Hargeisa, capital of Somaliland

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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