The Republic of Somaliland is a de facto independent state of northeastern Africa. The country's history is complex. Britain established a protectorate over the area in 1884, creating a colony known as British Somaliland. The territory became independent in 1960 and a few days later it joined with the former Italian Somaliland to create the Somali Republic, better known as Somalia. In 1991 Somalia collapsed into a chaotic state from which it has not yet emerged. Somaliland reacted by declaring its independence from Somalia in May 1991. This independence has not been recognized internationally but the existence of the Republic of Somaliland has been "acknowledged" by a number of other nations. The adjoining Somali state of Puntland claims about one fourth of the territory of the former British Somaliland and this dispute has not been resolved. Berbera, on the Gulf of Aden, is the country's major port, and its lighthouses are operated by its port authority. In September 2016 Somaliland granted a 30-year concession to DP World, a Dubai port managemant company, to develop and manage the port, now called DP World Berbera, to serve commercial traffic to and from Ethiopia. Somali is the official language of Somaliland, with Arabic and English as secondary languages. Unlike Arabic, Somali is written in the Latin alphabet. The Somali word for a lighthouse is laydh; jasiirad is an island and dekedda is a harbor. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume D of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.
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Adjoining pages: East: Somalia | West: Djibouti
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Posted July 1, 2005. Checked and revised December 30, 2024. Lighthouses: 4. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.