Hawiye
The Hawiye is a Somali clan. Members of the clan traditionally inhabit central and southern Somalia and the North Eastern Province. Like many Somalis, Hawiye members trace their paternal ancestry to Irir, one of the sons of Samaale. Hawiye is one of the major Somali clans, with a wide traditional territory, it is the dominant clan in the capital of Somalia. The Hawiye have produced many prominent Somali figures with the first President, Prime Minstier, the father of the Somali military all hailing from the Hawiye. According to an official military survey conducted during the colonial period, Hawiye clan members are by tradition believed to be descended from a forefather named Hawiya Irrir, he is held to be the brother of Dir. I. M. Lewis and many sources maintain that the Dir together with the Hawiye trace ancestry through Irir, son of Samaale. Due to ancient pastoralist migrations and population movements across the Somali peninsula in search of water wells and grazing land over a period of thousand years, Hawiye clans today can be found inhabiting an area stretching from the fertile lands of southern Somalia between Barawa and Kismayo, to the regions surrounding Merka and Warsheikh in the hinterland, west to the modern city of Beledweyne in the Hiran region, north to the ancient port town of Hobyo in the arid central Mudug region.
The Hawiye have played an important role in Somalia. Many of Somalia's founding fathers hailed from the Hawiye; the first President of Somalia, Prime minister, the father of the Somali military were all Hawiye. Aden Adde the first president was Ujejeen; the first prime minister Abdullahi Issa was Habar Gidir. The father of Somali military Daud Abdulle Hirsi was Abgaal. Since the Hawiye have produced four more presidents and three more prime ministers; the Hawiye's role in Somalia is not limited to only political affairs. They are prominent in other important fields in Somali society; the clan has prominent members within the Somali business and media communities. For example, Abdirahman Yabarow, the editor-in-chief of VOA Somali is kin. Yusuf Garaad Omar, the chairman of BBC Somali for over a decade and helped pioneer its rise during his tenure is a member. Magool and Hasan Adan Samatar who are among some of the most famous Somali musicians of all time hail from this clan; the Hawiye play an important role in business.
For instance the head of the Somali airline company Jubba Airways and Hormud Telecom are members. The Hawiye play a large role in the Somali regions of Galmudug, South West State and Banadir but Somalia as a whole. Hawiye along with some Samaale sub-clans migrated to central and southern Somalia in the 1st century AD to populate the Horn of Africa, they established farmlands in the fertile plain lands of southern Somalia and established flourishing harbor ports in south and central Somalia. The first written reference to the Hawiye dates back to a 12th-century document by the Arab geographer, Ibn Sa'id, who described Merca at the time as the "capital of Hawiye country"; the 12th century cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi may have referred to the Hawiye as well, as he called Merca the region of the "Hadiye", which Herbert S. Lewis believes is a scribal error for "Hawiye", as do Guilliani and Cerulli. Along with Rahanweyn, Hawiye clan came under the Ajuran Empire control in the 13th century that governed much of southern Somalia and eastern Ethiopia, with its domain extending from Hobyo in the north, to Qelafo in the west, to Kismayo in the south.
At the end of the 17th century, the Ajuran Empire was on its decline due to high taxation on none-Ajuran clans and the practice of primae noctis, the prime reason why the Hawiye clan revolted against the Ajuran rulers and since this first revolt against the Ajuran other groups would follow in the rebellion which would bring down Ajuran rule of the inter-riverine region. Lee Cassanelli in his book, The Shaping of Somali society, provides a historical picture of the Hiraab Immate, he writes: "According to local oral tradition, the Hiraab imamate was a powerful alliance of related groups who shared a common lineage under the Gorgaarte clan divisions. It revolted against the Ajuran Empire and established an independent rule for at least two centuries from the seventeen hundreds and onwards; the alliance involved the army leaders and advisors of the Habar Gidir and Duduble, a Fiqhi/Qadi of Sheekhaal, the Imam was reserved for the Mudulood branch, believed to have been the first born. Once established, the Imamate ruled the territories from the Shabeelle valley, the Benaadir provinces, the Mareeg areas all the way to the arid lands of Mudug, whilst the ancient port of Hobyo emerged as the commercial center and Mogadishu being its capital for the newly established Hiraab Imamate in the late 17th century.
Hobyo served as a prosperous commercial centre for the Imamate. The agricultural centres of Eldher and Harardhere included the production of sorghum and beans, supplementing with herds of camels, cattle and sheep. Livestock and skin, whilst the aromatic woods and raisins were the primary exports as rice, other foodstuffs and clothes were imported. Merchants looking for exotic goods came to Hobyo to buy textiles, precious pearls; the commercial goods harvested along the Shabelle river were brought to Hobyo for trade. The increasing importance and rapid settlement of more southernly cities such as Mogadishu further boosted the prosperity of Hobyo, as more and more ships made their way down the Somali coast and stopped in Hobyo to trade and replenish their supplies
Somali Armed Forces
The Somali National Armed Forces are the military forces of Somalia known as the Federal Republic of Somalia. Headed by the President as Commander in Chief, they are constitutionally mandated to ensure the nation's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Before the Somali civil war broke out, Somalia had the largest and strongest army in the African continent until the collapse of the central government during 1991; the SAF was made up of the Army, Air Force and Police Force. In the post-independence period, it grew to become among the larger militaries in Africa. Due to Barre's increasing reliance on his own clans, repressive policies, the Somali Rebellion, the military had by 1988 begun to disintegrate. By the time President Siad Barre fled in 1991, the armed forces had dissolved; as of January 2014, the security sector is overseen by the Federal Government of Somalia's Ministry of Defence, Ministry of National Security, Ministry of Interior and Federalism. The Somaliland and Galmudug regional governments maintain their own security and police forces.
Somali society conferred distinction upon warriors and rewarded military acumen. All Somali males were regarded except for the odd religious cleric. Somalia's many Sultanates each maintained regular troops. In the early Middle Ages, the conquest of Shewa by the Ifat Sultanate ignited a rivalry for supremacy with the Solomonic dynasty. Many similar battles were fought between the succeeding Sultanate of Adal and the Solomonids, with both sides achieving victory and suffering defeat. During the protracted Ethiopian-Adal War, Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi defeated several Ethiopian Emperors and embarked on a conquest referred to as the Futuh Al-Habash, which brought three-quarters of Christian Abyssinia under the power of the Muslim Adal Sultanate. Al-Ghazi's forces and their Ottoman allies came close to extinguishing the ancient Ethiopian kingdom, but the Abyssinians managed to secure the assistance of Cristóvão da Gama's Portuguese troops and maintain their domain's autonomy. However, both polities in the process exhausted their resources and manpower, which resulted in the contraction of both powers and changed regional dynamics for centuries to come.
Many historians trace the origins of hostility between Ethiopia to this war. Some scholars argue that this conflict proved, through their use on both sides, the value of firearms such as the matchlock musket and the arquebus over traditional weapons. At the turn of the 20th century, the Majeerteen Sultanate, Sultanate of Hobyo, Warsangali Sultanate and Dervish State employed cavalry in their battles against the imperialist European powers during the Campaign of the Sultanates. In Italian Somaliland, eight "Arab-Somali" infantry battalions, the Ascari, several irregular units of Italian officered dubats were established; these units served as frontier police. There were Somali artillery and zaptié units forming part of the Italian Royal Corps of Colonial Troops from 1889 to 1941. Between 1911 and 1912, over 1,000 Somalis from Mogadishu served as combat units along with Eritrean and Italian soldiers in the Italo-Turkish War. Most of the troops stationed never returned home until they were transferred back to Italian Somaliland in preparation for the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935.
In 1914, the Somaliland Camel Corps was formed in the British Somaliland protectorate and saw service before and after the Italian invasion of the territory during World War II. Just prior to independence in 1960, the Trust Territory of Somalia established a national army to defend the nascent Somali Republic's borders. A law to that effect was passed on 6 April 1960, thus the Somali Police Force's Mobile Group was formed. 12 April 1960 has since been marked as Armed Forces Day. British Somaliland became independent on 26 June 1960 as the State of Somaliland, the Trust Territory of Somalia followed suit five days later. On 1 July 1960, the two territories united to form the Somali Republic. After independence, the Darawishta merged with the former British Somaliland Scouts to form the 5,000 strong Somali National Army; the new military's first commander was Colonel Daud Abdulle Hirsi, a former officer in the British military administration's police force, the Somalia Gendarmerie. Officers were trained in the United Kingdom and Italy.
Despite the social and economic benefits associated with military service, the armed forces began to suffer chronic manpower shortages only a few years after independence. Merging British and Italian Somaliland caused political controversy; the distribution of power between the two regions and among the major clans in both areas was a bone of contention. In December 1961, a group of British-trained northern non-commissioned officers in Hargeisa revolted after southern officers took command of their units; the rebellion was put down by other northern Noncommissioned officers, although dissatisfaction in the north lingered. Adam notes that in the aftermath of this mutiny, first commander of the armed forces General Daud Abdulle Hirsi placed the most senior northerner, General Ainashe, as head of the army in the north; the force was expanded and modernized after the rebellion with the assistance of Soviet and Cuban advisors. The Library of Congress writes that'n 1962 the Soviet Union agreed to grant a US$32 million loan to modernise the Somali army, expand it to 14,000 personnel.
Moscow increased the amount to US$55 million. The Soviet Union, seeking to counter United States influence in the Horn of Africa, made an unconditional loan and fixed a generous tw
Somali literature
Somali literature refers to the literary tradition of Somalia. It ranges from Islamic poetry and prose produced by the region's scholars and Sheikhs of centuries past to works of fiction from contemporary writers; the Islamic literature of Somalia dates back to the early 14th century, with Uthman bin Ali Zayla'i producing Tabayin al-Haqa’iq li Sharh Kanz al-Daqa’iq, one of the most referenced books in the Hanafi school of Islam. Sayyid Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, the celebrated religious and nationalist leader left a considerable amount of manuscripts. One of the better-known examples of Somali Islamic literature is Maja'mut al-Mubaraka, a work written by Shaykh Abdullah al-Qalanqooli and published in Cairo in 1918. Shaykh Abd Al-Rahman bin Ahmad al-Zayla'i produced many Islamic-orientated manuscripts in the 19th century. In addition, poetry in the form of Qasidas was popular among Somali Sheikhs, the latter of whom produced thousands of such works in praise of Prophet Muhammad. English translation Whenever you wish to make easy your objective Then give a prayer to your Messenger, the best of Guides And say seeking aid in every circle Blessings of God and the crier cries On the chosen our Master the PraisedBeloved of God preferred to those who ascended His tomb is above any Throne or High Place As is Every pious place sincerely Musk and Spices give fragrance, trulyTo the tomb of Muhammad, light of Heart Every aspect of the Habib gives light The one who seeks him sees the lights with goodness The distance meets it along with the near It will encompass the Family, the neighbours of the Beloved As well as people of the community with knowledge of his fragrance Due to the Somali people's passionate love for and facility with poetry, Somalia has been called by, among others, the Canadian novelist and scholar Margaret Laurence, a "Nation of Poets" and a "Nation of Bards".
The 19th-century British explorer Richard Francis Burton, who visited the Somali Peninsula recounts in his book First Footsteps in East Africa how: According to Canadian novelist and scholar Margaret Laurence, who coined the term "Nation of Poets" to describe the Somali Peninsular, the Eidagale were viewed as "the recognized experts in the composition of poetry": Observing that "some say he was'peerless' and his'noble lines'.. are quoted throughout the Somali peninsula", Samatar concurs with J. Spencer Trimingham's judgement that "Mahammad'Abdille Hasan was a master of eloquence and excelled in the art of composing impromptu poems which so inspire and inflame the Somalis" -- although Samatar dissents on its "impromptu" nature. One of Hassan's well-known poems is Gaala Leged: English translation To begin with, I had neglected poetry and had let it dry up I had sent it west in the beginning of the spring rains, but let me set forth what prevented me from sleeping last nightGod's Blessing are more numerous than those growing trees.
I will remind you of the victory he gave us Listen to me my council, for you are most dear to meIf the unwashed left handed one had died yesterday, if I had cut his throat- may he taste hell in the grave itself And the wild animals had eaten him, he and his ilk would deserve thisI would salute the hyena that would gorge itself on his flesh, as it's doing me a favor, it is dearer to me than any other animal of the wild. If could I would reward it every dayThat deformed one wasted a lot of my wealth since he kept committing wrongs again and again I knew all along that the hyena would devour himIt was their insincere refusal to acknowledge the truth that put them down and destroyed them And made me attack their best man with a DaggerIf they had not become ungrateful, I would have not become enraged with them I would have not lost my generosity and respect for them I would have not have withheld anything from them, if they desired peaceBut when they acted disdainfully, death marched straight at them Elmi Boodhari differed from the poets of his generation in that he eschewed the popular theme of Tribal war and vegeance in Somali poetry, instead wholly focusing on love and composing all his poems for the woman he loved, Hodan Abdulle, seen as unconventional and scandalous at the time.
Author Mohamed Diiriye in his book Culture and Customs of Somalia, writes: Among the poets of the past century, a poet who has gained the hearts of all Somalis in every district is Elmi Boodhari, many major poets such as Mohamed Abdallah Hassan and Abdi Gahayr, aroused resentment among some somalis, as they addressed diatribes against the members of a certain clan, or urged bloodletting. But not so with Elmi Boodhari, his subject was romance and only that. While the poets of his day where addressing serious subjects such as war and feuds, Boodhari composed all of his poems for the lady of his affection Hodan, given in hand of marriage to a man much wealthier than him. Instead of getting literary kudos for his beautiful verse, Boodhari was made the object of public ridicule. Somali society had not been of course devoid of romance either in song or prose in any age, but to proclaim the object of ones love was frowned upon in the social mores of Somalis. A poem Elmi composed for Hodan: She is altogether fair: Her fine-shaped bones begin her excellence.
Her gums’ dark gloss is like unto blackest ink. My heart leaps when I see her walking by, Infinite suppleness in her body’s sway. I fear that some malicious djinn May envy her beauty, wish to do
Politics of Somalia
The politics of Somalia takes place in a framework of federal parliamentary representative democratic republic. According to the Constitution of Somalia, the President of Somalia is head of state, Prime Minister as head of government, appointed by the President with the parliament's approval; the country has a bicameral legislature, which consists of the Senate and the National Assembly of Somalia. Together, they make up the Federal Parliament of Somalia. In 2012 The Federal Parliament of Somalia was concurrently inaugurated, ushering in the Federal Government of Somalia, the first permanent central government in the country since the start of the civil war. With a new constitution and a new parliament representing diverse parties and factions, Somalia's political structure subsequently showed signs of stabilization. Following the outbreak of the civil war and the ensuing collapse of the Siad Barre regime in the early 1990s, Somalia's residents reverted to local forms of conflict resolution, consisting of civil law, religious law and customary law.
A few autonomous regions, including the Somaliland and Galmudug administrations, emerged in the north in the ensuing process of decentralization. The early 2000s saw the creation of fledgling interim federal administrations; the Transitional National Government was established in 2000 followed by the formation of its successor the Transitional Federal Government in 2004, which reestablished national institutions such as the Military of Somalia. In 2006, the TFG, assisted by Ethiopian troops, assumed control of most of the nation's southern conflict zones from the newly formed Islamic Courts Union; the ICU subsequently splintered into more radical groups such as Al-Shabaab, which battled the TFG and its AMISOM allies for control of the region, with the insurgents losing most of the territory that they had seized by mid-2012. The Transitional Federal Government was the internationally recognised government of Somalia until 20 August 2012, when its tenure ended, it was established as one of the Transitional Federal Institutions of government as defined in the Transitional Federal Charter adopted in November 2004 by the Transitional Federal Parliament.
The Transitional Federal Government comprised the executive branch of government, with the TFP serving as the legislative branch. The government was headed by the President of Somalia, to whom the cabinet reported through the Prime Minister. However, it was used as a general term to refer to all three branches collectively. In 2006, the Islamic Courts Union, an Islamic movement, assumed control of much of the southern part of the country and imposed Shari'a law; the Transitional Federal Government sought to re-establish its authority, with the assistance of Ethiopian troops, African Union peacekeepers and air support by the United States, managed to drive out the rival ICU and solidify its rule. On 8 January 2007, as the Battle of Ras Kamboni raged, TFG President and Harti strongman Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, entered Mogadishu for the first time since being elected to office; the government relocated to Villa Somalia in the capital from its interim location in Baidoa. This marked the first time since the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991 that the federal government controlled most of the country.
Following this defeat, the Islamic Courts Union splintered into several different factions. Some of the more radical elements, including Al-Shabaab, regrouped to continue their insurgency against the TFG and oppose the Ethiopian military's presence in Somalia. Throughout 2007 and 2008, Al-Shabaab scored military victories, seizing control of key towns and ports in both central and southern Somalia. At the end of 2008, the group had captured Baidoa but not Mogadishu. By January 2009, Al-Shabaab and other militias had managed to force the Ethiopian troops to retreat, leaving behind an under-equipped African Union peacekeeping force to assist the Transitional Federal Government's troops. To shore up his rule in Mogadishu, Yusuf deployed thousands of his own troops from Puntland to Mogadishu. Financial support for this effort was provided by the autonomous region's government; this left little revenue for Puntland's own security forces and civil service employees, leaving the territory vulnerable to piracy and terrorist attacks.
On 29 December 2008, Yusuf announced before a united parliament in Baidoa his resignation as President of Somalia. In his speech, broadcast on national radio, Yusuf expressed regret at failing to end the country's seventeen-year conflict as his government had mandated to do, he blamed the international community for its failure to support the government, said that the speaker of parliament would succeed him in office per the Charter of the Transitional Federal Government. Between 31 May and 9 June 2008, representatives of Somalia's federal government and the moderate Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia participated in peace talks in Djibouti brokered by the former United Nations Special Envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah; the conference ended with a signed agreement calling for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops in exchange for the cessation of armed confrontation. Parliament was subsequently expanded to 550 seats to accommodate ARS members, which elected Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the former ARS chairman, to office.
President Sharif shortly afterwards appointed Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, the son of slain former President Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, as the nation's new Prime Minister. With the help of the growing African Union regional intervention force AMISOM, the coalition government began a counteroffensive in February 2009 to seize more control of the southern half of the country; the TFG formed an allianc
Somalia
Somalia the Federal Republic of Somalia (Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Federaalka Soomaaliya. Jumhūrīyah aṣ-Ṣūmāl al-Fīdirālīyah, is a country located in the Horn of Africa, it is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djabuti to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Guardafui Channel and Somali Sea to the east, Kenya to the southwest. Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa's mainland, its terrain consists of plateaus and highlands. Climatically, hot conditions prevail year-round, with periodic monsoon winds and irregular rainfall. Somalia has an estimated population of around 14.3 million. And has been described as the most culturally homogeneous country in Africa. Around 85% of its residents are ethnic Somalis, who have inhabited the northern part of the country. Ethnic minorities are concentrated in the southern regions; the official languages of are Arabic. Most people in the country are Muslim, with the majority being Sunni. In antiquity, Somalia was an important commercial centre, it is among the most probable locations of the fabled ancient Land of Punt.
During the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali empires dominated the regional trade, including the Ajuran Empire, the Adal Sultanate, the Warsangali Sultanate, the Sultanate of the Geledi. The toponym Somalia was coined by the Italian explorer Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti. In the late 19th century, the British and Italian empires established the colonies of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland. In the interior, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan's Darwiish repelled the British four times, forcing a retreat to the coast, before succumbing in the Somaliland campaign. Italy acquired full control of the northeastern and southern parts of the area after waging the Campaign of the Sultanates against the ruling Majeerteen Sultanate and Sultanate of Hobyo. In 1960, the two regions united to form the independent Somali Republic under a civilian government; the Supreme Revolutionary Council seized power in 1969 and established the Somali Democratic Republic, which collapsed in 1991 as the Somali Civil War broke out.
During this period most regions returned to religious law. The early 2000s saw the creation of interim federal administrations; the Transitional National Government was established in 2000, followed by the formation of the Transitional Federal Government in 2004, which reestablished the military. In 2006, the TFG assumed control of most of the nation's southern conflict zones from the newly formed Islamic Courts Union; the ICU subsequently splintered into more radical groups such as Al-Shabaab, which battled the TFG and its AMISOM allies for control of the region. By mid-2012, the insurgents had lost most of the territory that they had seized, a search for more permanent democratic institutions began. A new provisional constitution was passed in August 2012; the same month, the Federal Government of Somalia was formed and a period of reconstruction began in Mogadishu. Somalia has maintained an informal economy based on livestock, remittances from Somalis working abroad, telecommunications, it is a member of the United Nations, the Arab League, African Union, Non-Aligned Movement and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Somalia has been inhabited since at least the Paleolithic. During the Stone Age, the Doian and Hargeisan cultures flourished here; the oldest evidence of burial customs in the Horn of Africa comes from cemeteries in Somalia dating back to the 4th millennium BCE. The stone implements from the Jalelo site in the north were characterized in 1909 as important artefacts demonstrating the archaeological universality during the Paleolithic between the East and the West. According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations arrived in the region during the ensuing Neolithic period from the family's proposed urheimat in the Nile Valley, or the Near East; the Laas Geel complex on the outskirts of Hargeisa in northwestern Somalia dates back 5,000 years, has rock art depicting both wild animals and decorated cows. Other cave paintings are found in the northern Dhambalin region, which feature one of the earliest known depictions of a hunter on horseback; the rock art is in the distinctive Ethiopian-Arabian style, dated to 1,000 to 3,000 BCE.
Additionally, between the towns of Las Khorey and El Ayo in northern Somalia lies Karinhegane, the site of numerous cave paintings of real and mythical animals. Each painting has an inscription below it, which collectively have been estimated to be around 2,500 years old. Ancient pyramidical structures, ruined cities and stone walls, such as the Wargaade Wall, are evidence of an old civilization that once thrived in the Somali peninsula; this civilization enjoyed a trading relationship with ancient Egypt and Mycenaean Greece since the second millennium BCE, supporting the hypothesis that Somalia or adjacent regions were the location of the ancient Land of Punt. The Puntites traded myrrh, gold, short-horned cattle and frankincense with the Egyptians, Babylonians, Indians and Romans through their commercial ports. An Egyptian expedition sent to Punt by the 18th dynasty Queen Hatshepsut is recorded on the temple reliefs at Deir el-Bahari, during the reign of the Puntite King Parahu and Queen Ati.
In 2015, isotopic analysis of ancient baboon mummies from Punt, brought to Egypt as gifts indicated that the specimens originated from an area encompassing eastern Somalia and the Eritrea-Ethiopia corridor. In the classical era, the Macrobians, who may have b
Transport in Somalia
Transport in Somalia refers to the transportation networks and modes of transport in effect in Somalia. They include highways and seaports, in addition to various forms of public and private vehicular and aerial transportation. Somalia's network of roads is 21,830 km long; as of 2010, 2,757 km of streets are paved, 844 km are gravel, 18,229 km are earth. 2,559 km are primary roads, 4,850 km are secondary roads, 14,421 km are rural/feeder roads. As of May 2015, over 70,000 vehicles are registered with the Puntland Ministry of Works and Transport. A 750 km highway connects major cities in the northern part of the country, such as Bosaso and Garowe, with towns in the south. In 2012, the Puntland Highway Authority completed rehabilitation work on the central artery linking Garowe with Galkayo; the transportation body began an upgrade and repair project in June 2012 on the large Garowe–Bosaso Highway. Additionally, renovations were initiated in October 2012 on the central artery linking Bosaso with Qardho.
Plans are in the works to construct new roads connecting littoral towns in the region to the main thoroughfare. In September 2013, the Somali federal government signed an official cooperation agreement with its Chinese counterpart in Mogadishu as part of a five-year national recovery plan; the pact will see the Chinese authorities reconstruct several major infrastructural landmarks in the Somali capital and elsewhere, as well as the road between Galkayo and Burao in the northern part of the country. In June 2014, the Puntland administration inaugurated a new 5.9 km paved road in the city. The construction project leads to the Bosaso seaport, was completed in conjunction with UNHABITAT; the Puntland government plans to invest at least 23 million Euros in contributions from international partners in similar road infrastructure development initiatives. In October 2014, the Puntland Highway Authority began construction on a new highway connecting the presidential palace in Garowe with various other parts of the administrative capital.
Financing for the project was provided by the Puntland government. According to the Head of the PHA Mohamud Abdinur Adan, the new thoroughfare aims to facilitate local transportation and movement. Puntland Minister of Public Works Mohamed Hersi indicated that the Puntland authorities plan to build and repair other roads linking to the regional urban centers. In December 2014, Galkayo District Mayor Yacqub Mohamed Abdalla and other Puntland officials laid the foundation for a new tarmac road in western Galkayo; the project was funded by the Puntland administration, with other roads in the broader district slated to be paved with bitumen in 2015. Among the latter streets, a tar construction project began on the Durdur road in the Garsor suburb in February 2015; the main road in the Central Business District as well as the airport road are concurrently scheduled to be paved. In November 2014, the Ministry of Interior and Federalism reached an agreement with the government of Qatar to assist in the renovation of existing roads in Somalia and the construction of new streets.
In January 2015, the Interim Juba Administration launched a beautification and cleaning campaign in Kismayo's transportation system. Part of a broader urbanization drive, the initiative includes the clearing of clogged streets and lanes, razing of illegal buildings therein, further development of the municipal road network. In March 2015, Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali in conjunction with EU Ambassador to Somalia Michele Cervone d'Urso and German Ambassador to Somalia Andreas Peschke launched the Sustainable Road Maintenance Project. Part of the New Deal Compact for Somalia, the initiative's implementation is facilitated by 17.75 million Euros and 3 million Euros provided by the EU and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, respectively. Among other objectives, the project aims to renovate the highway between Galkayo and Garowe, including funding refurbishments on the damaged segments of the road and construction of check dams and flood control structures; the initiative involves a routine annual maintenance program, which focuses on side brushing, clearing bridges after floods and culvert clearance, pothole filling.
Additionally, the project will offer policy support to the Puntland Ministry of Public Works and the Puntland Highway Authority, local contractors will receive on-the-job training to upgrade their skills. The Somali Civil Aviation Authority is Somalia's national civil aviation authority body. Based at Aden Abdulle International Airport in Mogadishu, it is under the aegis of the federal Ministry of Air and Land Transport. In 2012, the ministry along with the Somali Civil Aviation Steering Committee set a three-year window for reconstruction of the national civil aviation capacity. After a long period of management by the Civil Aviation Caretaker Authority for Somalia, SCAMA in conjunction with the International Civil Aviation Organization finalized a process in December 2014 to transfer control of Somalia's airspace to the new Air Space Management Centre in the capital; as of 2012, Somalia has 61 airports according to the CIA factfile. 7 of these have paved runways. Among the latter, four have runways of over 3,047 m.
There are 55 airports with unpaved landing areas. One has a runway of over 3,047 m. Major airports in the country include the Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, the Hargeisa International Airport in Hargeisa, the Kismayo Airport in Kismayo, the Bender Qassim International Airport in Bosaso, the
Sports in Somalia
Sports in Somalia are regulated by the Ministry of Sports of Somalia. The government ministry works with the Somali Olympic Committee and various sports governing bodies, including the Somali Football Federation; the first person of Somali descent to win an Olympic medal was Buuhoodlian Mohamed Suleiman. The athlete with the highest amount of Somali national records is Las Anodian Abdi Bile. Bile, who holds nine national records, is Somalia's most decorated athlete in history. Football is the most popular sport amongst Somalis; the first football teams in Somalia were established in the 1940s. The competitions were basic in structure, were associated with the anti-colonial movement; the Somali Youth League, the nation's first political party, had put together a team of local youth to play against the Italian expatriate teams. In 1958, the first commissioner for sport in Somalia was established; the football squad that the SYL had assembled, which would change its name to Bondhere, won the first several competitions.
However, it was not as successful in its early forays against foreign teams. Important countrywide competitions are the Somalia Somalia Cup; the Ocean Stars, the national team, is popularly known as the "giant killers" because of its underdog status, the upsets it has achieved during games against better funded and established teams at continental tournaments. A multi-ethnic squad, Somalia first participated at the Olympic Games in 1972 and has sent athletes to compete in most Summer Olympic Games since then; the diverse Somali beach soccer team represents the country in international beach soccer competitions. In addition, several international footballers such as Mohammed Ahamed Jama, Liban Abdi, Ayub Daud and Abdisalam Ibrahim play in European top leagues. On 17 December 2015, Horseed FC vs Heegan FC became the first association football match to be aired live in Somalia. In track and field, Abdi Bile, one of the most successful athletes from Somalia, won the 1500 m World Championship in 1987, running the fastest final 800 m of any 1,500 meter race in history.
He dominated the event in the late 1980s. Bile was ranked first in the world at the mile distance in 1989, he was World Cup champion in two-time world Grand Prix final champion. Hussein Ahmed Salah, a Somalia-born former long-distance runner from Djibouti, won a bronze medal in the marathon at the 1988 Summer Olympics, he won silver medals in this event at the 1987 and 1991 World Championships, as well as the 1985 IAAF World Marathon Cup. Mo Farah holds the European track record for 10,000 metres, the British road record for 10,000 metres, the British indoor record in the 3000 metres, the British track record for 5000 metres and the European indoor record for 5000 metres. In July 2010, Farah won Britain's first-ever men's European gold medal at 10,000 m, he followed this with a gold in the 5000 m at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, in Daegu, South Korea, becoming the 5th male athlete to complete the long-distance double at the championships and the first British man to do so. Mustafa Mohamed, the Somali-Swedish long-distance runner who competes in the 3000 meter steeplechase.
Won gold in the 2006 Nordic Cross Country Championships and at the 1st SPAR European Team Championships in Leiria, Portugal in 2009. He beat the 31-year-old Swedish record in 2007. Many of the greatest athletes of Somalia hail from the Dhulbahante of the Nugaal region; these include Abdihakem Abdirahman the Somali-American long-distance runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres, won Gold for this event at the US Olympic Trials in 2008. Journalist Abdiqadir Suleiman referred to Abdi Bile as the greatest Somali athlete of all time. Many Nugaal-born athletes have found success in the diaspora. Mohamed Suleiman, who competes for Qatar, achieved the greatest success of his career when he won the bronze medal in the Barcelona Olympics, becoming the first-ever Olympic medallist for Qatar. Throughout his career, Suleiman ran several Asian records over the mile run, he won the gold medal in the 1500 m representing Asia at the 1992 IAAF World Cup. Suleiman ran for Qatar at two further Olympic Games and reached the event finals, although he did not make the podium.
Suleiman's younger brothers Nasser and Abdulrahman Suleiman have competed internationally in middle-distance running – Abdulrahman was the 2002 Asian champion for the 1500 m. The Somalia national basketball team is a member of the International Basketball Federation. Although the squad has yet to pass the qualifications stages for the FIBA World Championship, it won a bronze medal in the 1981 FIBA Africa Championship, when Somalia hosted the tournament; the team participates in the basketball event at the Pan Arab Games. In January 2013, national basketball team player Faisal Aden scored 59 points against the Rwanda squad; this remains the global scoring record in an official international FIBA match. In 2013, a Somalia national bandy team was formed in Sweden, by Somali expats; the team participated in the 2014 Bandy World Championship in Irkutsk and Shelekhov in Russia. Six of the players took part in the Federation of International Bandy's October 2013 camp in ABB Arena, open to developing bandy countries.
The team has continued to participate in the world championships in 2015, 2016, 2017. In the martial arts, the national taekwondo team is controlled by the Somali Karate and Taekwondo Federation; the governing body has been affiliated with the World Taekwondo Federation since 1997, is based in Mogadishu. The squad takes part in international and Arab world taekwondo competitions. At the 2013 Open World Taekwondo Challenge Cup in Tongeren, team membe
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This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook website https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the 
