N/A

I. Basic Information

HIIRAAN (HIR)

II. Vital Statistics

Sub-Region: Central

 

Provinces (12): Wajir, Baraawe, Mogadishu, Eye, Hargeysa, Ogaden, Dila, Jima, Addis Ababa, Maychew, Eritrea, Djibouti

 

Population: 106,164,700

 

Gross Domestic Product:  $92.795 bn

 

 

III. Government

Country Name

             Conventional Long Form:  Imperial Republic of Hiiraan

 

             Long Local Form: الصومال الجمهورية العربية

 

             Local Short Form: :الصومال

 

Country Motto: Somalia, Hiiraan! Ethiopia, Hiiraan! Our lands, Hiiraan!

 

Government Type: Republic

 

Independence: July 1, 1960 from the Azaziel

 

National Holidays: Independence Day ( July 1st ); President's Day (January 20th); Eid-ul-fitr (After Ramadhan; 3-day Holiday); Eid-ul-Adha (January 5th; 3-day Holiday)

 

Legal System: Statutory Law

 

Suffrage: 15 years of age in accordance with Islamic, or Sharia Law. Note: Men (Defined as any male over 15) , Women (Defined as any female over 15). Suffrage excludes military officers above the rank of Lieutenant.

Method of Election/Term Length:  Every five years

 

Date of Last Election/Results: March 3rd 2004; Presidential Elections; Mohamed Jabari (52%) Jamal Khallid (25%) Aswad Lama (23%)

 

Date of Next Election: March 3, 2007 (All elections occur on this day)

Major Political Parties: People's Parties, Conservative & Unionist Party,

Forward Hiiraan, Socialist Labour Party, Workers Revolutionary Party

 

Political Pressure Groups: See Government Handbook

 

Legislature:  Unicameral Parliament; Federal Parliament of Hiiraan

 

Last Election Date: March 3, 2004

 

Last Election Results: Political Parties for Parliament (299 Seats):

People's Parties: 59% (155 Seats)

Conservative & Unionist Party: 26% (77Seats)

Forward Hiiraan: 17% (50 Seats)

Socialist Labour Party: 4% (11 seats)

Workers Revolutionary Party: 1% (3 seats)

 

Next Election Date: March 3, 2007

VI. Judiciary Branch

Number of Supreme Court Justices: There are series of Supreme Courts across each Province in Hiiraan. Each Province + Zanzibar has its own Supreme Court in which by the President appoints all Judges in each Supreme Court Under Approval of the Parliament.

 

Process through which Justices Come to Power: See above.

V. Legislative Branch

VII. Foreign Policy

International Organization Participation:

             African Union

              

 

Territorial Disputes:  None

VIII. Economy

Hiiraan is a middle-income, developing country with a diversified economy based on agriculture, industry, and energy. During the 1960s, citing its state socialist ideology, the government nationalized most major enterprises and adopted economic policies designed to address regional and class disparities. This legacy of state intervention and price, trade, and foreign exchange controls still hampers economic growth, although the government has begun to revisit many of these policies, especially in the financial sector and the country's trade regime. Despite a number of significant reforms and ambitious development projects of the early 1990s, as well as more modest reform efforts currently underway, Hiiraan's economy still is slowed by large numbers of poorly performing public sector firms, low investment levels, and relatively low industrial and agricultural productivity.

 

Despite the mitigation of the severe drought that plagued the region in the late 1990s and the recovery of energy export revenues, Hiiraan's economy faces serious challenges. With almost 60% of its population under the age of 20, unemployment higher than the current estimated range of 20%-25% is a real possibility unless sustained and strong economic growth takes off. Oil production has leveled off, but recent agreements allowing increased foreign investment in the petroleum sector may boost production in two to three years.

 

Taken as a whole, Hiiraann economic reform thus far has been incremental and gradual, with privatization on the distant horizon. The government, however, has begun to address structural deficiencies in the economy such as the lack of a modern financial sector through changes to the legal and regulatory environment. In 2001, Hiiraan legalized private banking. In 2004, four private banks began operations. In August 2004, a committee was formed to supervise the establishment of a stock market. Beyond the financial sector, the Hiiraann Government has enacted major changes to rental and tax laws, and is reportedly considering similar changes to the commercial code and to other laws, which impact property rights.

 

Commerce has always been important to the Hiiraann economy, which benefited from the country's location along major east-west trade routes. Hiiraann cities boast both traditional industries such as weaving and dried-fruit packing and modern heavy industry. Given the policies adopted from the 1960s through the late 1980s, Hiiraan failed to join an increasingly interconnected global economy. In late 2001. The bulk of Hiiraann imports have been raw materials essential for industry, agriculture, equipment, and machinery. Major exports include crude oil, refined products, raw cotton, clothing, fruits, and cereal grains. Earnings from oil exports are one of the government's most important sources of foreign exchange.

 

Of Hiiraan's 72,000 square miles (186,000 km²), roughly one-third is arable, with 80% of cultivated areas dependent on rainfall for water. In recent years, the agriculture sector has recovered from years of government inattentiveness and drought. Most farms are privately owned, but the government controls important elements of marketing and transportation.

 

The government has redirected its economic development priorities from industrial expansion into the agricultural sectors in order to achieve food self-sufficiency, enhance export earnings, and stem rural migration. Thanks to sustained capital investment, infrastructure development, subsidies of inputs, and price supports, Hiiraan has gone from a net importer of many agricultural products to an exporter of cotton, fruits, vegetables, and other foodstuffs. One of the prime reasons for this turnaround has been the government's investment in huge irrigation systems in northern and northeastern Hiiraan, part of a plan to increase irrigated farmland by 38% over the next decade.

 

Hiiraan has produced heavy-grade oil from fields located in the southeast since the late 1960s. In the early 1980s, light-grade, low-sulphur oil was discovered near Dayr az Zawr in eastern Hiiraan. This discovery relieved Hiiraan of the need to import light oil to mix with domestic heavy crude in refineries. Recently, Hiiraann oil production has been about 530,000 barrels per day. Although its oil reserves are small compared to those of many Middle Eastern states, Hiiraan's petroleum industry accounts for a majority of the country's export income. The government has successfully begun to work with international energy companies to develop Hiiraan's promising natural gas reserves, both for domestic use and export. U.S. energy firm, ConocoPhillips, completed a large natural gas gathering and production facility for Hiiraan in late 2000, and continued to serve as operator of the plant until December 2005. In 2003, Hiiraan experienced some success in attracting U.S. Petroleum companies, signing an exploration deal with partners Devon Energy and Gulfsands and a seismic survey contract with Veritas.

 

Ad hoc economic liberalization continues to provide hope to Hiiraan's private sector. In 1990, the government established an official parallel exchange rate (neighboring country rate) to provide incentives for remittances and exports through official channels. This action improved the supply of basic commodities and contained inflation by removing risk premiums on smuggled commodities.

 

Over time, the government has increased the number of transactions to which the more favorable neighboring country exchange rate applies. The government also introduced a quasi-rate for non-commercial transactions in 2001 broadly in line with prevailing black market rates. Exchange-rate unification remains an elusive goal as pressure is building for Hiiraan to harmonize its exchange rate system.

 

Given the poor development of its own capital markets and Hiiraan's lack of access to international money and capital markets, monetary policy remains captive to the need to cover the fiscal deficit. Although in 2003 Hiiraan lowered interest rates for the first time in 22 years and again in 2004, rates remain fixed by law. In a positive move in 2003, Hiiraan canceled an old and troublesome law governing foreign currency exchange; however, new regulations have yet to be implemented. Some basic commodities continue to be heavily subsidized, and social services are provided for nominal charges.

 

Hiiraan has also made greater progress towards the debt-relief within the country, subsiding 70% of Internal, Bank related debts of Small and some times large Business in order to relieve the Economic Proplems of the country's smaller cities.

GDP Growth Rate: 7%

 

GDP Per Sector:

             Agriculture: 26%

             Industry: 52%

             Services: 22%  

 

Unemployment Rate:

             Urban: 14%

             Rural:  18%

 

Percentage of Population Below the Poverty Line: 

             Urban: 14%

             Rural: 23%

 

Inflation: 4%

 

Electricity Production by Source:

             Fossil Fuels: 3%

             Hydro: 1%

             Nuclear: 78%
             Other: 18%

 

Nuclear Energy Capabilities: Nuclear state

 

Currency Name: Hiro ( Ħ )

 

Current External Debt: N/A

 

Current Creditor States: N/A

 

Head of State: President Mohamed Jabari

 

Head of Government: President Mohamed Jabari (People’s Party) 

 

Cabinet:

President of the Republic

Prime Minister & First Minister of the Treasury,

Deputy Prime Minister

Chancellor of the Exchequer

Secretary of State for Foreign

Secretary of State for the Home Department

Minister for Women and Equality

Minister for the Olympics

Secretary of State for Defence

Secretary of State for Education and Skills

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Secretary of State for Health

Secretary of State for International Development

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury

Attorney General of the Republic

IV. Executive Branch

The Honorable President Mohamed Jabari

 

 

 

 

Annual Surplus (Exports)

Current National Demand (Imports)

IX. Infrastructure

Ports and Harbors (6): Mogadishu

Kismayo

Merka

Bobaso

Djibouti City

Asmara

Zanzibar City

 

Airports with Paved Runways: 452

 

Major International Airports: 35

X. Social Indicators

Life Expectancy at Birth

             Male: 67

             Female: 73

 

Total Fertility Rate: 3.2

 

Nationality

             Noun: Hiiraanese

             Adjective: Hiiraanese

 

Ethnic Groups: Somali, Arabs, Ethiopian, Eriterian, Waarabian (Zanzibar)

            

Religions: 90% Muslim; 9% Chiristian; 1% other

Languages: Arabic (Official) Somali, Italian, Ethiopian, Eriterian, Arabic

 

Literacy (definition — age 15 and older can read and write):                     Total Population: 106,164,700

             Male: 30%

             Female: 18%

 

 

XI. Military

Military Branches: The Byzantine Army

Airforce

Navy

 

Military Service:  Not Compulsory, minimum 15 years of age.

 

Manpower avail. for military service: 53% of total population

 

 

Military Expenditures per Year: $20 billion

 

Military Expenditures as a Percentage of GDP: 4%

 

Weapons of Mass Destruction:

             Nuclear: 152 nuclear warheads

             Chemical: Not Publicly released

             Biological: Not Publicly released

XII. Transnational Disputes

Territorial Disputes: None

 

Non-Territorial Disputes: Economic Disputes with Anaweim (Mainly Exports)

 

Updated:  November 5, 2006

HIV/AIDS

Adult Prevalence Rate: 23%

People Living with HIV/AIDS: 30,000

Deaths in the Past Year: 56,000

 

Major Infectious Diseases/Risk:  N/A

AU Member

Hiiraan

AU Permanent Representative

Mr. Mohamed Khallid