Portal:Somaliland

Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland (Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliland; Arabic: جمهورية صوماليلاند, romanized: Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd), is an unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as de jure part of Somalia. 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. Its claimed territory has an area of 176,120 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi), with approximately 6.2 million residents as of 2024. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa.

Islam was introduced to the region by the first Muslims of Mecca during the first Hejira, with Masjid al-Qiblatayn in Zeila being built before the Qiblah towards Mecca. Various Somali Muslim kingdoms were established in the area during the early Islamic period. In the 14th to 15th centuries, the Zeila-based Adal Sultanate brought three-quarters of Christian Abyssinia under the control of the Muslim empire under military leader Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (Somali: Axmed Gurey).

In the early modern period, successor states to the Adal Sultanate began to flourish in the region, including the Isaaq Sultanate led by the Guled dynasty which was established in the middle of the 18th century. The Sultanate had a robust economy and significant trade routes into Berbera and other port cities along the coast. In the late 19th century, the United Kingdom signed agreements with various clans in the area, establishing the Somaliland Protectorate, 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. The Government of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to the State of Somaliland.

The union of the two states proved problematic early on, 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, a group of Isaaq businesspeople, students, former civil servants and former politicians founded the Somali National Movement in London in 1981, leading to a 10 year war of independence that concluded in the declaration of Somaliland's independence in 1991.

Since 1991, the territory has been governed by democratically elected governments that seek international recognition as the government of the Republic of Somaliland. The central government maintains informal ties with some foreign governments, who have sent delegations to Hargeisa; Somaliland hosts representative offices from several countries, including Ethiopia and Taiwan. However, Somaliland's self-proclaimed independence has not been officially recognised by any UN member state or international organisation. 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. (Full article...)