Independence Day in Somaliland is an annual celebration held on 18 May in

Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...

to mark the polity's declaration of independence from the

Somali Democratic Republic The Somali Democratic Republic ( so, Jamhuuriyadda Dimuqraadiya Soomaaliyeed; ar, الجمهورية الديمقراطية الصومالية, ; it, Repubblica Democratica Somala) was the name that the socialist military government gave to Som ...

, a unilateral proclamation which remains unrecognized the world over.Human Rights Watch (Organization), Chris Albin-Lackey, ''"Hostages to peace": threats to human rights and democracy in Somaliland'', (Human Rights Watch: 2009), p.43. Although internationally seen only as an autonomous area of Somalia,Somaliland’s Quest for International Recognition and the HBM-SSC Factor
the territory's self-declared independence has endured, and the twentieth anniversary was celebrated in 2011 at the National Palace in Hargeisa, Somaliland's capital, with shops closing down for the day.

Gallery

File:Independence monument in Hargeisa, Somaliland.jpg, Independence monument in Hargeisa, Somaliland

References

Culture of Somaliland May observances {{holiday-stub