Sahil, Somaliland Explained

Official Name:Sahil
Native Name:
Settlement Type:Region of Somaliland
Pushpin Label Position:top
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Somaliland.
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name1:Sahil
Subdivision Type2:Berbera
Seat Type:Administrative centre
Seat:Berbera
Leader Title:Governor
Leader Name:Cali Cabdi Cabdillaahi Faarax
Unit Pref:Metric
Area Total Km2:13930
Timezone:EAT
Utc Offset:+3

Sahil (Somali: Saaxil, Arabic: ساحل) is an administrative region (gobol) in northern Somaliland with the port city of Berbera as its capital. It was separated from Woqooyi Galbeed and became a province in 1991. In 1998, the Sheikh District of Togdheer was incorporated into Sahil region.[1] The region has a long coastline facing the Gulf of Aden to the north. Sahil borders Awdal to the northwest, Maroodi Jeex to the southwest, Togdheer to the south and Sanaag to the east.

History

Formerly known as the Berbera District, it was one of six districts that made up the British Somaliland protectorate. In 1960, the then independent State of Somaliland merged with Italian Somaliland to form the Somali Republic. By 1964, the then Berbera District merged with the Borama district (now Awdal) and the Hargeisa district (now Maroodi Jeh) to form the Woqooyi Galbeed region (literally North West, also known as Hargeisa region).

During the period from 1968 to 1982, parts of the district were incorporated into Togdheer region. Awdal was carved out of the western parts of Woqooyi Galbeed region in June 1984.[2] However, Sahil was the only of the six former British territories to be rebuilt during the Somali government's reign.

When the Somali Civil War broke out, the former British territory declared the revival of the pre-independent state of Somaliland. In December 1989, the Somaliland government established Sahil region. In 1998, the Sheikh District was incorporated from Togdheer. Under the Local Autonomy Act of 2002, it was positioned as one of the six regions that make up Somaliland.[3]

The Somaliland was reorganized on March 22, 2008, and the territory of Sahil was changed. However, a new local government law came into force on January 4, 2020, and the territory was restored.[4]

Districts

The regional capital of the Sahil region is the port city of Berbera. The region is further divided into the following two districts:[5]

District Grade Capital Comments Location
A Regional capital
C

Demographics

According to the Somaliland Ministry of National Planning Sahil had a population of 149,244 in 1997.[6]

The city is primarily inhabited by people from the Somali ethnic group, in particular by the Isamusa [7] clan which is sub-clan of the Isaaq. [8]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Local Government Law.
  2. Web site: Somalia Regions.
  3. Web site: Local Government Law.
  4. Web site: Wax-ka-beddelka iyo Kaabista Xeerka Ismaamulka Gobolladda iyo Degmooyinka, Xeer Lr. 23/2019. Somaliland Law.
  5. Web site: Development plan. slministryofplanning.org. 2021-01-11.
  6. Web site: United Nations Office for Somalia . (UNDOS) . 1997 . WAQOOYI GALBEED AND SAHIL . https://web.archive.org/web/20010630000225/http://www.anaserve.com/~mbali/wgalbeed.htm . 2001-06-30 .
  7. Book: Petermanns Mitteilungen. Ergänzungsheft . 1894 . J. Perthes . 228 . de.
  8. Book: Lewis . I. M. . Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society . The Red Sea Press . 1994 . 9780932415936 . 102 . isaaq noble. . registration.