1939-1960







Somaliland as Part of Unified Somalia (1960-1994) and Secession



Soon after (Italian) Somalia and (British) Somaliland proclaimed independence, both merged to form the UNITED REPUBLIC OF SOMALIA. It's caoital was Mogadishu; the larger, formerly Italian south dominated politically and economically.
As part of Greater Somalia, Somaliland was part of the wars with Ethiopia over the Ogaden, of the subsequent refugee crisis. When long-term dictator Siad Barre was toppled in 1991, Somalia quickly disintegrated in petty regions controlled by warlords. Somalia came into the center of the world's attention, when UN troops invaded Somalia to ensure the safety of humanitarian organizations trying to provide the famine-stricken population with food.
In 1991, Somaliland in the north declared INDEPENDENCE (as the Republic of Adal), an independence which so far is not recognized internationally.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles from Infoplease : Somalia
Links on Somali history, from mogadiscio.com (click : historical notes), from Somalinet
Library of Congress, Country Studies : Somalia
DOCUMENTS Flag of Somaliland, from FOTW
Somaliland banknotes, from Ron Wise's World Paper Money
Awdal "Republic" : Declaration of Independence, Open Letter to UN Secretary General, 1995, from Upenn African Studies
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on November 7th 2004

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