mate was derived from an official census taken in 1987
by the Somali Government with the cooperation of the UN and the US
Bureau of the Census; population estimates are updated year by year
between census years by factoring growth rates into them and by taking
account of refugee movements and of losses due to famine; lower
estimates of Somalia's population in mid-1996 (on the order of 6.0
million to 6.5 million) have been made by aid and relief agencies,
based on the number of persons being fed; population counting in
Somalia is complicated by the large numbers of nomads and by refugee
movements in response to famine and clan warfare

Age structure:
0-14 years: 44% (male 1,512,014; female 1,511,858)
15-64 years: 53% (male 1,833,922; female 1,786,261)
65 years and over: 3% (male 90,475; female 107,165) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 4.43% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 46.75 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 18.5 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 16.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 125.77 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 46.23 years
male: 44.66 years
female: 47.85 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 7.01 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Somali(s)
adjective: Somali

Ethnic groups: Somali 85%, Bantu, Arabs 30,000

Religions: Sunni Muslim

Languages: Somali (official), Arabic, Italian, English

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 24%
male: 36%
female: 14% (1990 est.)

@Somalia:Government

Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Somalia
former: Somali Republic, Somali Democratic Republic

Data code: SO

Government type: none

National capital: Mogadishu

Administrative divisions: 18 regions (plural-NA, singular-gobolka);
Awdal, Bakool, Banaadir, Bari, Bay, Galguduud, Gedo, Hiiraan, Jubbada
Dhexe, Jubbada Hoose, Mudug, Nugaal, Sanaag, Shabeellaha Dhexe,
Shabeellaha Hoose, Sool, Togdheer, Woqooyi Galbeed

Independence: 1 July 1960 (from a merger of British Somaliland, which
became independent from the UK on 26 June 1960, and Italian
Somaliland, which became independent from the Italian-administered UN
trusteeship on 1 J