Every Day Is Special: Somalia

Showing posts with label Somalia. Show all posts

May 18 - Independence Day in Somaliland

Posted on May 18, 2019

No nation in the world formally recognizes Somaliland as an independent country!

But on this date in 1991, the local authorities in a part of the
African nation of Somalia declared independence from Somalia!

That's a long time for an independent nation to go unrecognized!

Don't I mean that that's a long time for a region to pretend that it's independent, when it's not?

Actually, apparently the State of Somaliland is de facto independent. That means that, in reality, it is a separate, independent country - just not officially.

Does it surprise you to know that Somaliland is more stable than Somalia is? Its government is more democratic, and its economy is better as well!

Does it surprise you to know that another region of Somalia, Puntland, also considers itself separate and independent - but Somalia and the rest of the world consider both Puntland and Somaliland to be autonomous regions of Somalia!

Check out some info about all three political entities:

Location of Somaliland, Puntland, and Somalia:

Flag of Somaliland:

Flag of Puntland:

Flag of Somalia:

Capital of Somaliland, Hargeisa:

Capital of Puntland, Garowe:

Capital of Somalia, Mogadishu:

Beaches of Somaliland:

Beaches of Puntland:

Beaches of Somalia:

Landscapes of Somaliland:

Landscapes of Puntland:

Landscapes of Somalia:

It's actually not so easy to find landscape photos of Somalia
(the southern part of the nation that are NOT Somaliland
nor Puntland). First, most pretty pix seem to be of the
northern break-away "nations." Second, most photos of
the southern part depict refugees, soldiers, and war damage.

In other words, for every lovely landscape (above), there
are maybe five or ten photos of problems caused by
civil war, suicide bombings, and other violence (below).

Also on this date:

Battle of Las Piedras in Uruguay

Mother Whistler Day

Flag and Universities Day in Haiti

International Museum Day

Philosopher Bertrand Russell's birthday

Music Man creator Meredith Willson's birthday

Also: Buy a Musical Instrument Day

Day of Revival, Unity, and the Poetry of Magtymguly in Turkmenistan

Birthday of illustrator Lillian Hoban

Fullmoon Day of Kason in Myanmar

(Varying dates)

Vesak in India and Indonesia

(Dates may vary)

Victoria Day in Canada

(Last Monday preceding May 25)

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

June 26 – Anniversary of British Somaliland's Independence

Posted on June 26, 2017

There was a British Somaliland and an Italian Somaliland, two neighboring colonies in Africa.

But then there was a World War, and Britain and Italy were enemies. In 1940, Italy invaded British Somaliland. But the Brits not only retook their "own" territory, but all of Italian Somaliland came under British military rule. After the war ended, with Britain and the Allies having defeated fascist Italy and the Axis powers, Britain continued to rule until 1949, when Italian Somaliland became a United Nations trusteeship called the Trust Territory of Somaliland - and guess what? The Trust Territory was back under Italian administration again.

You make ask, what about the Somali people themselves? What were their wishes in all of this?

Like other peoples in the world, Somalians wanted to make their own decisions, rule themselves, enjoy independence. An agreement was reached for independence in a step-by-step process:

On this date in 1960, British Somaliland gained independence from the U.K. It was named the State of Somaliland.

Five days after that, the State of Somaliland united with the Trust Territory of Somaliland. Together, the two formed the brand-new Somali Republic.

Only five days! Is that the shortest period of time that an independent nation with a particular name and particular borders has lasted?

Not even close! Check out this Wikipedia list of short-lived nations. The shortest life of a nation on this list is just six hours.

What makes Somalia special?

Livestock!

Somalia is the world leader in exporting sheep and goats. It also leads the world in number of domesticated camels.

(By the way, the U.S.A. leads the world in the number of domesticated dogs AND in the number of domesticated cats.)

Somalia, which lies on the part of Africa called the Horn of Africa, was known to Ancient Egyptians as the Land of Punt, and Put is even mentioned in the Bible.

The ancients valued Somalia for its aromatic trees, which produce frankincense and myrrh. Ancient Romans even called this land Cape Aromatica!

These are grains of frankincense and myrrh gum, NOT
pieces of granola!

The thing that makes landscapes look beautiful to us, often, is water...

But, even though Somalia has the longest coastline in Africa, drinkable water is in seriously short supply there. The current drought is making conditions in the war-torn, famine-prone country even worse.