ABSTRACT
Situated in eastern Africa, Somalia forms the cap of the Horn of Africa. Bordered by Kenya in the south, Ethiopia in the west, Djibouti in the northwest, the Gulf of Aden in the north, and the Indian Ocean in the east, Somalia covers an area of about 637,540 square km, making it slightly smaller than Texas. Some 288,000 square km, or 45% of the total land, is rangeland, 14% is forest, and only 13% is suitable for arable production (Somali Yearbook of Agricultural Statistics 1990). More than 28% of Somalia is desert, unsuitable for any agricultural production. Somalia is mostly flat, rising in the southern and central regions to a few hundred meters above sea level near the Ethiopian border. The highest area is along the northern coast, where mountains rise to some 2,000 m. Somalia’s long coastline, ca. 3,300 km, the longest in Africa, has been vital to its trade with the Middle East and the rest of East Africa.
