Environment - current issues: famine; use of contaminated water contributes to human health problems; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Environment - international agreements: party to: Endangered Species,
Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban
Geography - note: strategic location on Horn of Africa along southern approaches to Bab el Mandeb and route through Red Sea and Suez Canal
People Somalia
Population: 7,753,310 note: this estimate was derived from an official census taken in 1975 by the Somali Government; population counting in Somalia is complicated by the large number of nomads and by refugee movements in response to famine and clan warfare (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 44.7% (male 1,737,491; female 1,730,237) 15-64 years: 52.6% (male 2,054,243; female 2,019,980) 65 years and over: 2.7% (male 92,617; female 118,742) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.46% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 46.83 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 17.99 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: 5.75 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)