The
former British Somaliland Protectorate achieved independence from the United
Kingdom on 26 June 1960. On 1 July Somaliland united with Somalia, a territory
under a United Nations mandated Italian Trusteeship, and they became the Somali
Republic (i.e. Somalia).
After
the collapse of Somalia on 18 May 1991, and years of civil war in the late
1980s and early 1990s, the Republic of Somaliland restored its independence
through the Congress of Council of Clan Elders from 27 April to 15 May 1991. Hence,
constitutionally, the Republic of Somaliland is a self-declared democratic republic
with a multi-party system.
Somaliland
is divided into 13 regions – Awdal, Maroodijeex, Sahil, Togdheer, Sanaag, Sool,
Gabilay, Oodweine, Saraar, Buhoodle, Hawd, and Badhan. The capital of
Somaliland is Hargeisa, with a population of about 1.2 million (2012). Other major cities include Borama, Berbera (a port city), Burao (Burco), Erigavo, and
Las Anod.
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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