Global Sourcebook for International Data Management

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Somalia

Global Sourcebook | Index | Properties

SOMALIA

Somalia has no strong central government. The country is split amongst opposing political and military factions. The northern part of the country, which was previously the British colony of Somaliland, operates again under the name of Republic of Somaliland, but its aspirations of independence are not recognized by the international community. It is a relatively stable area, and services are working there. The Republic of Somaliland includes the regions of Awdal, Woqooyi Galbeed, Togdheer, Sanaag, and Sool. The neighbouring regions of Bari and Nugaal comprise the self-declared Republic of Puntland, which is also comparatively stable.

For supplementary information, see links to post office home pages here , to postal code pages here and to other personal name and addressing issues pages here .

Somalia - Country information

Somalia - Number format

   Note: This section last updated 12th June 2021

   1,234.45

(where . indicates the decimal separator and , the thousands separator)

   ۱٫۲۳۴٬۴۵

(where ٬ indicates the decimal separator and ٫ the thousands separator)

Somalia - Date and time formats

   Note: This section last updated 12th June 2021

   dd/mm/yyyy

   14:32

Somalia - Languages

The official language is Somali External , spoken by about 90% of the population. 12 other languages are spoken, including Maay (500 000-1 000 000 speakers). English is used as a lingua franka in the north (Somaliland).

Somalia - Personal names and forms of address

Forms of address are not used in Somalia – the name is used. Names usually have an Arabic structure. Names are often written in this order:

   Given name[ ]Father’s personal name[ ]Paternal grandfather’s personal name

The first two are those usually used. Due to the lack of surnames and the small pool of given names, nick names are often adopted.

Women do not take their husband’s name upon marriage. A family may therefore be named something like:

   Father: Omar Elmi Dihoud
   Mother: Waris Abdi Duale
   Son: Ali Omar Elmi
   Daughter: Roda Omar Elmi

   Tables of names can be acquired: given names , surnames/family names , family name prefixes , forms of address , job titles

Somalia - Example address formats

For Somalia:

   A table containing information about the relevant position of elements within address blocks can be acquired

Somalia - Postal codes

Somalia has adopted a postal code system (from April 2003), with postal codes in this format:

   AA[  ]99999

Given the lack of a functioning postal system within the country, it is unlikely that they will currently be widely used. The letters indicate the region (please refer to the “Administrative Districts” section), the first two numbers the region, the next two numbers the postal town, and the final number the postal area. There should be two spaces between the region code and the numeric part of the postal code.

   Metadata containing postal code formatting rules, exceptions and regular expressions can be acquired

Somalia - Postal code format graphic

Somalia - Postal code format

AA( )99999

Somalia - Postal code specifics

n/a.

Somalia - Postal code regular expression

\A((AD|BK|BN|BR|BY|GG|GD|HR|JD|JH|MD|NG|SG|SD|SH|SOL|TG|WG)( )\d{5,5})\Z

Somalia - Postal code level of coverage

Somalia - Postal code map

Place names in Somalia

   Note: This section last updated 28th October 2014

Refer to Exonyms in Somalia for full lists of place names in Somalia in other languages.

   Alternate place name forms/postal code tables can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/settlements.htm

   Other language place name data can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/otherlanguageplace.htm

Somalia - Administrative districts

Somalia has 18 regions External (gobolka). They are found in addresses as a two-letter abbreviation. These are:

*Region*	*Postal abbreviation*
Awdal (Republic of Somaliland)	AD
Bakool	BK
Banaadir	BN
Bari (Republic of Puntland)	BR
Bay	BY
Galguduud	GG
Gedo	GD
Hiiraan	HR
Jubbada Dhexe	JD
Jubbada Hoose	JH
Mudug	MD
Nugaal (Republic of Puntland)	NG
Sanaag (Republic of Somaliland)	SG
Shabeellaha Dhexe	SD
Shabeellaha Hoose	SH
Sool (Republic of Somaliland)	SL
Togdheer (Republic of Somaliland)	TG
Woqooyi Galbeed (Republic of Somaliland)	WG

Administrative districts graphic

Telephone numbers in Somalia

   Note: This section last updated 9th January 2017

Somalian fixed line numbers have 7 digits. Mobile numbers have 8 digits and commence 64, 707, 80, 88 or 90-99

   Tables of telephone number information/formats can be acquired – see http://www.grcdi.nl/telephone.htm

References

^ citypopulation.de/en/somalia/ 20230107

Every effort is made to keep this resource updated. If you find any errors, or have any questions or requests, please don't hesitate to contact the author.

All information copyright Graham Rhind 2024. Any information used should be acknowledged and referenced.

Somalia

Somalia - Country information

Local short name form

Official name

Area

Population

Capital

Currency

International telephone access code

ISO 3166 country codes

Car nationality plate code

Internet country code

GRC Country Code