Somaliland 3
Up to 90% of Hargeisa (2nd largest city of the Somali Republic) was destroyed by Somali government.

The counterinsurgency by the Barre regime against the SNM targeted the rebel group’s civilian base of support, escalating into a genocidal onslaught against the Isaaq clan. This led to anarchy and violent campaigns by fragmented militias, which then wrested power at a local level. The Barre regime’s persecution was not limited to the Isaaq, as it targeted other clans such as the Hawiye. The Barre regime collapsed in January 1991. Thereafter, as the political situation in Somaliland stabilized, the displaced people returned to their homes, the militias were demobilized or incorporated into the army, and tens of thousands of houses and businesses were reconstructed from rubble.

Restoration of sovereignty (end of the unity with Somalia):

Somaliland 4
MiG monument in Hargeisa commemorating Somaliland’s breakaway from the rest of Somalia in 1991

Although the SNM at its inception had a unionist constitution, it eventually began to pursue independence, looking to secede from the rest of Somalia. Under the leadership of Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur, the local administration declared the northwestern Somali territories independent at a conference held in Burao between 27 April 1991 and 15 May 1991. Tuur then became the newly established Somaliland polity’s first President, but subsequently renounced the separatist platform in 1994 and began instead to publicly seek and advocate reconciliation with the rest of Somalia under a power-sharing federal system of governance. Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal was appointed as Tuur’s successor in 1993 by the Grand Conference of National Reconciliation in Borama, which met for four months, leading to a gradual improvement in security, as well as a consolidation of the new territory. Egal was reappointed in 1997, and remained in power until his death on 3 May 2002. The vice-president, Dahir Riyale Kahin, who was during the 1980s the highest-ranking National Security Service (NSS) officer in Berbera in Siad Barre’s government, was sworn in as president shortly afterward. In 2003, Kahin became the first elected president of Somaliland.

Somaliland 5
Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal

The war in southern Somalia between Islamist insurgents on the one hand, and the Federal Government of Somalia and its African Union allies on the other, has for the most part not directly affected Somaliland, which, like neighboring Puntland, has remained relatively stable.

2001 constitutional referendum:

In August 2000, President Egal’s government distributed thousands of copies of the proposed constitution throughout Somaliland for consideration and review by the people. One critical clause of the 130 individual articles of the constitution would ratify Somaliland’s self-declared independence and final separation from Somalia, restoring the nation’s independence for the first time since 1960. In late March 2001, President Egal set the date for the referendum on the Constitution for 31 May 2001.[148]

A constitutional referendum was held in Somaliland on 31 May 2001. The referendum was held on a draft constitution that affirmed Somaliland’s independence from Somalia. 99.9% of eligible voters took part in the referendum and 97.1% of them voted in favor of the constitution.

Geography:

Somaliland is situated in the northwest of recognized Somalia. It is bordered by Djibouti to the west, Ethiopia to the south, and the Puntland region of Somalia to the east. Somaliland has a 850 kilometers (528 mi) coastline with the majority lying along the Gulf of Aden. In terms of landmass, Somaliland has an area of 176,120 km2 (68,000 sq mi).

Scroll to Top