Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an unrecognised de facto sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden. It is 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 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which, as the briefly independent State of Somaliland, united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland to form the Somali Republic.
Burao, also spelt Bur'o or Bur'ao is the capital of the Togdheer region and the second largest city in Somaliland. Burao was also the third largest city of Somalia and the site of the declaration of an independent Somaliland on 18 May 1991.
The Arap or Arab clan is a major clan of the wider Isaaq clan family and is the twin of Garhajis (Ismail), according to the clan genealogy. The Arap predominantly live on the middle and southwest side of Hargeisa and in the Baligubadle district of Somaliland, with its capital Baligubadle being an exclusively Arap territory. The territory of the clan extends to Ethiopia, in the area of Baligubadle. The Abdalle Arap, a sub-clan of the Arap clan is based in the Togdheer, Hargeisa and Sahil Harshin. The Celi Arap, a sub-clan of the Arap clan is based in Gursum, Somali (woreda) harshin The Ligse barsuuk Arap, sub-clan of the Arap based in bakool, regions
The Isaaq is an ethnic group in Somaliland. It is one of the major tribes in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territories.
The Justice and Welfare Party, sometimes translated as the Justice and Welfare Association, is the oldest political party in Somaliland. The party tends to be supported by people from the Garhajis clan and some sub-clans of the Dir.
Oog is a town in the Sool region of Somaliland, situated in the Aynaba district. It is located between Aynaba and Las Anod.
The Somali National Movement was one of the first and most important organized guerilla groups opposed to the Siad Barre regime in the 1980s to the 1990s, as well as being the main anti-government faction during the Somaliland War of Independence. The organisation was founded in London, England, on April 6, 1981 by Ahmed Ismail Abdi ‘Duksi’, Hassan Isse Jama, Abdisalam Yasin, Hassan Adan Wadadid, a former Somali diplomat, who stated that the group's purpose was to overthrow the Siad Barre regime.
The Somali Rebellion was the beginning of the civil war in Somalia that occurred in the 1980s and early 1990s. The rebellion started in 1978 when President Siad Barre began using his special forces, the "Red Berets", to attack clan-based dissident groups opposed to his regime. The dissidents had been becoming more powerful for nearly a decade following his abrupt switch of allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States and the disastrous 1977-78 Ogaden War.
Dararweyne is a town in south-central Sanaag in Somaliland.
Buhoodle District is a district in the Togdheer region of Somalia. Its district capital is Buuhoodle.
Dharkayn Geenyo is a town in the southern Sool region of Somaliland.
The Isaaq genocide, or Hargeisa holocaust, was the systematic, state-sponsored genocide of Isaaq civilians between 1987 and 1989 by the Somali Democratic Republic, under the dictatorship of Siad Barre, during the Somaliland War of Independence. The number of civilian deaths in this massacre is estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000, according to various sources, whilst local reports estimate the total civilian deaths to be upwards of 200,000 Isaaq civilians. The genocide also included the levelling and complete destruction of the second and third largest cities in the Somali Republic, Hargeisa and Burao, respectively, and had caused up to 500,000 Somalis of the region, primarily of the Isaaq clan, to flee their land and cross the border to Hartasheikh in Ethiopia as refugees in what was described as "one of the fastest and largest forced movements of people recorded in Africa", which resulted in the creation of the world's largest refugee camp then (1988), with another 400,000 being displaced. The scale of destruction led to Hargeisa being known as the 'Dresden of Africa'. The killings happened during the Somali Civil War and have been referred to as a "forgotten genocide".
Abdirahman Aw Ali Farrah, nicknamed Tolwaa is a Somali politician who was the third Vice President of Somaliland from May 1995 to February 1997.
The Somaliland Peace Process refers to the series of grassroot initiatives that brought peace to Somaliland after the collapse of central government of Somalia. In conjunction with the Somali National Movement, communities in Somaliland negotiated a series of truces to end hostilities and address the grievances between the communities who were often on opposing sides to the Barre regime.
The Somaliland Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on 18 May 1991 by Somali Sultans from the Isaaq, Dhulbahante, Issa, Gadabursi, Warsangali clans and the Somali National Movement.
Wadamago is a historic town in Aynabo District, in the Sool region of Somaliland.
The Somaliland War of Independence was a rebellion waged by the Somali National Movement against the ruling military junta in Somalia led by General Siad Barre lasting from its founding on 6 April 1981 and ended on 18 May 1991 when the SNM declared what was then northern Somalia independent as the Republic of Somaliland. The conflict served as the main theater of the larger Somali Rebellion that started in 1978. The conflict was in response to the harsh policies enacted by the Barre regime against the main clan family in Somaliland, the Isaaq, including a declaration of economic warfare on the Isaaq. These harsh policies were put into effect shortly after the conclusion of the disastrous Ogaden War in 1978.
The Sheikh San'ani Brigade was a highly trained Somali National Movement infantry which had a leading role in the Somaliland War of Independence.
Mohamed Ahmed 'Dayib Gurey" was a senior SNM senior commander who led the invasion of Hargeisa in the Somaliland War of Independence. Gurey also served as trade minister under Somaliland's first elected government under President Egal in 1993.
The 1988 Hargeisa-Burao offensive was a major offensive conducted during the Somaliland War of Independence in May 1988 by the Somali National Movement on the cities of Hargeisa and Burao, then the second and third largest cities of Somalia. The SNM captured Burao on 27 May within two hours, while the SNM entered Hargeisa on 29 May, overrunning most of the city apart from its airport by 1 June. During the offensive the Somali National Army committed gross human rights violations, including attacking the civilian population using heavy artillery and tanks.
