History of Somaliland: a timeline from the Stone Age to 2024

Show who took part and what each event meant for unity ## In short

This page puts the history of the north-west, the area of today's Somaliland, in date order. Each line links to a full page with its sources. For the political dispute since 1991, see Somalia and Somaliland, 1991 to 2026.

Before 1500: ports and sultanates

1. The Stone Age

   Under the Laas Geel rock paintings near Hargeisa lie stone tools from the end of the last Ice Age. See the Stone Age in the Somali lands.

Before 1500

1. 1st century

   The Greek Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describes the market of Malao, identified with Berbera, and Avalites, often identified with Zeila (Schoff, The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, 1912). See early Berbera and early Zeila.

2. 800s–1200s

   Arab geographers name Zeila as a port shipping skins, ambergris and incense to Yemen; by the 1200s they call its people Muslims (Fauvelle-Aymar et al., cited on early Zeila).

3. 1300s–1500s

   Stone mosques were built in towns such as Abasa, Amud and Zeila (Cornax-Gómez and de Torres Rodríguez, 2023). See medieval mosques of Somaliland and Aw Bare, Aiyanle and the border towns.

4. 1331

   Ibn Battuta visited Zeila. See Ibn Battuta in Mogadishu and Zeila.

5. Early 1400s

   Sultan Saʿd ad-Din of Ifat died at Zeila; his sons founded the Barr Saʿd ad-Din, or Adal (Chekroun, Médiévales 79, 2020). See the death of Saʿd ad-Din at Zeila.

1500 to 1884: Adal and the sultanates

1500 to 1884

1. 1527–1543

   Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim led Adal, with many Somali fighters, in war against Ethiopia (Basset, Histoire de la conquête de l'Abyssinie, 1897). See Imam Ahmad and the Adal campaigns.

2. 1543–1583

   After his death, Adal's centre moved inland; the Ottomans held Zeila. See the end of Adal.

3. 1700s–1880s

   Somali sultanates, including the Isaaq Sultanate, governed alongside xeer, customary law. See sultanates, the coast and customary law.

4. 1854–1855

   Richard Burton travelled through Zeila and Berbera. See First Footsteps in East Africa.

1884 to 1960: the British protectorate

1884 to 1920

1. 1884–1886

   Treaties with northern clans made the coast a British protectorate, held mainly to supply livestock to Aden (Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study). See British Somaliland, 1884–1960.

2. 1899–1920

   The Dervishes of Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan fought Britain, Italy and Ethiopia until British aircraft and troops took Taleh in 1920 (War Office, Official History, 1907). See the Dervish movement.

1920 to 1960

1. 1940–1941

   Italy occupied the protectorate in August 1940; Britain retook it in March 1941 (Library of Congress). See the British Military Administration.

2. 1940s–1950s

   Political parties grew, among them the Somali National League. In the first party elections, in 1960, the SNL and the United Somali Party won all but one of 33 seats (Library of Congress). See the nationalist era.

1960: independence and union

1960 to 1969

1. 26 June 1960

   British Somaliland became independent as the State of Somaliland, with Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal as prime minister. See the State of Somaliland, 1960.

2. 1 July 1960

   It joined the former Italian trust territory to form the Somali Republic. See independence and union and the 1960 constitution.

1960 to 1991: the Republic and the war in the north

1969 to 1991

1. 1969

   The army took power under Siad Barre. See the Somali Democratic Republic.

2. 6 April 1981

   The Somali National Movement (SNM) was formed in London by Isaaq exiles (Library of Congress).

3. May 1988 onward

   After the SNM attacked Burao and Hargeisa, government forces bombed both cities and killed thousands of Isaaq civilians; hundreds of thousands fled to Ethiopia. A 1989 study for the US State Department found "a widespread, systematic and extremely violent assault on the unarmed civilian Issak population" (Gersony, Why Somalis Flee, 1989, p. 60). See the Isaaq genocide.

1991 to 2012: the Republic of Somaliland

1991 to 2000

1. January 1991

   The SNM captured "the besieged garrisons at Berbera, Burao, and Hargeysa" (Library of Congress, "Politics of succession").

2. April–May 1991

   At the Burao conference northern clan leaders debated the future; on 17 or 18 May 1991 the SNM announced the Republic of Somaliland, with Abdirahman Ahmed Ali "Tuur" as president (same source). See the Burao conference and declaration.

3. 1992–1993

   Elders' conferences at Sheekh and Boorama made peace between clans (Farah and Lewis, Making Peace in Somaliland, 1997). From 1993 the government of Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal revived ministries, a central bank, a currency, police and courts (Bradbury, Somaliland: Country Report, 1997). See Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal.

2000 to 2012

1. 31 May 2001

   A referendum approved a constitution whose first article asserted independence; officials reported 97 percent yes (UN Security Council, S/2001/963, paras. 18–19). See the 2001 referendum.

2. 2003

   First presidential election under the constitution. See the 2003 presidential election.

3. 2005

   First House of Representatives election. See the 2005 parliamentary election.

4. 29 October 2008

   Suicide bombings in Hargeisa and Bosaso. See the Hargeisa and Bosaso bombings.

5. 2010

   The opposition won the presidency and power changed hands. See the 2010 presidential election.

2012 to now

2012 to 2020

1. 2017

   Presidential election. See the 2017 presidential election.

2020 to now

1. 2021

   Parliamentary and local elections, the first for parliament since 2005. See the 2021 elections.

2. 2023

   Dhulbahante communities in Las Anod and Sool rejected Hargeisa's rule and joined the federation, later as North Eastern State. See North Eastern State.

3. 13 November 2024

   The opposition candidate, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi "Irro", won the presidential election. See the 2024 presidential election.

For recognition and the dispute with the federal government, see Somalia and Somaliland, 1991 to 2026.

Who suffered?

1. Isaaq civilians in the north-west,

   killed and driven from their homes by government forces in 1988–1989 (Gersony, 1989).

2. People of Sool and Las Anod,

   in the fighting of 2023. See North Eastern State.

Sources differ

1. The date of the 1991 declaration

   The Library of Congress gives 17 May 1991. Somaliland marks 18 May.

2. What 1991 means

   Somaliland's government holds that it restored the independence of 26 June 1960. The federal government holds that Somaliland remains part of Somalia under the 1960 union (S/2001/963).

Read the primary sources yourself

• Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study (1993): "Politics of succession".
• Robert Gersony, Why Somalis Flee, US Department of State, August 1989: PDF.
• UN Secretary-General, report on Somalia, S/2001/963 (11 October 2001): PDF.
• Ahmed Yusuf Farah and I. M. Lewis, Making Peace in Somaliland (1997): PDF.