Somalia is a semi-arid country in the Horn of Africa with a population estimated at around 10,700,000 (UN estimate, 2005), and a large, global diaspora.

Somalia is among the world's least developed countries and does not appear in UNDP’s Human Development Index of 177 countries because of a lack of comparable data since 2001. Global acute malnutrition rates however are believed to be high – with rates above 20 percent in severely food insecurity areas such as the Juba Valley and the Gedo, Bakol and Bay regions of the south. The situation in the south is aggravated by civil strife, insecurity and drought, while areas along the Juba River frequently suffer from floods.

Somalia has some of the world’s worst health indicators. Life expectancy at birth is 46.2 years. A quarter of children die before they reach five.

The country is highly dependent on agriculture, with livestock accounting for about 40 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and about 65 percent of export earnings. Livestock, hides, fish, charcoal, and bananas are Somalia's principal exports while sugar, sorghum, corn, khat and machinery are the principal imports. Somalia's private service sector has survived and grown since the civil war and provide many services. Telecommunication firms provide mobile and landline telephone services and internet access in all cities and offer the lowest international call rates on the continent. In the absence of a formal banking sector, money transfer services handle between US$500 million and US$1 billion in remittances annually.

Somali is the main language, but English and Arabic are both used at university level, with Arabic also used in many secondary schools and in religious contexts. 

Virtually all Somalis are Muslims. Nomads and semi-nomads, who are dependent on livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population.