The Somaliland is a Republic and it used to be the former British Somaliland.

In 1960, couple of days after the independence, Somaliland was annexed to the big Somalia until 18 May 1991. This date is very important for Somaliland people, even more important than the independence from the Brisitsh.

The surface area of Somaliland is about 137 600 km² and the country is located between Djibouti, Ethiopia, Puntland and the Gulf of Aden.The population of Somaliland is estimated 3 500 000 inhabitants and the 2/3 of the population lives in the Capital city Hargesa.The main ethnical group of Somaliland are the Issak and the Samaroon, and the local currency is the Shilling Somalilandese.

Hargesa is the Capital city of Somaliland and it used to be the second largest city of Somalia, after the Capital Mogadishu. But during the British colonization, Berbera was the Capital city of British Somaliland until 1941 and the colonial administration moved from Berbera to Hargesa. So, Hargesa was the capital colonial from 1941 until the Independence Day 1960 before annexed to big Somalia.

The City of Hargesa is situated between 1200 and 1400 m high and the weather is very nice compare to Puntland. The population of Hargesa is about 2 000 000 of people and more than 70% of them are urbanized. The trade is the main economy of the city as well as the country.

Laas Geel is an archeological site in caves, the area is located about 55 kms from the Capital city Hargesa.The Rock paintings in Laas Geel are from the Neolithic time between 5000 and 4000 years B.C, and the site is discovered in 2002 by French team from the archeological university.

The Rock paintings represent cows, dogs and human beings and it is different than the other caves found in the region. There are no wild animals like the giraffes, the antelopes and the hyena’s seen in many caves of the region. There is a special authorization to visit Laas geel and it has to be prepared in advance before visiting the site.

 The town of Sheikh is 1 500 m high and it is located between the town of Berbera and Burao, the landscape is green thanks to the good raining season.

There are many sites to visit in Sheikh, like the ruins of Farduza and a tunnel build by the british during the colonization. Cultural tour is the main tour activity of the region.

 Berbera derived from the word Berber, the inhabitant of the city used to be called the black berbers by the ancient Egyptians, it is an old city port rich in history. The town is located in the northern-west of Somaliland and about 250 kms distance from Djibouti.

Thanks to the Gulf of Aden, the Port of Berbera is located on main patrol route between Middle East and Europe and today it is also the main port of Somaliland, where all the merchandises of the country comes in. But unfortunately, many infrastructures were destroyed during the war and the port is not able to compete with the other ports of the region, like the ones of Djibouti and Aden.

Berbera was the former Capital of the British Somaliland from the beginning of the colonization in 1870 until 1941, when the British colony decided to move the Capital to Hargesa. But today Berbera is the capital of region Saaxil (Sahel) in Somaliland.

Back in time, the city of Berbera has many different travelers and merchants between India and Arabia, you can even notice that from the architecture of the town. The Indian and Arabs merchants have build houses according to their styles. The inhabitants of Berbera is about 210 000 and the main economy of the city is the sea and the most tour activity of the town is also based on the sea.

 After Hargesa and Berbera, Burao is the third important town of Somaliland with 100 000 inhabitants, the climate is warm and it is good to enjoy the weather.

Burao was destroyed during the civil war and the town is under construction.The Somaliland independance was declared in Burao and that made the town very important. City tour is the main tour activity of the town.