Somaliland

Capital: Hargeisa Population: 3,500,000 Official Languages: Somali Time Zone: +3 Dialing Code: +252

Government: presidential republic Area: 137,600 km2 Legislature: Parliament Currency : Somaliland shilling ISO 3166 code: /

Basic Info

Somaliland is an unrecognised self-declared de facto sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia. The government of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to the British Somaliland protectorate, which was independent on 26 June 1960 as the State of Somaliland, before uniting with the Trust Territory of Somalia (the former Italian Somaliland) on 1 July 1960 to form the Somali Republic

Geography

Somaliland is situated in northwestern Somalia. It lies between the 08°00' – 11°30' parallel north of the equator and between 42°30' – 49°00' meridian east of Greenwich. It is bordered by Djibouti to the west, Ethiopia to the south, and the Puntland region of Somalia to the east. Somaliland has a 740 kilometres (460 mi) coastline with the majority lying along the Gulf of Aden. The region is slightly larger than England, with an area of 137,600 km2 (53,100 sq mi).

Climate

Somaliland's climate is a mixture of wet and dry conditions. The northern part of the region is hilly, and in many places the altitude ranges between 900 and 2,100 metres (2,953 and 6,890 ft) above sea level. The Awdal, Saaxil and Maroodi Jeex (Woqooyi Galbeed) regions are fertile and mountainous, while Togdheer is mostly semi-desert with little fertile greenery around. The Awdal region is also known for its offshore islands, coral reefs and mangroves.

Religion

With few exceptions, Somalilanders are entirely muslims, the majority belonging to the Sunni branch of islam and the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence. As with southern Somali coastal towns such as Mogadishu and Merca, there is also a presence of Sufism, islam's mystical dimension; particularly the Arab Rifa'iya tariiqa. Though traces of pre-Islamic traditional religion exist in Somaliland, islam is important to the Somali sense of national identity. Many of the Somali social norms come from their religion. For example, Somali women wear a hijab when they are in public. In addition, Somalis abstain from pork and alcohol, and also try to avoid receiving or paying any form of interest (usury). muslims generally congregate on Friday afternoons for a sermon and group prayer.

Administrative divisions

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