A self-declared republic's main port — Ottoman merchant houses, a British colonial airstrip, and a beach of white sand and turquoise Gulf of Aden water that almost nobody visits
Berbera is the main port of Somaliland — the self-declared but internationally unrecognised republic that broke from Somalia in 1991 and has maintained relative peace and democratic governance since. The city has been important for millennia as a trading port on the Gulf of Aden: it was described by the author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century CE) as a market for myrrh and slaves; the Ottomans had a presence; the British made it their Somaliland Protectorate capital; and today the UAE has invested in upgrading the port as part of its Horn of Africa logistics network. The old…
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in May 1991 after the collapse of Siad Barre's government and the subsequent outbreak of civil war in south Somalia. Unlike the rest of Somalia, Somaliland conducted a peace and reconciliation process through traditional clan structures, established functioning institutions, and held multiple elections — including a peaceful transfer of power in 2010. Despite meeting most criteria for statehood, it remains unrecognised internationally, partly because of African Union concerns about setting a precedent for secessionism. The Berbera port concession…