A Desperate Nation
Dry, poor and backward, Somalia is a land of few resources. Here are some facts and figures:
The land: An elbow-shaped, largely desert country wrapped around Africa’s Horn with 246,201 square miles.
Population: About 6.5 million people.
Government: No one rules. Somalia has been carved into clan-based fiefdoms.
History: Unified as Somalia in June, 1960, after northern British Somaliland and the southern territory administered by Italy won independence. Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre seized power in 1969 coup and set nation on socialist path. He was backed first by the Soviet Union, then by the United States. Siad Barre was toppled in 1991, and the country fell into anarchy.
Source: Area Handbook on Somalia, Times wire reports
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