Somaliland is in the Horn of Africa, in the northwestern part of what is internationally recognized as Somalia, along the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden.

Where Somaliland is on the map

  • Somaliland lies in northwest Somalia , on the African mainland just south of the Arabian Peninsula, facing the Gulf of Aden.
  • It borders Djibouti to the northwest, Ethiopia to the south and west, and the rest of Somalia to the east.
  • On a world map, you will find it on the eastern edge of Africa, in the region commonly called the Horn of Africa, roughly between latitudes 8–11.5°N and longitudes 42–49°E.

Political status and recognition

  • Somaliland calls itself the Republic of Somaliland and has its own government, currency, and institutions, but it is widely treated as an autonomous region of Somalia rather than a separate country.
  • It declared independence from Somalia in May 1991 after the collapse of Somalia’s central government, but no UN member state formally recognizes it as an independent country, which is why many world maps label the whole area simply as “Somalia.”

Key geographic facts

  • Capital and largest city: Hargeisa, located inland in the central‑western part of Somaliland.
  • Coastline: Around 740–850 km along the Gulf of Aden to the north, including the important port city of Berbera.
  • Area and population: Roughly 137,000–176,000 square km, with a population of about 6 million people as of recent estimates.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.