Somalia Environment - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

water scarcity; contaminated water contributes to human health problems; improper waste disposal; deforestation; land degradation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban

Climate

principally desert; northeast monsoon (December to February), moderate temperatures in north and hot in south; southwest monsoon (May to October), torrid in the north and hot in the south, irregular rainfall, hot and humid periods (tangambili) between monsoons

Land use

agricultural land: 70.3% (2018 est.)

arable land: 1.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 68.5% (2018 est.)

forest: 10.6% (2018 est.)

other: 19.1% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 47.9% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 4.2% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Food insecurity

exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production/supplies: due to drought conditions and internal conflict - about 6.5 million people are estimated to face severe acute food insecurity between April and June 2023 as a result of consecutive poor rainy seasons since late 2020 and heightened conflict since early 2021 (2023)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 29.51 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 0.65 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 20.13 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 2,326,099 tons (2016 est.)

Major aquifers

Ogaden-Juba Basin

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 20 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 2 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 3.28 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

14.7 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Somalia on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Somalia 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Somalia 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.