The current status of recognition of the Republic of Somaliland (shown in blue) by UN member states. As of 2025, Somaliland has attained recognition from only Israel and Taiwan (shown in green).
The historical context claimed by Somaliland, the state of Somaliland which claimed independence from the British Government in 1960, was recognized by 35 states (shown in red – I couldn't find record of all 35 states). After only 5 days of independence, independent Somaliland merged with the Italian Somaliland protectorate to form modern day Somalia.
In 1991, as a result of the Somali civil war, Somaliland reclaimed its independence along the historic 1960 borders.
Posted by TheFlightyCrow
15 Comments
I found it quite ironic that Somalia demanded Israel to withdraw the recognition, given that Somalia itself does not recognize Israel.
Taiwan is not a UN member state. It’s recognised as territory of the PRC and should be coloured red here to reflect that.
Taiwan has a mission to Somaliland but does not officially recognize it.
Uh oh, the P5 all agree Somaliland isn’t a country, rejected 🙅♂️ ❌
Im an alien, isn’t this how the UN works?
I’m just stunned that The US/UK and Russia/China agree on something. Is China just rescinding to spite Taiwan?
Can Somaliland into real?
No.
I don’t understand why no one wants to recognize it, somalia is always in shambles
does “rescind” apply to the original somaliland republic that existed for 4 days in 1960? because the US has never recognized somaliland (sadly)
Israel is an absolute shit country right now, and for sure this was a calculated move by them to distract from the genocide.
That said, if it weren’t for the concerning potential issues regarding precedence and what other African secessionist groups might feel entitled to do to achieve independence, I would most certainly feel that recognizing the most stable democracy in all of continental Africa would be a moral and just thing for liberal democracies to do.
After all, Somaliland has functionally been an independent state for like 30 years.
I thought this meant red was current for a moment.
The world doesn’t need more countries
It’s of utmost importance to precise that Somaliland agreed to merge with Somalia BEFORE independence. On the 26th of June 1960 (the day the British granted independence to Somaliland), the flag which was raised was the one of the (united) Somali Republic 🇸🇴. So Somaliland was actually never a formal country with a UN seat or whatever before the merger with Somalia (which was a dumb thing they forgot to negotiate due to the eagerness to join their brothers). So the claim of “we were a country before” doesn’t really hold. The few countries that “recognized” Somaliland for the short period (5 days) before the union knew full well that it was going to join South Somalia (then under Italian/UN trusteeship).
Is Somaliland in Minnesota?
I’m not American, so I’m just piecing together headlines I’ve seen going around.
I have a feeling things are going to change quickly in 2026.
Fun fact.
Somaliland doesn’t control at least 1/3 of it’s territory. Huge parts of the eastern regions “Sool , Sanaag and Cayn” have officially rejoined Somalia.
The eastern regions are mainly inhabited by the Darood clan which also exists in the rest of Somalia , locals in those areas initially supported Somaliland’s separatist cause but became disillusioned after being marginalized for tribal reasons. 2 years ago after reclaiming their autonomy from Somaliland the eastern regions have been shelled by artillery and attacked by Somaliland’s army with several civilian casualties. The eastern regions successfully managed to drive out somaliland and the ear front is currently frozen with much tension between the two parties. Somaliland has a history of repressing any pro Somalia sentiment including arrests and beatings for just showing a Somalia flag or walking around with a somalia football T shirt. Several journalists , activists and random civilians have been arrested or killed through out the years because of their clan/their opposition to separatism.
Just a reminder that things are usually more complex than what they seem to