Somalia - Somalie - Soomaaliya - الصومال (SO)

1. Language information / Données sur les langues

1.1 Languages spoken / Langues parlées

a) Official / Officielle(s) :

Currently unclear (given the ambiguous state of affairs of the nation), although Somali occupies this role de facto. Arabic occupies an important position for religious and cultural reasons.

b) National, indigenous / Nationale(s), indigène(s) :

The vast majority of the population speaks Somali.

Ethnologue lists 13 languages at http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=SO

c) Relevant pages in the Major Languages section of this report / Pages appropriées dans la section de ce rapport sur les Langues principales :

Somali, Arabic

1.2 Policy / Politique

a) Laws/legislation / Lois/législation :

The site L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde has a page on Somalia at http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/somalie.htm

b) Agencies / Agences :

A UNESCO report in 1985 listed three institutions "involved in or responsible for African Language research" in Somalia. Updated information is needed:

• The Academy of Culture MOGADISHU
• The Curriculum Development Centre Ministry of Education MOGADISHU
• Somali Language Department National University, P.O. Box 1413 - MOGADISHU

c) Languages in education/literacy / Langues dans l'éducation/l'alphabétisation :

Ethnologue cites a rather old figure (1977 C.M. Brann) on literacy (without reference to which language[s]) of: 24% to 40%.

1.3 Writing in national/indigenous languages / Ecriture en langues nationales/indigènes

a) Orthographies / Orthographes :

The Latin alphabet is used for Somali, though an indigenous script called Osmaniyya also exists (and is coded in Unicode).

The Arabic script is used for Arabic.

b) Print publications / Editions imprimées :

1.4 Other comments / Autre commentaire

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2. ICT situation / Situation des TIC

2.1 Infrastructure / Infrastructure

a) Telephones / Téléphones :

• Fixed lines: Telephone mainlines: 4 per 1000 people (APC)
• Mobile subscriptions: 40,000 (0.4 per 100 people) (ITU 2004 cited in Vodafone 2005)

b) Radio stations / Stations de radio :

c) Connectivity / Connectivité :

• International internet bandwidth / Bande passante internationale d'internet :
• ISPs / FSI :
• Geographic coverage / Couverture géographique :

2.2 Computer & internet access / Accès aux ordinateurs et à l'internet

a) Computers & points of access / Ordinateurs et lieux d'accès :

• Number of computers / Nombre d'ordinateurs:
• Cybercafés / Cybercafés:
• Project telecentres / Télécentres de projets:

b) Internet / Internet :

• Dial-up subscribers / Abonnés par ligne téléphonique :
• Internet users / Utilisateurs de l'internet :
  • 89,000 Internet users as of Dec/2002, 0.7% of the population, per CIA (Internet World Stats)
  • APC gives the figure of 1000 internet users (no date, but this might be more recent)

c) Other / Autre :

• Digital Opportunity Index (DOI): (none given by ITU 2006)

2.3 Policy / Politique

The APC page, "ICT Policy in Somalia" has some information and links: http://rights.apc.org/africa/test.shtml?apc=s21847e_1

2.4 ICT4D/E & ICT training / TIC pour le développement/éducation, et formation en TIC

2.5 Resources / Ressources

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3. Localisation situation / Situation de localisation

3.1 Country web content / Contenu web du pays

3.2 Web content in indigenous languages / Contenu web en langues indigènes

(See also specific language pages.)

3.3 Software localisation / Localisation de logiciel

(See also specific language pages.)

3.4 Projects & organisations / Projets et organisations

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4. References / Références

APC, "ICT Policy in Somalia," Africa ICT Policy Monitor, http://rights.apc.org/africa/test.shtml?apc=s21847e_1

International Telecommunications Union (ITU). 2006. World Information Society Report 2006. Geneva: ITU. http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/publications/worldinformationsociety/2006/wisr-web.pdf

______. 2004. African Telecommunication Indicators 2004. Geneva: ITU.

Internet World Stats: Africa. 2006. http://internetworldstats.com/africa.htm

Leclerc, Jacques. L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde, "Somalie," http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/somalie.htm

SIL International, Ethnologue: Languages of the World, "Languages of Somalia," http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=SO

UNDP. 2006. ''Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis. Human Development Report 2006.'' New York: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). [Human development index Adult literacy rate (% ages 15 and older) (HDI) http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/indicators/3.html ]

UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Africa. 1985. African Community Languages and Their Use in Literacy and Education: A Regional Survey. Dakar: UNESCO.

Vodafone. 2005. "Africa: The Impact of Mobile Phones." The Vodafone Policy Paper Series, Number 3, March 2005. http://www.vodafone.com/assets/files/en/GPP%20SIM%20paper.pdf

Wikipedia, "Languages of Somalia," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Somalia

______, "Somalia," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia

______, "Somaliland," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland

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