By Abdalgani A. Almi
Introduction
Somaliland is a de facto independent state in the Horn of Africa. It gained its
independence on 26 June 1960 from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland. Soon after its independence, it united with Italian Somalia. Some
claim the unification was backed by a sense of Pan–Somali nationalism among
Somalis inhabiting the Horn of Africa, which were to form a Somali state, consisting
of Ogaden and Reserve Area, Italian Somaliland, British Somaliland, French
Somaliland and Northern Frontier District of Kenya (NFD).
The idea of Pan–Somali nationalism long prospected to outdo the colonial
division and unify Somalis under one state. However, British Somaliland and Italian
Somalia’s unification and formation of Somali Republic was troublesome to include
any of the other three (French Somaliland, Ogaden and Reserve Area, and Northern
Frontier District of Kenya) to the unification.
