Puntland
| ||
| National motto: None | ||
| Official language | Somali | |
| Capital | Garowe | |
| President | Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad | |
| Area - Total - % water | in dispute ?? | |
| Population - Total (2000) - Density | 2,500,000 ???/km² | |
| Independence - Declared - Recognition | 1998 none | |
| Currency | Somali Shilling | |
| Time zone | ? | |
| National anthem | none | |
| Internet TLD | none | |
| Calling Code | none | |
Puntland is a region in northeastern Somalia, centered around Garowe, which in 1998 declared itself to be the an independent republic. The current government apparently sees the move as an attempt to reconstitute Somalia as a federative republic.
History
Puntland was originally a part of a unified Somalia; however in 1969 when Somalia's government was toppled in a coup d'état years of war and chaos followed as well as an unsuccessful invasion of Ethiopia following the Soviet Union's change of support from Somalia to Ethiopia following the communist takeover in Ethiopia. Left with no Soviet support Somalia turned to the United States which allowed Somalia's self-proclaimed president to stay in power during the Cold War until its end in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed and Somalia's president was overthrown. Following these events Somalis remained without a centralized government with constant wars ravaging the southern part of Somalia. These events led to the 1991 secession of Somaliland which in 1960 had enjoyed a few days of independence. Chaos continued throughout the land which prompted a United Nations peacekeeping force to be sent to war-torn Somalia. That ended however in March 3, 1995, after American troops were shot down and massacred. Somalia remained unstable and in 1998 Puntland declared independence under the presidency of Abdullahi Yusuf as a nation with one of its top priorities being clan confederation. Since 1998 Puntland has been in territorial disputes with Somaliland over the Sool and Sanaag regions.
