Somalia: A Country Study.
Abstract
Known in Ancient times as the Land of Punt and renowned for is frankincense and myrrh-which it still exports-Somalia is a developing country whose modern image is marked by a struggling economy, a largely nomadic population, and a history of serious conflict with neighboring states. Beset by periodic drought and the burden of roughly 1 million refugees, the nation has been sorely tested in its efforts to achieve-and maintain-political stability and economic development in the strategically important and volatile Horn of Africa. In newly independent Somalia the land was poor, and commercially exploitable natural resources were limited. As they had for centuries, most Somalis relied for their livelihood on pastoral nomadism or seminomadism in a harsh, arid environment. Pursuing the pragmatic tradition they and their forebears had always adhered to, they followed their livestock in a seasonal search for pasture, paying little attention to national frontiers. A minority of the people along the Juba and Shabeelle rivers in the south and a smaller number in the northwest depdended for all or part of their subsistence on irrigated or rainfed cultivation. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA123697
Entities
People
- Harold D. Nelson
Organizations
- United States Army