Country profile · Horn of Africa
Somalia
Somalia has about 19.7 million people, and half of them are younger than 16 (UN, 2025). President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's term ended in May 2026 without an election, and he stays in office under an extension the opposition rejects. The Islamist group al-Shabaab still holds much of the countryside. In the north, Somaliland has governed itself since 1991.
Where Somalia ranks
All rankings →Which alliances is Somalia in?
All alliances →Disputed territories involving Somalia
All disputed territories →
Who runs Somalia?
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has led Somalia since May 15, 2022. He was president once before, from 2012 to 2017. He was born in 1955 in Jalalaqsi, in the Hiran region, and co-founded SIMAD University in Mogadishu in 1999. Somalia has not held a competitive national election since 1969. Clan elders choose delegates, and the delegates elect the 275 members of the House of the People. Each of the four largest clan families gets 61 seats, and smaller clans share 31. Parliament then elects the president. Hassan Sheikh's four-year term ended on May 15, 2026, with no election. In March 2026 parliament had voted to lengthen terms to five years, and more than 100 members boycotted the vote. The opposition, and the leaders of the Puntland and Jubaland regions, no longer recognize him. The electoral commission has now set direct elections for parliament on April 15, 2027, and a vote for president by parliament on May 15, 2027.
Official portrait (2022): Villa Somalia, Wikimedia Commons, public domain (cropped)
Who are Somalia's allies and rivals?
Turkey is Somalia's closest partner. President Erdoğan visited Mogadishu during the 2011 famine. Turkish companies have run the city's airport since 2013 and its port since 2014. Turkey's largest military base abroad opened in Mogadishu in 2017 and trains Somali soldiers. A 2024 defense pact has Turkey build a Somali navy, and Turkish F-16 fighter jets arrived in early 2026. The United States carried out about 125 airstrikes on militants in Somalia in 2025, more than in any earlier year. It also banned travel from Somalia to the United States in June 2025. In January 2024 Ethiopia agreed with Somaliland to lease a stretch of its coast for a naval base, and Somalia expelled Ethiopia's ambassador. Turkey brokered a deal between the two in December 2024. Egypt, Ethiopia's rival, signed a defense pact with Somalia in August 2024. In January 2026 Somalia cancelled all its agreements with the United Arab Emirates, which runs ports in Somaliland and Puntland.
Allies and partners
TurkeyRuns Mogadishu's port; its largest base abroad
EgyptDefense pact in 2024; troops pledged for AU mission
United StatesAbout 125 airstrikes on militants in 2025
QatarDefense deal in January 2026
Rivals and tensions
- Al-ShabaabIslamist group that holds much of the countryside
Ethiopia2024 naval base deal with Somaliland; ties since repaired
United Arab EmiratesSomalia cancelled all agreements in January 2026
IsraelRecognized Somaliland in December 2025
- Mogadishu The capital. Turkey runs its port and airport and trains soldiers at a base here.
- Jilib Al-Shabaab's de facto capital, in the Juba valley (UN).
- Berbera Somaliland's port, run by DP World of the UAE. Ethiopia sought a naval base on this coast.
- Bosaso Puntland's port. In August 2026 Puntland agreed to a larger US military presence here.
- Somalia
- Somaliland, self-governed since 1991
Who does Somalia trade with?
Somalia does not report its trade to the UN. The chart uses its partners' figures for 2023, the last year the United Arab Emirates reported (UN Comtrade). The Emirates bought the most, much of it gold. Saudi Arabia and Oman come next. Live animals, mostly sheep and goats, make up about three-quarters of Somalia's exports. Saudi Arabia buys the most of them, above all before the Hajj. Livestock earned $923 million in 2025 (national statistics bureau). Money sent home by Somalis abroad is worth far more: $3.1 billion in 2025, about a quarter of GDP (Central Bank of Somalia). About 95% of the cash in circulation is US dollars (IMF), and most people pay by mobile phone. The government collected taxes worth about 3% of GDP in 2025, and grants paid for more than half its budget. Aid cuts have closed hundreds of clinics. About 5.4 million people face crisis levels of hunger in late 2026 (IPC).
Sells to
Share of Somalia's exports
- United Arab Emirates34.0%
Saudi Arabia26.7%
Oman17.1%
Djibouti8.0%
India2.9%
Buys from
Share of Somalia's imports
- United Arab Emirates28.8%
China19.1%- India14.7%
- Turkey8.0%
- Oman4.8%
Goods, 2023, as reported by Somalia's trading partners. UN Comtrade.
Why can't Somalia defeat al-Shabaab?
Al-Shabaab is an Islamist armed group. It grew out of the Islamic Courts Union, which took Mogadishu in June 2006. Ethiopia invaded in December 2006 and drove the Courts out, and al-Shabaab fought on. It left Mogadishu in August 2011, under pressure from African Union troops, and pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda in 2012. It still holds much of the countryside in the south and center. It collected more than $150 million in 2023 from taxes and extortion (UN), and it has 7,000 to 12,000 members (US government). Its truck bomb in Mogadishu on October 14, 2017 killed more than 500 people. In 2022 clan militias helped the army retake towns. In 2025 al-Shabaab won most of them back and reached Balcad, 30 to 40 km from Mogadishu. The UN allows up to 11,826 African Union troops in Somalia. The United States blocked UN funding for them in 2025, and Uganda, the largest contributor, says it will leave by August 2027. Somalia had the sixth most conflict deaths in Africa in 2025 (chart).
Burkina Faso
Is Somaliland part of Somalia?
Somaliland was a British protectorate until June 26, 1960. Five days later it joined the former Italian colony to the south to form Somalia. In the 1980s Siad Barre's government bombed its cities, and an estimated 50,000 to 200,000 civilians were killed. Somaliland declared independence in May 1991, after Barre fell. Since then it has had its own government, army, currency and elections. Somalia says Somaliland is part of its territory. Every UN member agreed until December 26, 2025, when Israel recognized Somaliland. The African Union and 21 mostly Muslim countries condemned the move. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says Somalia will not accept an Israeli presence "under any circumstances." In September 2026 Somaliland's president offered the United States access to the port of Berbera and to minerals. The United States has not recognized Somaliland. Taiwan and Somaliland have exchanged offices since 2020, and China backs Somalia. Since 2023 the town of Las Anod, inside Somaliland's claimed border, has been held by forces of Somalia's North Eastern State.