In May 1991 they declared independence from the rest of Somalia. Nobody recognised them. In their isolation they have begun to fight among themselves. The fighting, outsiders say, makes it nearly impossible to help, let alone recognise, the proto-state. Welcome to another mess in the Horn of Africa.
Secession is a live issue all over the Horn.
Somaliland wants independence from Somalia. Eritrea wants independence from Ethiopia. In Ethiopia itself separatist feeling is growing among the Oromo people. And in southern Sudan some of the rebel factions want a complete break from the north. But secession, say its advocates, would also return the Horn to an earlier and sounder state of affairs.