Somalia
Mogadishu · East Africa
Somalia is a country in Africa. Its capital city is Mogadishu, the official currency is the Somali Shilling, and the main language is Somali.
With a population of roughly 18.1 million people spread over 637,657 km², Somalia is the 68th most populous country in the world and the 42nd largest by area. That works out at about 28 people per square kilometre.
Somalia shares land borders with Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya — 3 neighbours in all. Its largest urban centres are Mogadishu, Hargeisa and Bosaso. The highest point in the country is Shimbiris, at 2,460 metres.
For scale, it covers almost exactly the same area as South Sudan, while its population is closest to that of Guatemala.
- Capital
- Mogadishu
- Region
- East Africa
- Population
- 18,100,000
- Area
- 637,657 km²
- Currency
- Somali Shilling
- Main language
- Somali
- Highest point
- Shimbiris
2,460 m - Land borders
- 3
Somalia: things worth knowing
- Somalia has the longest mainland coastline in Africa, at around 3,300 kilometres.
- It is one of the most linguistically and ethnically homogeneous countries on the continent.
- Somaliland in the north has functioned self-governed since 1991 without international recognition.
Somalia in context
Africa has 54 sovereign countries in total. Somalia ranks 24th among them by population.
See the full list of Africa countries, or browse all 195 countries.