British Somaliland

Somaliland Protectorate
*Maxmiyadda Dhulka Soomaalida* (Somali)
Somaliland Protectorate Maxmiyadda Dhulka Soomaalida (Somali)
1884–1940; 1941–1960
	Flag; Top: 1903–1950; Bottom: 1952–1960 Badge; (1903–1950) Badge; (1952–1960)
	Anthem: God Save the Queen; (1862–1901 & 1952–1960); God Save the King; (1901–1940 & 1941–1952)
	British Somaliland in 1922
Status	Self-ruling sultanates under British Protection; (administered by the Government of India 1884-1898) and then British colonial government (1 October 1898 onward)
Capital	Berbera (until 1941); Hargeisa (from 1941)
Common languages	Somali; Arabic; English;
Religion	Islam
Governor
• 1884–1888 (first)	Frederick Mercer Hunter
• 1959–1960 (last)	Douglas Hall
History
• British control	1884
• Protection treaties	1886
• Somali coast protectorate	20 July 1887
• Dervish rebellion	1900–1920
• Italian invasion	3 August 1940
• British recapture	8 April 1941
• Independence	26 June 1960
Area
1904	137,270 km2 (53,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1904	153,018
Currency	Rupee; (1884–1941); East African shilling; (1941–1962)
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Isaaq Sultanate
	Habr Yunis Sultanate
	1941:; Italian East Africa
	Warsangali Sultanate
1940:; Italian East Africa
1960:; State of Somaliland
Today part of	Somalia (de jure); ∟ Somaliland (de facto);

British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate (Somali: Maxmiyadda Dhulka Soomaalida), was a protectorate of the United Kingdom in modern Somaliland.^[2] During its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Somalia, French Somali Coast and Abyssinia (temporarily Italian Ethiopia). From 1940 to 1941, it was occupied by the Italians and was part of Italian East Africa.

On 26 June 1960, British Somaliland was formally granted independence by the United Kingdom as the State of Somaliland. Five days later, on 1 July 1960, the State of Somaliland voluntarily united with the Trust Territory of Somalia (the former Italian Somalia) to form the Somali Republic.^[3]^[4] The government of Somaliland, an unrecognised independent state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia,^[5]^[6] regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland.^[7]^[8]

^ "Census of the British empire. 1901". Openlibrary.org. 1906. p. 178. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
^ Kingdom, United. "Somaliland Protectorate, communicated by the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
^ "Somalia". Archived from the original on 9 February 2006. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
^ Cana, Frank Richardson (1911). "Somaliland" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 378–384.
^ Lacey, Marc (5 June 2006). "The Signs Say Somaliland, but the World Says Somalia". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 June 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
^ "The Transitional Federal Charter of the Somali Republic" (PDF). University of Pretoria. 1 February 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2010. "The Somali Republic shall have the following boundaries. (a) North; Gulf of Aden. (b) North West; Djibouti. (c) West; Ethiopia. (d) South south-west; Kenya. (e) East; Indian Ocean."
^ "Somaliland Marks Independence After 73 Years of British Rule" (fee required). The New York Times. 26 June 1960. p. 6. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
^ "How Britain said farewell to its Empire". BBC News. 23 July 2010. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2018.