Somaliland

Somaliland is a self-declared, partially recognised state in the Horn of Africa, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, Ethiopia to the south and west, and Somalia to the east. It declared independence from Somalia on 18 May 1991 after a decade-long war of independence and the collapse of the Barre regime, presenting itself as successor to the former British Somaliland, which was briefly independent in 1960 before uniting with Italian Somaliland to form Somalia. Its capital and largest city is Hargeisa, and it functions as a unitary presidential republic with its own government, currency and security forces, though as of late 2025 only Israel recognises Somaliland as an independent, sovereign state, while the African Union and the United Nations continue to treat it as part of Somalia.