SOMALIA

The Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is located on the Horn of Africa in East Africa.The Somali state currently exists solely in a de jure capacity; Somalia has no recognized central government authority nor any other feature associated with an established independent state. De facto authority resides in the hands of the governments for the unrecognized entities of Somaliland, Puntland, the Supreme Islamic Courts Council (SICC) and the United Nations-recognized, interim Transitional Federal Government (TFG) until recently just in Baidoa about 260 kilometers north-west of the capital Mogadishu. Violence has plagued Somalia since warlords ousted former Supreme President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.