Demographics of Somalia


The demographics of Somalia encompass the demographic features of Somalia's inhabitants, including ethnicity, languages, population density, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Ethnic groups

Somalis

constitute the largest ethnic group in Somalia, at approximately 85% of the nation's inhabitants. They are organized into clan groupings, which are important social units; clan membership plays a central part in Somali culture and politics. Clans are patrilineal and are typically divided into sub-clans, sometimes with many sub-divisions. Through the xeer system, the advanced clan structure has served governmental roles in many rural Somali communities.
Somali society is traditionally ethnically endogamous. So to extend ties of alliance, marriage is often to another ethnic Somali from a different clan. Thus, for example, a recent study observed that in 89 marriages contracted by men of the Dhulbahante clan, 55 were with women of Dhulbahante sub-clans other than those of their husbands; 30 were with women of surrounding clans of other clan families ; and 3 were with women of other clans of the Darod clan family.

Clan structure

Certain clans are traditionally classed as noble clans, referring to their nomadic lifestyle in contrast to the sedentary Sab who are either agropastoralists or artisanal castes. The five noble clans are Darod, Dir, Hawiye, Isaaq and Rahanweyn. Of these, the Dir and Hawiye are regarded as descended from Irir Samaale, the likely source of the ethnonym Somali . The Isaaq and Darod have separate agnatic traditions of descent through Ishaak ibn Ahmed and Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti respectively. Both Sheikh Ishak and Sheikh Darod are asserted to have married women from the Dir clan, thus establishing matrilateral ties with the Samaale main stem. "Sab" is the term used to refer to minor Somali clans in contrast to "Samaale". Both Samaale and Sab are the children of their father "Hiil" whose is the common ancestor all Somali clans.
A few clans in the southern part of Greater Somalia do not belong to the major clans, but came to be associated with them and were eventually adopted into one of their confederations: Gaalje'el in Hiran and elsewhere in central Somalia traces its paternal descent to Gardheere Samaale; Garre in the Somali Region and North Eastern Province is divided into two branches: Tuuf claiming itself to be Garre Gardheere Samaale, and Quranyow, who married Tuuf's daughter, is of Mahamed Hiniftir Mahe Dir lineage; Degoodi in the Somali Region and North Eastern Province is related to Gaaje'el as Saransoor and traces its patrilineage to Gardheere Samaale; Hawaadle in Hiran belongs to the Meyle Samaale; Ajuraan in the North Eastern Province claim descent from Maqaarre Samaale and Sheekhaal acknowledges descent from Sheikh Abadir Umar Ar-Rida, also known as Fiqi Umar. Thus, the Gaalje'el, Garre, Degoodi Ajuraan and Hawaadle are said to have patrilateral ties with the Dir and Hawiye through Samaale to Aqeel Abu Talib, whereas the Sheekhaal traces descent to a different forefather than the Samaale progeny, but also ultimately to Aqeel Abu Talib. The Sheekhaal, also known as Fiqi Omar, is a Somali clan. A Group members of hawiye major clan inhabit Somalia, Ethiopia Djibouti and with considerable numbers also found in the Northern Frontier District in Kenya.
The Digil and Mirifle are agro-pastoral clans in the area between the Jubba and Shebelle rivers. Many do not follow a nomadic lifestyle, live further south, and speak Maay. Although in the past frequently classified as a Somali dialect, more recent research by the linguist Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi suggests that Maay constitutes a separate but closely related Afro-Asiatic language of the Cushitic branch.
A third group, the occupational clans, are treated as outcasts. They can only marry among themselves and other Somalis considered them to be ritually unclean. They lived in their own settlements among the nomadic populations in the north and performed specialised occupations such as metalworking, tanning and hunting. These Minority Somali clans are the Gaboye, Tumaal, Yibir, Jaji and Yahar.

Clans and sub-clans

There is no clear agreement on the clan and sub-clan structures. The divisions and subdivisions as given here are partial and simplified. Many lineages are omitted. Note that some sources state that the Rahanweyn group is made up of the Digil and Mirifle clans, whereas others list the Digil as a separate group from the Rahanweyn.
;Major clans
;Minor clans
Non-Somali ethnic minority groups make up about 15% of the nation's population. They include Bantus, Bajunis, Ethiopians, Indians, Pakistanis, Persians, Arabs, Italians and Britons. Somalia has been described as the most ethnically homogenous nation in Sub-Saharan Africa, ahead of Botswana, which is four-fifths Tswana.

Languages

and Arabic are the official languages of Somalia. The Somali language is the mother tongue of the Somalis, the nation's most populous ethnic group. It is a member of the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic family.
In addition to Somali, Arabic, which is also an Afroasiatic tongue, is an official national language in Somalia. Many Somalis speak it due to centuries-old ties with the Arab world, the far-reaching influence of the Arabic media, and religious education.
English is widely used and taught. Italian used to be a major language, but its influence significantly diminished following independence. It is now most frequently heard among older generations, government officials, and in educated circles. Other minority languages include Bravanese, a variant of the Bantu Swahili language that is spoken along the coast by the Bravanese people, as well as Bajuni, another Swahili dialect that is the mother tongue of the Bajuni ethnic minority group.

Population

According to, the total population was in, compared to 2,264,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 44.9%, 52.3% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.7% was 65 years or older.
Total populationPopulation aged 0–14 Population aged 15–64 Population aged 65+
19502 264 00041.256.22.6
19552 522 00042.654.72.7
19602 819 00044.253.02.8
19653 171 00045.351.82.9
19703 601 00045.551.62.9
19754 118 00045.851.23.0
19806 436 00046.250.92.9
19856 364 00045.152.02.9
19906 599 00044.452.62.9
19956 525 00043.253.92.8
20007 399 00044.153.12.8
20058 360 00044.652.62.8
20109 331 00044.952.32.7

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events in Somalia is incomplete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates:

Life expectancy

Demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review.
The following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.

Population

Age structure

Median age

Birth rate

Death rate

[Total fertility rate]

Population growth rate

Net migration rate

[Dependency ratio]s

Urbanization

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.03 male/female

Under 15 years: 1 male/female

15–64 years: 1.07 male/female

65 years and over: 0.66 male/female

Total population: 1.01 male/female

Infant mortality rate

Life expectancy at birth

HIV/AIDS

;HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate
0.1%
;HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS
11,000
;HIV/AIDS - deaths
<1000

Major infectious diseases

Degree of risk: high

Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

Vector-borne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and Rift Valley fever

Water contact disease: schistosomiasis

Animal contact disease: rabies

Nationality

Noun: Somali

Adjective: Somali

Ethnic groups

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Total population: N/A