot. Temperatures attain 23-24 in the winter; °C, in the summer - 34 °C. Thus their daily oscillations during a dry winter season can attain 30-35 °C. For a year falls out all 200-300 mm of deposits, only in the southeast - to 600 mm, in the core during the wet season lasting from April till July.

Almost all terrain Somalia is occupied by semi-deserts with rare vegetation and dry savannahs in which grasses predominate, acacias, mimosas, spurges. It is not enough woods - only in valleys of two main rivers and in neritic region in the south. Savannahs and semi-deserts - a habital of antelopes (a canna, oriks-bejza, dik-dik, gerenuk), zebras, water buffaloes, giraffes, lions, leopards, hyenas. In river valleys there are elephants, rhinoceroses, borodavochniki, in woods - monkeys. In some semi-deserts the original landscape is created by high numerous termitaries.

The Majority of the population (nearby 6,8 million persons) - the Somalis who are referring to to the Ethiopian strain, in the southwest live and negroidnye the people. The basic part of inhabitants - nomads-cattlemen. Camels are especially appreciated at Somalis. Handicraftsmen produce long since famous weaver's items, ascuses, strops, a sheath of an imprinted leather, heckles and spoons from an arbour, vases, pitchers from clay and a white stone - sepiolita. Country capital - Mogadishu, based in IX-X a century the Arabian colonists. In a city beautiful ancient buildings were saved many. Other large cities - Hargeisa and port Berbera.