Buy data    Donate

Updates: 

"Ershiyi (21) Shiji Shijie Diming Lu", a three-volume world gazetteer, gives the populations of the eighteen regions as of 1980. I have added the data to the main table.

FIPS 10-4 Change Notice 11, dated 2006-07-11, has assigned new FIPS codes corresponding to the creation of two new regions in 1984, as shown below.

Country overview: 

Short name	SOMALIA
ISO code	SO
FIPS code	SO
Language	Somali (so)
Time zone	+3
Capital	Mogadishu

 

Italian Somaliland was chartered to a company until 1905, when it became a simple Italian colony. It acquired a strip of land beyond the Juba River (Italian Jubaland; Oltre Giuba [Italian]) from Kenya in 1925. In 1936-06, it merged with Eritrea and Ethiopia to form Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana), in which it was a state. After the British took it in World War II, it remained under British military government until 1950-04-01, when it was restored to Italy as a U.N. trust territory. Meanwhile, British Somaliland was a British protectorate (except for a brief Italian occupation) until it became independent on 1960-06-26. Less than a week later, on 1960-07-01, Italian Somaliland also became independent, and the two states merged to form the Somali Republic. The border with Ethiopia has never been finally established.

Currently Somalia is in a state of anarchy, and local government, if any, is unofficial.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Somalia
2. Dutch: Somalië, Somaliland, Republiek Somaliland (formal)
3. English: Somali Democratic Republic (formal)
4. Finnish: Somalia
5. French: Somalie f
6. German: Puntland, Somalia, Somaliland n
7. Icelandic: Sómalía
8. Italian: Somalia f
9. Norwegian: Den demokratiske republikk Somalia (formal) (Bokmål), Den demokratiske republikken Somalia (formal) (Nynorsk), Somalia
10. Portuguese: Somalilândia, Somália f, República f da Somalilândia f (formal)
11. Somali: Jamhuriyadda Dimugradiga ee Soomaaliya (formal)
12. Russian: Республика Сомалиленд (obsolete), Сомали, Сомалийская Демократическая Республика (obsolete), Сомалийская Республика (formal)
13. Spanish: Somalia f, República f Democrática Somalí (formal)
14. Swedish: Somalia
15. Turkish: Somali, Somali Demokratik Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name: 

from local word somal: black, used to describe the natives

Primary subdivisions: 

Somalia is divided into eighteen gobolka (regions).

Region	HASC	FIPS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital	Former
Awdal	SO.AW	SO21				Baki	Hargeisa
Bakool	SO.BK	SO01	148,700	27,000	10,000	Xuddur	Alto Giuba
Banaadir	SO.BN	SO02	520,100	1,657	640	Mogadishu	Banaadir
Bari	SO.BR	SO03	222,300	70,000	27,000	Boosaaso	Migiurtinia
Bay	SO.BY	SO04	451,000	39,000	15,000	Baydhabo	Alto Giuba
Galguduud	SO.GA	SO05	255,900	43,000	17,000	Dhuusa Marreeb	Mudug
Gedo	SO.GE	SO06	235,000	32,000	12,000	Garbahaarrey	Alto Giuba
Hiiraan	SO.HI	SO07	219,300	34,000	13,000	Beledweyne	Hiiraan
Jubbada Dhexe	SO.JD	SO08	147,800	23,000	9,000	Bu'aale	Basso Giuba, Alto Giuba
Jubbada Hoose	SO.JH	SO09	272,400	61,000	24,000	Kismaayo	Basso Giuba
Mudug	SO.MU	SO10	311,200	70,000	27,000	Gaalkacyo	Mudug, Migiurtinia
Nugaal	SO.NU	SO18	112,200	50,000	19,000	Garoowe	Migiurtinia
Sanaag	SO.SA	SO12	216,500	54,000	21,000	Ceerigaabo	Burco
Shabeellaha Dhexe	SO.SD	SO13	352,000	22,000	8,000	Jawhar	Banaadir
Shabeellaha Hoose	SO.SH	SO14	570,700	25,000	10,000	Marka	Banaadir
Sool	SO.SO	SO22				Laascaanood	Burco
Togdheer	SO.TO	SO19	383,900	41,000	16,000	Burco	Burco, Hargeisa
Woqooyi Galbeed	SO.WO	SO20	655,000	45,000	17,000	Hargeysa	Hargeisa, Burao
18 regions			5,074,200	637,657	245,640
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. If periods are replaced by hyphens, these are the same as the region codes from ISO standard 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 1980 estimates. Capital: Some source disagree. Former: Province(s) from ~1968 covering approximately the same area.

Further subdivisions:

See the Districts of Somalia page.

The regions are subdivided into 84 districts.

Origins of names: 

1. Bari: = east
2. Dhexe: = middle
3. Hoose: = lower (i.e. downstream)
4. Woqooyi Galbeed: = northwest

Change history: 

1. 1925-06-29: Transjuba (everything in modern Somalia west of the Juba River) transferred from Kenya to Italian Somaliland.
2. 1931: Italian Somaliland at this time consisted of seven commissariats. Their names and populations in the 1931 census were Alto Giuba (292,263), Alto Uebi-Scebeli (257,219), Basso Giuba (173,994), Basso Uebi-Scebeli (109,644), Migiurtinia (48,863), Mogadiscio (20,288), and Mudugh (119,301).
3. 1960-07-01: British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland (Somalia) merged to form the Somali Republic. Its divisions were the six districts of British Somaliland: Berbera, Borama, Burao, Erigavo, Hargeisa, and Las Anod; and the six districts of Italian Somaliland: Alto Giuba, Basso Giuba, Benadir, Hiran, Migiurtinia, and Mudugh.
4. ~1964: North-Eastern (Burao) Province formed by merging Burao, Erigavo, and Las Anod districts; North-Western (Hargeisa) Province formed by merging Berbera, Borama, and Hargeisa districts.
5. ~1968: Capital of Basso Giuba moved from Kismayu (Italian: Chisimaio) to Jamame. After this change, the provinces, with some of the variant names of their capitals, were:

Province	Population	Area(km.²)	Capital
Alto Giuba	362,397	131,492	Baidoa; Baydhabo (variant); Iscia Baidoa, Isha Baidoa (obsolete)
Basso Giuba	113,774	49,917	Jamame; Margherita (Italian)
Banaadir	392,189	45,004	Mogadishu; Mogadiscio (Italian); Muqdisho (Somali)
Burao		128,000	Burao; Burco (variant)
Hargeisa		48,000	Hargeisa; Hargeysa, Harghessa (variant)
Hiiraan	176,603	25,647	Beled Weyne; Belet Uen, Belet Wein (variant)
Migiurtinia	82,710	90,744	Boosaaso; Bender Cassim, Bender Kassim (obsolete); Bosaso (variant)
Mudug	141,197	118,737	Galka'yo; Gaalkacyo (variant); Gallacaio, Rocca Littorio (Italian)
8 provinces		637,541

1. ~1982: Somalia reorganized from eight provinces into sixteen regions.
2. 1984-06: Awdal region split from Woqooyi Galbeed (former FIPS code SO16); Sool region split from Nugaal (SO16). FIPS has also changed the code for Togdheer from SO15, suggesting that FIPS believes that Togdheer was also affected by this change. Geographically, it's possible that part of Togdheer was attached to Sool.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Alto Giuba: Alto Juba, Upper Juba (variant)
2. Banaadir: Benadir (variant)
3. Bari: East (variant)
4. Basso Giuba: Basso Juba, Lower Juba (variant)
5. Burao: Burro, Eastern, North-East (variant)
6. Galguduud: Galgudug (variant)
7. Hargeisa: Hargeysa, Harghessa, North-West, Western (variant)
8. Hiiraan: Hiran (variant)
9. Jubbada Dhexe: Central Juba (variant)
10. Jubbada Hoose: Lower Juba (variant)
11. Migiurtinia: Mijertein, Mijirtein, Mijurtein (variant)
12. Mudug: Madugh, Mudugh (variant)
13. Nugaal: Nogal (variant)
14. Shabeellaha Dhexe: Central Shabele (variant)
15. Shabeellaha Hoose: Lower Shabele (variant)
16. Sool: Sol (variant)
17. Togdheer: Togder (variant)
18. Woqooyi Galbeed: North-West, Woqooyi Gelbeed (variant)