Somalia Government

What is the capital of Somalia?

Country Name Somalia
Full Country Name Federal Republic of Somalia
Local - Long Jamhuuriyadda Federaalkaa Soomaaliya
Local - Short Soomaaliya
Former Name Somali Republic, Somali Democratic Republic
Etymology- history of name "Land of the Somali" (ethnic group)
Government Type federal parliamentary republic
Capital Name Mogadishu
Capital - geographic coordinate 2 04 N, 45 20 E
Capital Time Difference UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Independence 1 July 1960 (from a merger of British Somaliland that became independent from the UK on 26 June 1960 and Italian Somaliland that became independent from the Italian-administered UN trusteeship on 1 July 1960 to form the Somali Republic)
National Holiday Foundation of the Somali Republic, 1 July (1960); note - 26 June (1960) in Somaliland
Constitution previous 1961, 1979; latest drafted 12 June 2012, approved 1 August 2012 (provisional)

Somalia Capital City Map

Source: Google Maps

Somalia Government and Politics

Who is the president of Somalia?

Executive Branch: chief of state: President Mohamed ABDULLAHI Mohamed "Farmaajo" (since 8 February 2017)

head of government: Prime Minister Hassan Ali KHAYRE (since 1 March 2017)

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister, approved by the House of the People

elections/appointments: president indirectly elected by the Federal Parliament by two-thirds majority vote in 2 rounds if needed for a single 4-year term; election last held on 8 February 2017 (previously scheduled for 30 September 2016 but postponed repeatedly); prime minister appointed by the president, approved by the House of the People

election results: Mohamed ABDULLAHI Mohamed "Farmaajo" elected president in second round; Federal Parliament second round vote - Mohamed ABDULLAHI Mohamed "Farmaajo" (TPP) 184, HASSAN SHEIKH Mohamud (PDP) 97, Sheikh SHARIF Sheikh Ahmed (ARS) 46
Citizenship Criteria: citizenship by birth: no

citizenship by descent only: the father must be a citizen of Somalia

dual citizenship recognized: no

residency requirement for naturalization: 7 years
Legal System: mixed legal system of civil law, Islamic law, and customary law (referred to as Xeer)
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Legislative Branch: description: bicameral Federal Parliament to consist of:

Upper House (54 seats; senators indirectly elected by state assemblies to serve 4-year terms)

House of the People (275 seats; members indirectly elected by electoral colleges, each consisting of 51 delegates selected by the 136 Traditional Elders in consultation with sub-clan elders; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

Upper House - first held 10 October 2016 (next NA)

House of the People - first held 23 October - 10 November 2016 (next NA)

election results:

Upper House - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; composition - men 41, women 13, percent of women 24.1%

House of the People - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; composition - men 208, women 67, percent of women 24.4%; note - total Parliament percent of women 24.3%

note: the inaugural House of the People was appointed in September 2012 by clan elders; in 2016 and 2017, the Federal Parliament became bicameral with elections scheduled for 10 October 2016 for the Upper House and 23 October to 10 November 2016 for the House of the People; while the elections were delayed, they were eventually held in most regions despite voting irregularities; on 27 December 2016, 41 Upper House senators and 242 House of the People members were sworn in
Judicial Branch: highest court(s): the provisional constitution stipulates the establishment of the Constitutional Court (consists of 5 judges including the chief judge and deputy chief judge); note - under the terms of the 2004 Transitional National Charter, a Supreme Court based in Mogadishu and an Appeal Court were established; yet most regions have reverted to local forms of conflict resolution, either secular, traditional Somali customary law, or sharia Islamic law

judge selection and term of office: judges appointed by the president upon proposal of the Judicial Service Commission, a 9-member judicial and administrative body; judge tenure NA

subordinate courts: federal- and federal member state-level courts; military courts; sharia Islamic courts
Regions or States: 18 regions (plural - NA, singular - gobolka); Awdal, Bakool, Banaadir, Bari, Bay, Galguduud, Gedo, Hiiraan, Jubbada Dhexe (Middle Jubba), Jubbada Hoose (Lower Jubba), Mudug, Nugaal, Sanaag, Shabeellaha Dhexe (Middle Shabeelle), Shabeellaha Hoose (Lower Shabeelle), Sool, Togdheer, Woqooyi Galbeed
Political Parties and Leaders: CADHI [Abdirahman IBRAHIM]

Cosmopolitan Democratic Party [Yarow Sharef ADEN]

Democratic Green Party of Somalia or DGPS [Abdullahi Y. MAHAMOUD]

Democratic Party of Somalia or DPS [Maslah Mohamed SIAD]

Green Leaf for Democracy or GLED

Hiil Qaran

Justice and Communist Party [Mohamed NUR]

Liberal Party of Somalia

National Unity Party (Xisbiga MIdnimo-Quaran) [Abdurahman BAADIYOW]

Peace and Development Party or PDP

Somali National Party or SNP [Mohammed Ameen Saeed AHMED]

Somali People's Party [Mahamud Hassan RAGE]

Somali Green Party (local chapter of Federation of Green Parties of Africa)

Tayo or TPP [Mohamed Abdullahi MOHAMED]

Tiir Party [Fadhil Sheik MOHAMUD]

United and Democratic Party [Salad Ali JELLE]

United Somali Parliamentarians
International Law Organization Participation: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; non-party state to the ICCt
International Organization Participation: ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AU, CAEU (candidate), FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITSO, ITU, LAS, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic Representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Ahmed Issa AWAD (since 17 September 2015)

chancery: 425 East 61st Street, Suite 702, New York City, NY 10021

telephone: [1] (212) 688-9410, 688-5046

FAX: [1] (212) 759-0651
Diplomatic Representation from US: the US Mission to Somalia, operating out of the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, is headed by Ambassador Stephen M. SCHWARTZ (since 9 August 2016)
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