SOMALILAND - Republic of Somaliland / Jamhuriyadda Somaliland

Somaliland (Somali: Somaliland; Arabic: صوماليلاند‎ Ṣūmālīlānd, أرض الصومال‎ Arḍ aṣ-Ṣūmāl), officially the Republic of Somaliland (Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland, Arabic: جمهورية صوماليلاند‎ Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd), is a self-declared state, internationally considered to be an autonomous region of Somalia. The government of the de facto state of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to the former British Somaliland protectorate, which, in the form of the briefly independent State of Somaliland, united as scheduled on 1 July 1960 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic.

Somaliland lies in northwestern Somalia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden. It is bordered by the remainder of Somalia (per international recognition) to the east, Djibouti to the northwest, and Ethiopia to the south and west. Its claimed territory has an area of 176,120 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi), with approximately 4 million residents. The capital and the largest city is Hargeisa, with the population of around 1,500,000 residents. In 1988, the Siad Barre government began a crackdown against the Hargeisa-based Somali National Movement (SNM) and other militant groups, which were among the events that led to the Somali Civil War. The conflict left the country's economic and military infrastructure severely damaged. Following the collapse of Barre's government in early 1991, local authorities, led by the SNM, unilaterally declared independence from Somalia on 18 May of the same year and reinstated the borders of the former short-lived independent State of Somaliland. Since then, the territory has been governed by democratically elected governments that seek international recognition as the Government of the Republic of Somaliland (Somali: Dowlada Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland, Arabic: جمهورية صوماليلاند‎ Dawlat Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd). The central government maintains informal ties with some foreign governments, who have sent delegations to Hargeisa. Ethiopia also maintains a trade office in the region. However, Somaliland's self-proclaimed independence is not recognised by any country or international organisation. It is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, an advocacy group whose members consist of indigenous peoples, minorities and unrecognised or occupied territories.

Originally mail from British Somaliland used postage stamps of Egypt, then India. In 1903, about 30 types of stamps of India were overprinted "BRITISH / SOMALILAND". In 1904 the protectorate issued its own stamps, featuring a profile of King Edward VII, and inscribed "SOMALILAND PROTECTORATE". Issues of George V used the same design with George's profile. Around 1950 the currency changed from annas and rupees to cents and shillings, and the 1942 stamps were appropriately surcharged. The UPU 75th anniversary issue was printed in cents and shillings, but its issue date was 24 October 1949 (10th Oct. in London), before the changeover, so those stamps had to be surcharged in the old currency.  Queen Elizabeth II ushered in a new series featuring a variety of local wildlife and scenes. Some values of these stamps were overprinted in 1957 with "OPENING / OF THE / LEGISLATIVE / COUNCIL / 1957", and in 1960 with "LEGISLATIVE / COUNCIL / UNOFFICIAL / MAJORITY, / 1960" to mark the events as named by the overprints. All the stamps of British Somaliland were withdrawn from sale on 25 June 1960. For the week prior to formal unification on 1 July, stamps of Italian Somaliland and Somalia were used.

Now, There is no postal services or postage stamps existing in Somaliland. A stamp like labels are being used for paying taxes and fees at office, that is a self adhesive type labels without perforations.

This is the cancellation what he got from Post and Telecommunication department. No date is mentioned.

My friend Caydaruus arranged these covers by getting cancellation from Posts and telecommunications department in Hargeisa, the capital city of Somaliland. I prepared envelopes with Old "Somaliland Protectorate" stamps issued in British Colonial time, and also Somalia stamps which are bought from Mogadishu by my friend David in 2016.
My friend planned to send a cover from Kenya with Somaliland 'stamps' , hope will reach in my hands. I sent and received the covers via DHL only, It serves via Kenya and Ethiopia.This cover sent via DHL on October 19,2017 and I received on October 24,2017. Old Somaliland Protectorate stamps or Somalia stamps are not valid in Somaliland, so they haven't put cancellation on them. Recently Somalia made agreement with Djibouti regarding international mail exchange, hope in future Somaliland also can start postal system with the cooperation of Somalia and Djibouti.