United States Ambassador to Somalia

Ambassador of the United States to Somalia السفارة الأمريكية في الصومال Danjiraha Maraykanka u Somalia
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent Stephen Schwartz since June 27, 2016
Inaugural holder	Stephen Schwartz as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Formation	July 5, 1960
Website	U.S. VPP - Somalia

The United States Ambassador to Somalia is the most senior diplomatic representative of the United States federal government assigned to Somalia. The U.S. maintains a non-resident diplomatic mission in Nairobi for Somalia and its constituent autonomous regions. In January 2013, a senior American government official indicated that the United States could eventually reopen its embassy in Mogadishu, which had closed in the early 1990s. In June 2014, the U.S. State Department also announced that it would soon name a new ambassador to Somalia. In February 2015, the U.S. government nominated its first official ambassador since 1991.

Diplomatic relations between the United States and Somalia started in 1960, when the Somali Republic gained independence. The U.S. immediately recognized the Somali government and moved to establish diplomatic relations. The American embassy in Somalia's capital Mogadishu was established on July 1, 1960, with Andrew G. Lynch as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. He was promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary four days later on July 5, 1960.

After the collapse of the Siad Barre regime and the start of the civil war in the early 1990s, the U.S. embassy closed down. However, the American government never formally severed diplomatic ties with Somalia. The United States maintained a regular dialogue with the reconstituted Somali central government through a special envoy based in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, before reopening its Mission to Somalia in 2013.