History of Somaliland
The history of Somaliland, a country in the eastern Horn of Africa bordered by the Gulf of Aden, and the East African land mass, begins with human habitation tens of thousands of years ago. It includes the civilizations of Punt, the Ottomans, and colonial influences from Europe and the Middle East.
land and punt.
Most scholars locate the ancient Land of Punt in the Horn of Africa between present-day Opone in Somaliland, Somalia, Djibouti, and Eritrea. This is based in part on the fact that the products of Punt, as depicted on the Queen Hatshepsut murals at Deir el-Bahri, were abundantly found in the region but were less common or sometimes absent in the Arabian peninsula. These products included gold and aromatic resins such as myrrh, and ebony; the wild animals depicted in Punt include giraffes, baboons, hippopotami, and leopards. Says Richard Pankhurst : "[Punt] has been identified with territory on both the Arabian and the Horn of Africa coasts. Consideration of the articles which the Egyptians obtained from Punt, notably gold and ivory, suggests, however, that these were primarily of African origin. ... This leads us to suppose that the term Punt probably applied more to African than Arabian territory.
The inhabitants of Punt procured myrrh, spices, gold, ebony, short-horned cattle, ivory and frankincense which was coveted by the Ancient Egyptians. An Ancient Egyptian expedition sent to Punt by the 18th dynasty Queen Hatshepsut is recorded on the temple reliefs at Deir el-Bahari, during the reign of the Puntite King Parahu and Queen Ati.
Somaliland statistics: at a glance
Capital: Hargeisa (independence not recognised internationally)
Population: 3.5 million
Major languages: Somali, Arabic, English
Major religion: Islam
Currency: Somaliland shilling
What's the history of Somaliland?
Somaliland has been a distinct region from Somalia since the late 1800s. It was a British protectorate until 1960 (meaning a dependent territory, over which the British government exercised limited jurisdiction).
It then became independent for just five days.
At this point it merged with present-day Somalia, which was then under Italian rule, beginning a long and often violent struggle.
the Somali National Movement (SNM), emerged in Somaliland in the 1980s. In 1991 they declared Somaliland's independence following the ousting of the military dictator Siad Barre, whose forces had killed tens of thousands of people during civil war along ethnic, clan-based lines.2
The SNM declared the city of Hargeisa as the capital of Somaliland, although it remains internationally unrecognised to this day.
Why isn't Somaliland a separate country?
Those in favour of Somaliland's independence say that it has a strong claim, because the regions are culturally and ethnically distinct.
Somaliland has its own currency, its own military, issues its own passports and holds its own elections, which have been observed and praised by international partners like the EU.4
It is also more stable than Somalia, and has seen little terrorist activity since 2008.5
However there are fears, particularly among the African Union, that the formal recognition of Somaliland would encourage other secessionist movements on the African continent to also seek independence.6
And although it is a relatively stable region by world standards, it is extremely poor - the World Bank estimated its GDP per capita at just $348 (£267), which would make it the fourth-poorest country in the world were it independent.