Somalia background information

Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia (West), Djibouti (North-West), the Gulf of Aden (North), the Indian Ocean (East), and Kenya (South West). The country has the longest coastline (3,333.333 Km) on the continent, and its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains and highlands. The total surface area is estimated as 637,540 Sq. Km. Hot conditions prevail year round, along with periodic monsoon winds and
irregular rainfall.

Somalia has only two permanent rivers, the Jubba and the Shabele, both of which begin in the Ethiopian Highlands. These rivers mainly flow southwards, with the Jubba River entering the Indian Ocean at Kismayo. The Shabele River at one time apparently used to enter the sea near Merca, but now reaches a point just southwest of Mogadishu. After that, it consists of swamps which usually flood during heavy rains and dry reaches before finally disappearing in the desert terrain east of Jilib, near the Jubba River.