Factbook
History of Somalia — Timeline
Key dates in the history of Somalia, from the Magna Factbook and the Universal Encyclopedia.
1960In the late 19th century, Britain, France, and Italy established colonies in the Somali Peninsula that lasted until 1960, when British Somaliland gained independence and joined with Italian Somaliland to form the Republic of Somalia.
1960Independence: 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 July 1960 to form the Somali Republic).
1969The country functioned as a parliamentary democracy until 1969, when General Mohamed SIAD Barre took control in a coup, beginning a 22-year socialist dictatorship.
1991Resistance to SIAD’s socialist leadership, which was causing a rapid deterioration of the country, prompted allied clan militias to overthrow SIAD in 1991, resulting in state collapse.
1993Beginning in 1993, the UN spearheaded an international humanitarian mission, but the international community largely withdrew by 1995 after an incident that became known as Black Hawk Down, in which two US military helicopters were shot down in Mogadishu.
2006Several of these courts came together in 2006 to form the Islamic Courts Union (ICU).
2006The ICU established order in many areas of central and southern Somalia, including Mogadishu, but was forced out when Ethiopia intervened militarily in 2006 on behalf of the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG).
2007In 2007, the African Union (AU) established a peacekeeping force, took over security responsibility for the country, and gave the TFG space to develop Somalia’s new government.
2012By 2012, Somali powerbrokers agreed on a provisional constitution with a loose federal structure and established a central government in Mogadishu called the Somali Federal Government (SFG).
2020Languages: Somali (official), Arabic (official), Italian, English Religions: Muslim 99.9% (Sunni Muslim 98.1%, Shia Muslim 1.2%, Islamic schismatic 0.6%), ethnic religionist 0.1% (2020 est.) Urban population: 47.9% of total population (2023).
2021Military spending: 6% of GDP (2021 est.).
2023Generation mix — fossil fuels: 82.5% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); solar: 16% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); wind: 1.5% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) Energy use: 649,000 Btu/person (2023 est.).
2023Industries: light industries, including sugar refining, textiles, wireless communication Agriculture: camel milk, milk, goat milk, sheep milk, sugarcane, fruits, sorghum, cassava, vegetables, maize (2023) Electricity access: 48.9% (2022 est.).
2023Major urban areas: 2.610 million MOGADISHU (capital), 1.127 million Hargeysa (2023) low-income African Horn economy; 30 years of war and instability crippled economic potential; high remittances for basic survival; new fiscal federalism approach; cleared some unsustainable debt; environmentally fragile; digitally driven urbanization efforts Inflation: 6.8% (2022 est.).
2025Population: 20.3 million (2025 estimate).
