A small player in a bad neighbourhood.
May 28, 2012 10:19 AM Subscribe
Take a holiday in Somaliland: journey to the state that isn’t. "Positioned on the upper haunch of the Somali dog-leg the Republic of Somaliland looks initially unpromising. It is mainly dry and rocky, there are few paved roads, and the population is small and generally dispersed. ... Whilst the economy may be on the up, Somaliland still feels extremely isolated. An employee of a big international NGO who I met in the lobby of my hotel, The Mansoor, looked at me with astonishment when I said I’d come to Hargeisa for fun. 'The biggest danger here,' he said 'is dying of boredom.'"
'The biggest danger here,' he said 'is dying of boredom.'"
He's so working for the wrong NGO...
posted by quarsan at 11:38 AM on May 28, 2012
He's so working for the wrong NGO...
posted by quarsan at 11:38 AM on May 28, 2012
I suspect that a vacation like this would take Naomi Klein's Disaster Tourism to a whole new level.
Did you RTFA? Somaliland is doing much better than the officially recognized countries around it. I have for some time thought it was a shame that it wasn't recognized, but this made me think twice:
posted by languagehat at 11:40 AM on May 28, 2012 [2 favorites]
Did you RTFA? Somaliland is doing much better than the officially recognized countries around it. I have for some time thought it was a shame that it wasn't recognized, but this made me think twice:
I wonder whether Somaliland’s successes have been made possible by the fact that it has stayed, substantially, off the radar. Richard Dowden predicts that if it was ever formally granted independence then it would most likely precipitate a new war with the South.I'm rooting for plucky little Somaliland, myself. Thanks for the post.
posted by languagehat at 11:40 AM on May 28, 2012 [2 favorites]
Well, Hargeisa (the city) may be inland, but it's elevation is up at 4300 ft. If you want to head down to the beaches, how about nearby Berbera. Check out the climate on the Wiki page... in July, average daily lows of 88F (31C) and highs of 108F (42C)... and that ain't dry heat like Phoenix.
posted by crapmatic at 12:04 PM on May 28, 2012
posted by crapmatic at 12:04 PM on May 28, 2012
oops... "it's" should be "its".... I just committed my own pet peeve
posted by crapmatic at 12:04 PM on May 28, 2012
posted by crapmatic at 12:04 PM on May 28, 2012
[Libertarian joke to be inserted here]
posted by zardoz at 5:27 PM on May 28, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by zardoz at 5:27 PM on May 28, 2012 [1 favorite]
[Libertarian joke to be inserted here]
Somaliland =/= Somalia
posted by ChuraChura at 6:03 PM on May 28, 2012
Somaliland =/= Somalia
posted by ChuraChura at 6:03 PM on May 28, 2012
Somaliland =/= Somalia
Somali begs to differ.
I'm not sure how Puntland feels about it all, but I would suggest they would prefer Somaliland to be part of Greater Somalia too.
Should Somalia ever get itself organised, and it arms up and marches on Somaliland, it will have to go through Puntland. Which the Putland clans may take objection too.
Except, perhaps, the Puntland clans who skirmish with the Somaliland clans, assuming you can find the border.
Which, naturally, is in despite.
Puntland and Somaliland seem to be more stable than the south anyway, except when the Islamic militias march north into Puntland.
Anyway, that discussion is moot.
An oil well (first for 20 years) has just been drilled in the Dharoor Valley which intersected an oil column that might represent 100 million barrels of oil (that's a whole day's consumption, world, with some change).
If that turns out to be commercial, I suspect the map will change the map.
Curse of oil, and all that.
In part because the south of the Yemeni Rift Valleys seem confined to Puntland and Somaliland, which leaves the south of Somalia without oil.
And I can't imagine the TFG isn't going to get uppity should that happen.
posted by Mezentian at 8:18 PM on May 28, 2012
Somali begs to differ.
I'm not sure how Puntland feels about it all, but I would suggest they would prefer Somaliland to be part of Greater Somalia too.
Should Somalia ever get itself organised, and it arms up and marches on Somaliland, it will have to go through Puntland. Which the Putland clans may take objection too.
Except, perhaps, the Puntland clans who skirmish with the Somaliland clans, assuming you can find the border.
Which, naturally, is in despite.
Puntland and Somaliland seem to be more stable than the south anyway, except when the Islamic militias march north into Puntland.
Anyway, that discussion is moot.
An oil well (first for 20 years) has just been drilled in the Dharoor Valley which intersected an oil column that might represent 100 million barrels of oil (that's a whole day's consumption, world, with some change).
If that turns out to be commercial, I suspect the map will change the map.
Curse of oil, and all that.
In part because the south of the Yemeni Rift Valleys seem confined to Puntland and Somaliland, which leaves the south of Somalia without oil.
And I can't imagine the TFG isn't going to get uppity should that happen.
posted by Mezentian at 8:18 PM on May 28, 2012
[Libertarian joke to be inserted here]
Somalia =/= Liberia.
(God help me, I had to!)
posted by Mezentian at 8:19 PM on May 28, 2012
Somalia =/= Liberia.
(God help me, I had to!)
posted by Mezentian at 8:19 PM on May 28, 2012
[Libertarian joke to be inserted here]
Its unofficial currency is the Somali Rand.
posted by dhartung at 11:53 PM on May 28, 2012
Its unofficial currency is the Somali Rand.
posted by dhartung at 11:53 PM on May 28, 2012
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posted by vhsiv at 11:16 AM on May 28, 2012