The Somali Democratic Republic is located in the easternmost portion of Africa. It’s coastline covers 1700 miles along the tropical waters of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The north is hilly while, the south is mainly flat. The climate is mainly hot with an occasional rain.
Somalia lacks many natural resources. A small fishing industry exists in the north where tuna, sharks and other warm-water fish are caught. Minerals such as petroleum, natural gas, and uranium are found throughout the country. Somalia has undergone an economic reform since the early 1980s.
Somalia has plenty of history. It all began in the 19th century, when several European countries made themselves known in the area. Two of these nations were Great Britain and Italy. But it wasn’t until after WW II that the country was divided into two regions, British Somaliland in the north, and Italian Somaliland in the south. The division was there for a period of ten years. Then in 1960 British Somaliland took a vote on whether or not to become united with the Italian Somaliland. The two joined on July 1, 1960, to form the Somali Republic. A new constitution was written, it provided a president and a 124 member National Assembly. In 1967 elections were held and the president elected was Dr. Rashid Ali Shermarke. He was murdered by a police officer in 1969 and the army seized control of the republic. This put Siyad Barre as chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Council. The Somalis wanted unification more than anything. Anyone who stood in their way was considered an enemy.
The whole picture changes in 1977 when the Soviet Union began to airlift military supplies into Ethiopia. The Somali’s begin to feel threatened and, in June , asked the United States to step in. The US did, they started to send supplies into Somalia. After 1982, most of the refugees, mainly woman and children, fled to Ethiopia. Efforts to return Somali refugees to Somalia began in 1984. The years to...