Somalia in turmoil
More than two decades of war and years of drought have displaced huge numbers of people in Somalia. Security has recently improved, but the country remains the scene of one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
- 2.7 million people need aid
- More than 2 million displaced
- Infrastructure in tatters
African peacekeeping troops have driven back the hardline Islamist group al Shabaab who in 2011 controlled much of central and southern Somalia.
Somalia’s first formal parliament in more than 20 years was sworn in in August 2012, a year after the militants were forced out of the capital Mogadishu.
But experts say the gains are fragile. Parts of the countryside remain under the militants’ control and they still carry out regular suicide attacks on the capital.
An estimated 2.7 million people – out of a total population of 7.5 million – need aid to keep them from starvation and rebuild their livelihoods.
