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Click picture to enlarge
 Recent incidents have
turned the world's attention to this desperately poor, unstable
country.
Over the past few weeks, there
have been a lot of news stories about events happening off the
coast of Somalia. These stories involve modern-day pirates taking
over ships in Somalia's waters. The definition of a pirate is
the same now as it was hundreds of years ago. A pirate is someone
who attacks and robs ships at sea. For several years,
Somali pirates have threatened ships off Somalia's coast. Much
of the world's oil and other valuable cargo is shipped through
the Gulf of Aden, north of Somalia. So far this year, pirates
have captured or tried to capture more than 40 ships. These heavily
armed pirates approach ships in small boats, usually at night,
and use ropes, ladders, and hooks to climb aboard. They hold
the crew hostage, demanding ransom money from the ship's owner.
Most of the time, the owners pay the ransom, and the money is
dropped by helicopter to the pirates. Why do you think the
owners pay the ransom?
Some of the pirates are former fishermen who say illegal fishing
by other countries forced them out of business. But now, piracy
is big business in Somalia, an otherwise desperately poor country.
Some Somali people see the pirates as heroes. But others say
the pirates have made their country more violent, dangerous,
and unstable. And the countries whose ships travel near Somalia
are trying to figure out what to do about the problem. Let's
find out more about Somalia.
 
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