Country · SO
Somalia in other languages: exonyms, Mogadishu, flag and 18 regions
Somalia is Soomaaliya in Somali and الصومال (aṣ-Ṣūmāl) in Arabic, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, with the ISO codes SO, SOM and 706. The name stands here in 170 languages and variants, Mogadishu in 69 and Somaliland in 92, followed by the 18 regions in Somali and Arabic.
Official languagesSomali (Soomaaliga), official; Arabic (العربية, al-ʿarabīyâ), second language
Checked
ISO 3166-1alpha-2 · alpha-3 · numeric
- alpha-2
- SO
- alpha-3
- SOM
- numeric
- 706
Soomaaliya
Somali · Latin
Jamhuuriyadda Federaalka Soomaaliya
الصومال
Arabic · ArabicRomanised aṣ-Ṣūmāl
جمهورية الصومال الفيدراليةǦumhūrīyâẗu ṣ-Ṣūmāli l-Fīdirālīyâ
- English
- SomaliaFederal Republic of Somalia
- Capital
- MuqdishoمقديشوMaqdīšū · Mogadishu
ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026. Official names and the status of Arabic: Wikipedia's Somalia, checked the same day. Flag after the Wikimedia Commons drawing.
Somalia in other languages: list of exonyms
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Aragonese, Asturian, Breton, Welsh, Danish, Basque, Faroese, Finnish, Kven, Galician, Interlingua, Indonesian, Italian, Javanese, Latin, Lingala, Ladin, Norwegian, Novial, Occitan, Polish, Romansh, Romanian, Aromanian, Sicilian, Samoan, Southern Sotho, Spanish, Albanian, Saterland Frisian, Swedish, German, Luxembourgish, Low German | eng / arg / ast / bre / cym / dan / eus / fao / fin / fkv / glg / ina / ind / ita / jav / lat / lin / lld / nor / nov / oci / pol / roh / ron / rup / scn / smo / sot / spa / sqi / stq / swe / deu / ltz / nds | Somalia | same as written |
| Cornish, Haitian Creole, Swahili, Tagalog, Turkish, Wolof | cor / hat / swa / tgl / tur / wol | Somali | same as written |
| French, Franco-Provençal, Friulian, Jersey Norman French, Norman French | fra / frp / fur / jnf / nrm | Somalie | same as written |
| Azerbaijani, Gagauz, Karakalpak, Turkmen | aze / gag / kaa / tuk | Somali / Сомали | Somali |
| Lower Sorbian, Croatian, Upper Sorbian, Slovenian | dsb / hrv / hsb / slv | Somalija | same as written |
| Hausa, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi | hau / kin / run | Somaliya | same as written |
| Portuguese, Northern Sami, Tetum | por / sme / tet | Somália | same as written |
| Afrikaans, Dutch | afr / nld | Somalië | same as written |
| Catalan, Sardinian | cat / srd | Somàlia | same as written |
| Czech, Slovak | ces / slk | Somálsko | same as written |
| Estonian, Võro | est / vor | Somaalia | same as written |
| Bambara | bam | Sɔmali | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Somalija / Сомалија / سۉمالٖىيا | Somalija |
| Crimean Tatar | crh | Somaliya / Сомалия | Somaliya |
| Esperanto | epo | Somalujo, Somalio | same as written |
| West Frisian | fry | Somaalje | same as written |
| Scottish Gaelic | gla | Somàilia | same as written |
| Irish | gle | An tSomáil | same as written |
| Manx | glv | Yn Tomaal | same as written |
| Hungarian | hun | Szomália | same as written |
| Igbo | ibo | Sọmalia | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Sómalía | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Somalya, Somalî | same as written |
| Latvian | lav | Somālija | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Somalis | same as written |
| Latgalian | ltg | Somaleja | same as written |
| Malagasy | mlg | Sômalia | same as written |
| Maltese | mlt | Somalja | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Somalia / Сомалия | Somalia |
| Malay | msa | Somalia / سوماليا | Somalia |
| Nahuatl | nah | Somallān | same as written |
| Quechua | que | Sumalya | same as written |
| Kalderash Romani | rmy | Somaliya / सोमालिया | Somaliya |
| Slovio | slo | Somalia / Сомалиа | Somalia |
| Samogitian | smg | Suomalis | same as written |
| Somali | som | Soomaaliya | same as written |
| Silesian | szl | Sůmalijo | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Somali / Сомали / سامەلى | Somali |
| Vietnamese | vie | Xô-ma-li | same as written |
| Volapük | vol | Somalän | same as written |
| Walloon | wln | Somaleye | same as written |
| Zulu | zul | iSomali | same as written |
| Zazaki | zza | Somalya | same as written |
| Abkhaz, Abaza, Altai, Avar, Chuvash, Kabardian, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Meadow Mari, Mongolian, Ossetian, Russian, Yakut, Tuvan, Udmurt, Kalmyk | abk / abq / alt / ava / chv / kbd / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / mhr / mon / oss / rus / sah / tyv / udm / xal | Сомали | Somali |
| Bashkir, Chechen | bak / che | Сомали / Somali | Somali |
| Belarusian | bel | Самалі / Samali, Самалія / Samalija | Samali, Samalija |
| Bulgarian | bul | Сомалия | Somalija |
| Kazakh | kaz | Сомали / سومالي / Somalï | Somalï |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Сомали / سومالئ / Somali | Somali |
| Kurdish (Caucasus) | kmr | Сомали / Somalî | Somalî |
| Macedonian | mkd | Сомалија | Somalija |
| Rusyn | rue | Сомальско | Somal'sko |
| Serbian | srp | Сомалија / Somalija | Somalija |
| Tatar | tat | Сомали / Somali / سومالى | Somali |
| Tajik | tgk | Сомалӣ / ساملی / Somalī | Somalī |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Сомалі | Somali |
| Arabic | ara | الصومال | aṣ-Ṣūmāl |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | سومالی / Somali | Somali |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | سۆمالی / Somalî | Somalî |
| Persian | fas | سومالی / Somâli | Somâli |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | صومالیہ | Ṣōmāliyâ |
| Dari | prs | سومالیا | Sōmāliyā |
| Pashto | pus | سوماليا, سومالي | Sōmāliyā, Sōmālī |
| Uyghur | uig | سومالى / Somali / Сомали | Somali |
| Urdu | urd | سمالیا, سومالیا, صومالیہ | Samāliyā, Sōmāliyā, Ṣōmāliyâ |
| Dhivehi | div | ސޮމާލިއާ | Somāliā |
| Hebrew | heb | סומליה, סומאליה | Sōmalyah, Sōmālyah |
| Ladino | lad | סומאליה / Somalia | Somalia |
| Yiddish | yid | סאָמאַליע | Somalye |
| Kabyle | kab | ⵙⵓⵎⴰⵍⵉ / Somali | Somali |
| Amharic | amh | ሶማሊያ, ሱማልያ | Somaliya, Sumalya |
| Greek | ell | Σομαλία | Somalía |
| Armenian | hye | Սոմալի, Սոմալիա | Somali, Somalia |
| Georgian, Mingrelian | kat / xmf | სომალი | Somali |
| Laz | lzz | სომალი / Somali | Somali |
| Hindi | hin | सोमालिया | Somāliyā |
| Bengali | ben | সোমালিয়া | Somāliyā |
| Gujarati | guj | સોમાલિઆ | Somāliyā |
| Odia | ori | ସୋମାଲିଆ | Somāliā |
| Punjabi | pan | ਸੋਮਾਲੀਆ | Somālīā |
| Sinhala | sin | සෝමාලියාව | Sōmāliyāva |
| Kannada | kan | ಸೊಮಾಲಿಯ | Somāliya |
| Malayalam | mal | സോമാലിയ, സൊമാലിയ | Sōmāliya, Somāliya |
| Tamil | tam | சோமாலி, சோமாலியா | Cōmāli, Cōmāliyā |
| Telugu | tel | సొమాలియా | Somāliyā |
| Chinese | zho | 索馬里/索马里 | Suǒmǎlǐ |
| Japanese | jpn | ソマリア | Somaria |
| Korean | kor | 소말리아 | Somallia |
| Tibetan | bod | སོ་མ་ལི། | So.ma.li |
| Burmese | mya | ဆိုမာလီယာ | Sʰomaliya |
| Thai | tha | โซมาเลีย | Sōmāliya |
| Lao | lao | ໂຊມາລີ | Sōmālī |
| Khmer | khm | សូម៉ាលី | Sūmālī |
Somali itself writes Soomaaliya, with the doubled vowels of its Latin orthography; Arabic has الصومال (aṣ-Ṣūmāl) with the article.
02 · NamesU+0635 ARABIC LETTER SAD
Soomaaliya, aṣ-Ṣūmāl, Somalia
In Somali the country is Soomaaliya and the people and language Soomaali; the state is the Federal Republic of Somalia, Jamhuuriyadda Federaalka Soomaaliya, the name used by the federal government established in August 2012. Arabic, recognised as the second language, calls it الصومال (aṣ-Ṣūmāl).
Somali writes its Latin alphabet with letters that look unfamiliar elsewhere, and the region table shows how they line up with Arabic. The c of Ceerigaabo (Erigavo) and Laascaanood (Las Anod) corresponds to the Arabic ʿayn of عيرجابو and لاسعانود; doubled vowels mark length, as in Muqdisho, Gaalkacyo and Garoowe.
Mogadishu in other languages
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | eng | Mogadishu | same as written |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Mogadischu | same as written |
| French, Italian, Spanish | fra / ita / spa | Mogadiscio | same as written |
| Czech, Slovak | ces / slk | Mogadišo | same as written |
| Turkish, Zazaki | tur / zza | Mogadişu | same as written |
| Aragonese | arg | Mogadiszio | same as written |
| Azerbaijani | aze | Moqadişo / Могадишо | Moqadişo |
| Bosnian | bos | Mogadiš / Могадиш / مۉغادٖىش | Mogadiš |
| Esperanto | epo | Mogadiŝo | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Mogaidisiú | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Mógadisjú | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Mogadîşû | same as written |
| Latin | lat | Mogadiscium | same as written |
| Latvian | lav | Mogadiša, Mogadīšo | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Mogadišas | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Mogadișo / Могадишо | Mogadișo |
| Malay | msa | Mogadishu / موݢاديشو | Mogadishu |
| Polish | pol | Mogadiszu | same as written |
| Portuguese | por | Mogadíscio | same as written |
| Slovio | slo | Mogadisxu / Могадишу | Mogadisxu |
| Slovenian | slv | Mogadiš | same as written |
| Samogitian | smg | Mogadėšos | same as written |
| Somali | som | Muqdisho | same as written |
| Silesian | szl | Můgadišu | same as written |
| Tetum | tet | Mogadixu | same as written |
| Turkmen | tuk | Mogadişo / Могадишо | Mogadişo |
| Uzbek | uzb | Mogadisho / Могадишо / ماگەدىشا | Mogadisho |
| Bulgarian, Mongolian, Russian | bul / mon / rus | Могадишо | Mogadišo |
| Bashkir | bak | Могадишо / Mogadişo | Mogadişo |
| Belarusian | bel | Магадыша / Mahadyša | Mahadyša |
| Kazakh | kaz | Могадишо / موگاديشو / Mogadïşo | Mogadïşo |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Могадишо / موگادئشو / Mogadišo | Mogadišo |
| Serbian | srp | Могадишо / Mogadišo | Mogadišo |
| Tatar | tat | Могадишо / Mogadişo / موگادىشو | Mogadişo |
| Tajik | tgk | Могадишо / ماگدیشا / Mogadişo | Mogadişo |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Моґадішо | Mogadišo |
| Arabic | ara | مقديشو, مقاديشو | Maqdīšū, Muqādīšū |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | موقادیشو / Moqadişo | Moqadişo |
| Persian | fas | موگادیشو / Mogâdišo | Mogâdišo |
| Western Punjabi, Urdu | pnb / urd | موگادیشو | Mōgādīšō |
| Pashto | pus | موګاديشو | Mōgādīšō |
| Uyghur | uig | موگادىشو / Mogadisho / Могадишо | Mogadisho |
| Hebrew | heb | מוגדישו, מוגאדישו | Mōgadīšō, Mōgādīšō |
| Yiddish | yid | מאָגאַדישו | Mogadišu |
| Amharic | amh | ሞቃዲሾ, መቋዲሾ, መቅደሾ | Moḳadišo, Mäḳʷadišo, Mäḳdäšo |
| Greek | ell | Μογκαντίσου, Μογκαντίτσιο | Mogkantísoy, Mogkantítsio |
| Armenian | hye | Մոգադիշո | Mogadišo |
| Georgian | kat | მოგადიშო | Mogadišo |
| Hindi | hin | मोगादिशु | Mogādišu |
| Bengali | ben | মোগাদিশু, মোগাডিশু | Mogādišu, Mogāḍišu |
| Punjabi | pan | ਮੋਗਾਡੀਸ਼ੂ | Mogāḍīšū |
| Kannada | kan | ಮೊಗಡಿಶು | Mogaḍišu |
| Malayalam | mal | മോഗഡിഷു | Mōgaḍiṣu |
| Tamil | tam | மொகடீசு | Mokaṭīcu |
| Telugu | tel | మొగాదిషు | Mogādiṣu |
| Chinese | zho | 摩加迪沙 | Mójiādíshā |
| Japanese | jpn | モガディシュ | Mogadishu |
| Korean | kor | 모가디슈 | Mogadisyu |
| Thai | tha | โมกาดิชู | Mōkādičʰū |
| Khmer | khm | ម៉ូហ្គាដីស៊ូ | Mūhkādīsū |
The Somali form is Muqdisho. Arabic has two spellings, مقديشو and مقاديشو, and French, Italian and Spanish share Mogadiscio.
Somaliland in other languages
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Afrikaans, Breton, Welsh, Danish, French, Haitian Creole, Croatian, Upper Sorbian, Indonesian, Italian, Javanese, Lingala, Dutch, Norwegian, Occitan, Polish, Romanian, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Turkish, Vietnamese, German, Luxembourgish, Low German | eng / afr / bre / cym / dan / fra / hat / hrv / hsb / ind / ita / jav / lin / nld / nor / oci / pol / ron / swa / swe / tgl / tur / vie / deu / ltz / nds | Somaliland | same as written |
| Azerbaijani, Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Moldovan, Turkmen | aze / crh / gag / mol / tuk | Somalilend / Сомалиленд | Somalilend |
| Aragonese, Basque, Galician, Latin, Spanish | arg / eus / glg / lat / spa | Somalilandia | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Somalilend / Сомалиленд / سۉمالٖىلەند | Somalilend |
| Catalan | cat | Somalilàndia | same as written |
| Czech | ces | Somaliland, Somálijsko | same as written |
| Esperanto | epo | Somalilando | same as written |
| Estonian | est | Somaalimaa | same as written |
| Finnish | fin | Somalimaa | same as written |
| Franco-Provençal | frp | Somalilande | same as written |
| West Frisian | fry | Somaaljelân | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Críoch Shomáile | same as written |
| Hungarian | hun | Szomáliföld | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Sómalíland | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Somalîland | same as written |
| Latvian | lav | Somālilenda | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Somalilandas | same as written |
| Malay | msa | Somaliland / سوماليلند | Somaliland |
| Portuguese | por | Somalilândia | same as written |
| Somali | som | Soomaaliland | same as written |
| Silesian | szl | Sůmaliland | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Somaliland / Сомалиланд / سامەلىلەند | Somaliland |
| Bulgarian, Kabardian, Macedonian, Russian | bul / kbd / mkd / rus | Сомалиленд | Somalilend |
| Bashkir, Serbian | bak / srp | Сомалиленд / Somalilend | Somalilend |
| Belarusian | bel | Самалілэнд / Samalilend | Samalilend |
| Kazakh | kaz | Сомалиленд / سوماليلەند / Somalïlend | Somalïlend |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Сомалиленд / سومالئلەند / Somalilend | Somalilend |
| Mongolian | mon | Сомалиланд | Somaliland |
| Yakut | sah | Сомалилэнд | Somaliländ |
| Tatar | tat | Сомалиленд / Somalilend / سومالىلېند | Somalilend |
| Tajik | tgk | Сомалиленд / ساملیلند / Somalilend | Somalilend |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Сомаліленд | Somalilend |
| Arabic | ara | أرض الصومال | Arḍu ṣ-Ṣūmāl |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | سومالیلئند / Somalilend | Somalilend |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | سۆمالیلاند / Somalîland | Somalîland |
| Persian | fas | سومالیلند / Somâliland | Somâliland |
| Uyghur | uig | سومالىلېند / Somalilénd / Сомалиленд | Somalilénd |
| Urdu | urd | صومالیلینڈ | Ṣōmālīlænḋ |
| Dhivehi | div | ސޮމާލީލޭންޑު | Somālīlēnḋu |
| Hebrew | heb | סומלילנד | Sōmalīlend |
| Yiddish | yid | סאָמאַלילאַנד | Somaliland |
| Amharic | amh | ሶማሊላንድ | Somaliland |
| Greek | ell | Σομαλιλάνδη | Somalilándī |
| Armenian | hye | Սոմալիլենդ | Somalilend |
| Georgian, Mingrelian | kat / xmf | სომალილენდი | Somalilendi |
| Laz | lzz | სომალილანდი / Somalilandi | Somalilandi |
| Hindi | hin | सोमालिलैंड | Somālilæṃḍ |
| Bengali | ben | সোমালিল্যান্ড | Somālilænḍ |
| Sinhala | sin | සෝමාලිලන්තය | Sōmālilantaya |
| Tamil | tam | சோமாலிலாந்து | Cōmālilāntu |
| Chinese | zho | 索馬里蘭/索马里兰 | Suǒmǎlǐlán |
| Japanese | jpn | ソマリランド | Somarirando |
| Korean | kor | 소말릴란드 | Somallillandeu |
| Thai | tha | โซมาลีแลนด์ | Sōmālīlǣn[d] |
Several languages translate the second element: Estonian Somaalimaa, Finnish Somalimaa, Hungarian Szomáliföld, Irish Críoch Shomáile.
The 18 regions of Somalia in Somali and Arabic
ISO 3166-2:SO lists 18 regions (gobollada; Arabic أقاليم, aqālīm), each with its Somali name and, in the table below, its Arabic name with a transliteration and its capital.
| ISO 3166-2 | Somali | Arabic | English | Administrative centre | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regions gobollada18 | |||||
| SO-AW | Gobolka Awdal | إقليم أودلIqlīmu Awdal | Awdal | BooramaBorama | Capital Borama; the list gives Baki, now the seat of a district of Awdal |
| SO-BK | Gobolka Bakool | إقليم بكولIqlīmu Bakawl | Bakool | XuddurHudur | |
| SO-BN | Gobolka Banaadir | إقليم بنادرIqlīmu Banādir | Banaadir | MuqdishoMogadishu | |
| SO-BR | Gobolka Bari | إقليم بريIqlīmu Barī | Bari | BoosaasoBosaso | |
| SO-BY | Gobolka Baay | إقليم بايIqlīmu Bāy | Bay | BaydhaboBaidoa | |
| SO-GA | Gobolka Galguduud | إقليم جالجدودIqlīmu Ǧālǧudūd | Galguduud | DhuusamareebDusmareb | |
| SO-GE | Gobolka Gedo | إقليم جدوIqlīmu Ǧidū | Gedo | GarbahaareyGarbahare | |
| SO-HI | Gobolka Hiiraan | إقليم هيرانIqlīmu Hīrān | Hiiraan | BeledweyneBeledweyne | |
| SO-JD | Gobolka Jubbada Dhexe | إقليم جوبا الوسطىIqlīmu Ǧūbbā l-Wusṭá | Jubbada Dhexe | Bu’aaleBu’ale | |
| SO-JH | Gobolka Jubbada Hoose | إقليم جوبا السفلىIqlīmu Ǧūbbā s-Suflá | Jubbada Hoose | KismaayoKismayo | |
| SO-MU | Gobolka Mudug | إقليم مدقIqlīmu Muduq | Mudug | GaalkacyoGalkayo | |
| SO-NU | Gobolka Nugaal | إقليم نوجالIqlīmu Nūǧǧāl | Nugaal | GarooweGaroowe | |
| SO-SA | Gobolka Sanaag | إقليم سناجIqlīmu Sanāǧ | Sanaag | CeerigaaboErigavo | |
| SO-SD | Gobolka Shabeellaha Dhexe | إقليم شبيلا الوسطىIqlīmu Šabaylā l-Wusṭá | Shabeellaha Dhexe | JowharJowhar | |
| SO-SH | Gobolka Shabeellaha Hoose | إقليم شبيلا السفلىIqlīmu Šabaylā s-Suflá | Shabeellaha Hoose | MarkaMerca | |
| SO-SO | Gobolka Sool | إقليم سولIqlīmu Sawl | Sool | LaascaanoodLas Anod | |
| SO-TO | Gobolka Togdheer | إقليم توق طيرIqlīmu Tūq Ṭayr | Togdheer | BurcoBurao | |
| SO-WO | Gobolka Woqooyi Galbeed | إقليم شمال غربيIqlīmu Šimāli Ġarbī | Woqooyi Galbeed | HargeysaHargeisa | |
Codes and ISO names: ISO 3166-2:SO on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, as tabulated in Wikipedia's ISO 3166-2:SO, checked 28 October 2026. Capitals: Wikipedia's Administrative divisions of Somalia, checked the same day; Somali form Boorama from the Somali Wikipedia. Five regions in the north-west, Awdal, Woqooyi Galbeed, Togdheer, Sanaag and Sool, lie wholly or partly in the territory administered by Somaliland.
06 · Regions
Regions, member states and Somaliland
ISO 3166-2 lists the 18 regions of Somalia and nothing below or above them. The federal member states, among them Puntland, Jubaland and Galmudug, are not coded, and Banaadir, the region of the capital, belongs to none of them.
Somaliland, in the north-west, declared its independence on 18 May 1991 and has its own administration in Hargeisa. ISO 3166 does not list it; its five regions appear here as ISO codes them, as regions of Somalia, and the name Somaliland has a table of its own above.
07 · Questions
Questions about the names and regions of Somalia
What is Somalia called in Somali?
Soomaaliya; the state is Jamhuuriyadda Federaalka Soomaaliya, the Federal Republic of Somalia.
How many regions does ISO 3166-2 list for Somalia?
18, from SO-AW Awdal to SO-WO Woqooyi Galbeed, including the five north-western regions administered by Somaliland.
What is Mogadishu called in Somali?
Muqdisho; in Arabic مقديشو (Maqdīšū).