Somaliland

Not to be confused with Somalia. For other uses of the name "Somaliland", see Somaliland (disambiguation).

Republic of Somaliland
Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliland (Somali)
جمهورية صوماليلاند (Arabic)
Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd
Motto: لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله
Lā ilāhā illā-llāhu; muḥammadun rasūlu-llāh
"There is no God but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of God"
Anthem: Samo ku waar
حياة طويلة مع السلام
"Live in Eternal Peace"
  Territory controlled
  Territory disputed
Capital
and largest city
Hargeisa
9°33′N 44°03′E / 9.550°N 44.050°E / 9.550; 44.050
Official languagesSomali
Second languageArabic,[1] English
Religion
Islam (official)
Demonym(s)
GovernmentUnitary presidential republic
• President
Muse Bihi Abdi
Abdirahman Saylici
Yasin Haji Mohamoud
Adan Haji Ali
LegislatureParliament
• Upper house
House of Elders
• Lower house
House of Representatives
Unrecognised independence 
from Somalia
1750–1884
• Establishment of British protectorate
1884
• Independence of the State of Somaliland
26 June 1960
1 July 1960
18 May 1991
13 June 2001
Area
• Total
76,000 km2 (29,000 sq mi)[a]
Population
• 2024 estimate
6,200,000[4] (109th)
• Density
28.27[3]/km2 (73.2/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)2022 estimate
• Total
$3.782 billion[5]
• Per capita
$852[5]
CurrencySomaliland shilling
Time zoneUTC+3 (EAT)
Date formatd/m/yy (AD)
Drives onright
Calling code+252 (Somalia)

Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland,[b] is an unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, Ethiopia to the south and west, and Somalia to the east.[6][7][8][9] Its claimed territory has an area of 176,120 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi),[10] with approximately 6.2 million people as of 2024.[11][12] The capital and largest city is Hargeisa.

Various Somali Muslim kingdoms were established in the area during the early Islamic period, including in the 14th to 15th centuries the Zeila-based Adal Sultanate.[13][14] In the early modern period, successor states to the Adal Sultanate emerged, including the Isaaq Sultanate which was established in the middle of the 18th century.[15][16][17][18] In the late 19th century, the United Kingdom signed agreements with various clans in the area, establishing the Somaliland Protectorate,[19][20][21] which was formally granted independence by the United Kingdom as the State of Somaliland on 26 June 1960. Five days later, the State of Somaliland voluntarily united with the Trust Territory of Somalia (the former Italian Somalia) to form the Somali Republic.[22][19] The union of the two states proved problematic early on,[23] and in response to the harsh policies enacted by Somalia's Barre regime against the main clan family in Somaliland, the Isaaq, shortly after the conclusion of the disastrous Ogaden War,[24] a 10-year war of independence concluded with the declaration of Somaliland's independence in 1991.[25] The Government of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland.[26]

Since 1991, the territory has been governed by democratically elected governments that seek international recognition as the government of the Republic of Somaliland.[27][28][29][30] The central government maintains informal ties with some foreign governments, who have sent delegations to Hargeisa;[31][32][33] Somaliland hosts representative offices from several countries, including Ethiopia and Taiwan.[34][35] However, Somaliland's self-proclaimed independence has not been officially recognised by any UN member state or international organisation.[31][36][37] It is the largest unrecognised state in the world by de facto controlled land area. It is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, an advocacy group whose members consist of indigenous peoples, minorities and unrecognised or occupied territories.[38]

  1. ^ website, Somallilandlaw.com – an independent non-for-profit. "Somaliland Constitution". www.somalilandlaw.com. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  2. ^ "Ministry of Foreign Affairs Unveils The Somaliland Country Profile". somalilandchronicle.com. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Republic of Somaliland – Country Profile 2021" (PDF). March 2021.
  4. ^ "Somaliland's population reaches 6.2 million". Horn Diplomat. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Budget outlook paper for FY2024" (PDF). Somaliland Ministry of Finance Development.
  6. ^ "Analysis: Time for jaw-jaw, not war-war in Somaliland". Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  7. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica, (Encyclopædia Britannica: 2002), p.835
  8. ^ "STRATO – Domain not available". www.somalilandlaw.com.
  9. ^ Stafford, J. H.; Collenette, C. L. (1931). "The Anglo-Italian Somaliland Boundary". The Geographical Journal. 78 (2): 102–121. Bibcode:1931GeogJ..78..102S. doi:10.2307/1784441. ISSN 0016-7398. JSTOR 1784441.
  10. ^ Lansford, Tom (24 March 2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. CQ Press. ISBN 978-1-4833-7155-9.
  11. ^ "Somaliland's population reaches 6.2 million". Horn Diplomat. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Somaliland population reaches 6.2 million, government reports". www.hiiraan.com. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lewispohoa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference qGEXu was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Ylönen, Aleksi Ylönen (28 December 2023). The Horn Engaging the Gulf Economic Diplomacy and Statecraft in Regional Relations. Bloomsbury. p. 113. ISBN 9780755635191.
  16. ^ "Somali Traditional States". www.worldstatesmen.org. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  17. ^ J. A. Suárez (2023). Suárez, J. A. Geopolítica De Lo Desconocido. Una Visión Diferente De La Política Internacional [2023]. p. 227. ISBN 979-8393720292.
  18. ^ "Maxaad ka taqaana Saldanada Ugu Faca Weyn Beesha Isaaq". irmaannews.com. 13 February 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  19. ^ a b Cana, Frank Richardson (1911). "Somaliland" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 378–384.
  20. ^ Laitin, David D. (1977). Politics, Language, and Thought: The Somali Experience. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-226-46791-7.
  21. ^ Issa-Salwe, Abdisalam M. (1996). The Collapse of the Somali State: The Impact of the Colonial Legacy. London: Haan Associates. pp. 34–35. ISBN 1-874209-91-X.
  22. ^ "Somalia". Archived from the original on 9 February 2006. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  23. ^ Salih, Mohamed Abdel Rahim Mohamed; Wohlgemuth, Lennart (1 January 1994). Crisis Management and the Politics of Reconciliation in Somalia: Statements from the Uppsala Forum, 17–19 January 1994. Nordic Africa Institute. ISBN 9789171063564.
  24. ^ Kapteijns, Lidwien (18 December 2012). Clan Cleansing in Somalia: The Ruinous Legacy of 1991. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-0758-3.
  25. ^ Richards, Rebecca (24 February 2016). Understanding Statebuilding: Traditional Governance and the Modern State in Somaliland. Routledge. ISBN 9781317004660.
  26. ^ The New Encyclopædia Britannica (2002), p. 835.
  27. ^ "Country Profile". somalilandgov.com. Government of Somaliland. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  28. ^ "De Facto Statehood? The Strange Case of Somaliland" (PDF). Journal of International Affairs. Yale University. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  29. ^ Schoiswohl, Michael (2004). Status and (Human Rights) Obligations of Non-Recognized De Facto Regimes in International Law. University of Michigan: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 351. ISBN 978-90-04-13655-7.
  30. ^ "Regions and Territories: Somaliland". BBC News. 25 September 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  31. ^ a b Lacey, Marc (5 June 2006). "The Signs Say Somaliland, but the World Says Somalia". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  32. ^ "Chronology for Issaq in Somalia". Minorities at Risk Project. United Nations Refugee Agency. 2004. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  33. ^ "Interview with Ambassador Brook Hailu Beshah". International Affairs Review. 8 November 2008. Archived from the original on 5 May 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  34. ^ "Trade office of The FDRE to Somaliland- Hargeysa". mfa.gov.et. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012.
  35. ^ Asia West and Africa Department. "Republic of Somaliland". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  36. ^ "Reforming Somaliland's Judiciary" (PDF). UN.org. United Nations. 9 January 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  37. ^ "Arab League condemns Israel over Somaliland recognition". ethjournal.com. 7 March 2010. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  38. ^ "UNPO REPRESENTATION: Government of Somaliland". UNPO.org. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2020.


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