SOMALIA, FLAG OF

national flag consisting of a light blue field with a central white star. It has a width-to-length ratio of 2 to 3. Beginning in the mid-19th century, areas in the Horn of Africa populated by Somalis were divided among Ethiopia, France, Britain, and Italy. Following World War II, the former Italian Somalia was promised independence, and the British agreed to transfer their colony (Somaliland) to a united state. A white star was chosen as the national symbol, each of its five points referring to a Somali homeland. The background of the new national flag, first officially hoisted on October 12, 1954, was light blue. The choice of the colours was influenced by the United Nations (UN) flag, in reflection of the role that the UN had played in assisting Somalia to independence. Blue and white had also figured in the coat of arms used by Somalia under Italian administration. The new national flag, symbolizing unity and independence, became official on June 26, 1960, in Somaliland and only days later in the former Italian Somalia, with which it united on July 1. Whitney Smith History Exploration Early trade on the coasts From their connection with the Ethiopian hinterland, their proximity to Arabia, and their export of precious gums, ostrich feathers, ghee (clarified butter), and other animal produce as well as slaves from farther inland, the northern and eastern Somali coasts have for centuries been open to the outside world. This area probably formed part of Punt, the land of aromatics and incense, mentioned in ancient Egyptian writings. Between the 7th and 10th centuries, immigrant Muslim Arabs and Persians developed a series of trading posts along the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean coasts. Many of the early Arab geographers mentioned these trading posts and the sultanates that grew out of them, but they rarely described the interior of the country in detail. Intensive exploration really began only after the occupation of Aden by the British in 1839 and the ensuing scramble for Somali possessions by Britain, France, and Italy (see below The imperial partition). In 1854, while Richard Burton was exploring the country to the northwest in the course of his famous journey from Berbera to Harer, his colleague John Hanning Speke was making his way along the Makhir coast in the northeast. This region had previously been visited by Charles Guillain, captain of the brig Ducouedid, between 1846 and 1848. Guillain also sailed down the Indian Ocean coast and went ashore at Mogadishu, Marka, and Baraawe, penetrating some distance inland and collecting valuable geographic and ethnographic information. In 1865 the German explorer Carl Claus, Baron von der Decken, sailed up the Jubba River as far as Baardheere in the small steamship Welf, which foundered in rapids above the town. Decken was killed by Somali, but much valuable information collected by his expedition survived. Penetration of the interior In 1883 a party of Englishmen (F.L. and W.D. James, G.P.V. Aylmer, and E. Lort-Phillips) penetrated from Berbera as far as the Shabeelle, and between 1886 and 1892 H.G.C. and E.J.E. Swayne surveyed the country between the coast and the Shabeelle and also reached farther east toward the Nugaal valley. During 189495 A. Donaldson-Smith explored the headwaters of the Shabeelle in Ethiopia, reached Lake Rudolf, and eventually descended the Tana River to the Kenyan coast. In 1891 the Italian Luigi Robecchi-Bricchetti trekked from Mogadishu to Hobyo and then crossed the Ogaden to Berbera. About the same time, further explorations were made by another Italian, Captain Vittorio Bottego. In the 20th century several extensive surveys were made, especially in the British protectorate, by J.A. Hunt between 1944 and 1950, and much of the country was mapped by aerial survey. The economy Somalia's economy is based on agriculture; however, the main economic activity is not crop farming but livestock raising. Between 1969 and the early 1980s, the military government imposed a system of Scientific Socialism, which featured the nationalization of banks, insurance firms, oil companies, and all large industrial firms, the setting up of state-owned enterprises, farms, and trading companies, and the organizing of state-controlled cooperatives. In the end, this experiment weakened the Somalian economy considerably, and since the collapse of the military regime the economy has suffered even more as a result of civil war. Generally speaking, the Somalian economy cannot survive without foreign aid. Resources Somalia has few mineral resourcesonly some deposits of tin, phosphate, gypsum, guano, coal, iron ore, and uraniumbut both quantity and quality are too low for mining to be worthwhile. However, the deposits of the clay mineral sepiolite, or meerschaum, in south-central Somalia are among the largest known reserves in the world. Exploitable oil and natural gas have not yet been found. Sea salt is collected at several sites on the coast. Somalia's most valuable resources are the natural pastures that cover most of the country. Another resource that has scarcely been exploited is the abundant fish life in the coastal waters, still unpolluted by industrial waste. A potential source of hydroelectricity is the Jubba River. The land Relief In the extreme north, along the Gulf of Aden, is a narrow coastal plain called the Guban, which broadens out in the direction of Berbera. This gives way inland to a maritime mountain range with a steep, north-facing scarp. Near Ceerigaabo (Erigavo), a mountain called Surud Cad (Surud Ad) reaches the highest elevation in the country, about 7,900 feet (2,408 metres). To the south are the broad plateaus of the Galgodon (or Ogo) Highlands and the Sool and Hawd regions, which drop gradually southward toward the Indian Ocean. In southern Somalia the crystalline bedrock outcrops to the south of Baydhabo (Baidoa) in the shape of granite formations called inselbergs. These give way farther south to alluvial plains, which are separated from the coast by a vast belt of ancient dunes stretching more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometres) from south of Kismaayo (Chisimaio) to north of Hobyo (Obbia). Drainage The flatness of the Somalian plateaus is interrupted by several deep valleys. Starting in the northeast, these are the Dharoor and Nugaal (Nogal) valleys; both are wadis that, in season, have rivers flowing into the Indian Ocean at Xaafuun and Eyl, respectively. In the southwest are the only permanent rivers in Somalia, the Jubba (Giuba) and Shabeelle (Shebele). Originating in the Ethiopian highlands, these two streams cut deeply into the plateaus before meandering through the alluvial plains toward the coast. Whereas the Jubba flows directly from north of Kismaayo into the Indian Ocean, the Shabeelle veers southwest immediately to the north of Mogadishu and flows into a large swamp before reaching the Jubba. The Jubba carries more water than the Shabeelle, which sometimes dries up in its lower course in years of sparse rainfall in the Ethiopian highlands. During dry seasons, these rivers are a major source of water for people and animals alike. Because over most of the country the water table is deep or the groundwater has a high mineral content, the conservation of surface runoff is of primary importance. The people In culture, language, and way of life, the people of Somalia, northeastern Kenya, the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, and the southern part of Djibouti are largely one homogeneous group. Ethnic composition The Somali people are divided into numerous clans, which are groups that trace their common ancestry back to a single father. These clans, which in turn are subdivided into numerous subclans, combine at a higher level to form clan families. The clan families inhabiting the interfluvial area of southern Somalia are the Rahanwayn and the Digil, which together are known as the Sab. Mainly farmers and agropastoralists, the Sab include both original inhabitants and numerous Somali groups that have immigrated into this climatically favourable area. Other clan families are the Daarood of northeastern Somalia, the Ogaden, and the border region between Somalia and Kenya; the Hawiye, chiefly inhabiting the area on both sides of the middle Shabeelle and south-central Somalia; and the Isaaq, who live in the central and western parts of northern Somalia. In addition, there are the Dir, living in the northwestern corner of the country but also dispersed throughout southern Somalia, and the Tunni, occupying the stretch of coast between Marka and Kismaayo. Toward the Kenyan border the narrow coastal strip and offshore islands are inhabited by the Bagiunis, a Swahili fishing people. As well as the Somali, there is a sizable and economically important Bantu population, which is mainly responsible for the profitable irrigation agriculture practiced on the lower and middle reaches of the Jubba and Shabeelle rivers. Socially, however, they are regarded as inferior, many of them being descendants of former slaves. The result is a strict social distinction between the noble Somali of nomadic descent and the Bantu groups. Another economically significant minority is the several tens of thousands of Arabs, mainly of Yemenite origin. By the end of the 1980s, the number of Italians permanently residing in Somalia (mainly as banana farmers) had dropped to only a few hundred.