Country · Africa
Somalia
Federal Republic of Somalia
Somalia is a country in Eastern Africa. About 15 million people live there, in an area of 637 657 square kilometres. Its capital city is Mogadishu.
Picture credit: Abdirahman Shire (Public domain) · Rahim Alpa (Public domain) · Kadra2016 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Somalia?
Somalia lies in Eastern Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 1 113 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 3 333 km long.
It shares a border with 3 countries: Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya.
How big is Somalia?
Somalia covers 637 657 square kilometres.
That is about 6.2 times the size of Iceland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 41st largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 23.5 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Somalia?
About 15 million people live in Somalia.
That is the 72nd biggest population in the world.
People here speak Arabic and Somali.
They pay with the Somali shilling (Sh).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 46 years.
The land of Somalia
The land of Somalia sits on average 410 metres above sea level.
Its coast runs for about 3 333 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 167 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Somalia different?
A dish the country is known for: Canjeero with goat stew.
Websites from here often end in .so.
Somalia and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 2 live in Somalia.
It takes up about 0.48 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa the country ranks 18th of 54 by size, and 25th by population.
Somalia and its neighbours
Ethiopia, its largest neighbour, is about 1.7 times bigger.
Ethiopia has more people: 109.2 million against 15 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, one lives wild in Somalia: Dromedary. The highest mountain in the country is Shimbiris, at 2 460 metres. The longest river in the country is the Shabelle.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
How big is Somalia compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 15 times as big as Somalia: 9 372 610 km² against 637 657 km². See both on one map
- Somalia is about 2.6 times as big as the United Kingdom: 637 657 km² against 242 900 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Somalia?
The capital of Somalia is Mogadishu. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Somalia?
About 15 million people live in Somalia, which makes it the 72nd most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Somalia?
How big is Somalia?
Somalia covers 637 657 square kilometres, making it the 41st largest country in the world. That is about 6.2 times the size of Iceland.
What is the highest mountain in Somalia?
The highest mountain in Somalia is Shimbiris, 2 460 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Somalia?
The longest river in Somalia is the Shabelle, about 1 820 kilometres long.
Which continent is Somalia in?
Somalia is in Africa, in the part called Eastern Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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