Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and 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 6.2 million residents as of 2024. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa.
Marodi Jeh is an administrative region (gobol) in western Somaliland. It is the most populous region of the country. It is bordered by Awdal to the west, Sahil to the north, Togdheer to the east and Ethiopia to the south. Marodi Jeh was created by splitting the previously existing region (gobolka). In 2007 the region of Woqooyi Galbeed was renamed to Maroodi Jeex.
Las Anod is the administrative capital of the Sool region, currently controlled by Khatumo State forces aligned with Somalia.
Berbera is the capital of the Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country, located approximately 160 km from the national capital, Hargeisa. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of the British Somaliland protectorate before Hargeisa. It also served as a major port of the Ifat, Adal and Isaaq sultanates from the 13th to 19th centuries.
The Isaaq is a major Somali clan. It is one of the largest Somali clan families in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory.
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.
The Somali National Army is the ground forces component of the Somali Armed Forces.
The Awal, also contemporarily known as the Habr Awal, Subeer Awal, and alternately known as the Zubeyr Awal is one of the largest subclans of the wider Isaaq clan family, and is further divided into eight sub-clans of whom the two largest and most prominent are the Isamusa and Sa'ad Musa sub-clans. Its members form a part of the Habar Magadle confederation.
Maydh is an ancient port city in the eastern Sanaag region of Somaliland.
The Reer Nuur, also known as Nuur Yoonis, is a northern Somali clan, a sub-division of the Makahiil sub-clan of the Gadabuursi clan family.
Tog Wajaale is a city on the border of Somaliland and Ethiopia. Tog Wajaale is the main border crossing for goods coming in and out of Somaliland, primarily from the port city of Berbera, Somaliland's main port.
Gabiley District is a district in the Maroodi Jeex province of Somaliland, with its capital in Gabiley.
General Mohamed Hasan Abdullahi also known as "Jidhif" was a chief of staff of the Somaliland Armed Forces. He hails from the Jibril Abokor, a Sa'ad Musa sub-division of the Habr Awal Isaaq clan. In the 1980s, he joined the Somali National Movement. Before being appointed as the chief of staff, he was head of Mercy Corps in Somaliland.
The Isaaq genocide, also known as the 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".
Allaybaday is a town in the Maroodi Jeex region of Somaliland, on the border with Ethiopia. It is inhabited by Abdalla Abokor, Sa'ad Musa branch of the Habar Awal clan.
The Isaaq Sultanate was a Muslim sultanate that ruled parts of the Horn of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. The kingdom spanned the territories of the Isaaq clan in modern-day Somaliland. It was governed by the Rer Guled branch of the Garhajis clan and is the pre-colonial predecessor to the modern Republic of Somaliland.
The DP World Berbera New Port, also known as DP World Berbera, is the new port of the DP World in the city of Berbera and its only branch in Republic of Somaliland.
The Sa'ad Musa or Saad Musa is a northern Somali clan. Its members form a part of the Subeer Awal sub-clan of the Isaaq clan family. The Sa'ad Musa traditionally consists of nomadic pastoralists, coastal people, merchants and farmers. The clan inhabits Somaliland, including Maroodi Jeex, and Sahil as well as Djibouti, the Somali Region of Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
The Somaliland War of Independence was a rebellion waged by the Somali National Movement (SNM) 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 clan-family. These harsh policies were put into effect shortly after the conclusion of the disastrous Ogaden War in 1978.
Ethiopia 