Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991. For over three decades, no country in the world formally recognised it as a sovereign state — a status that changed only in December 2025, when Israel became the first UN member to do so. Despite its long isolation, the self-declared republic built its own government, currency and relative stability. In 2014, when these photographs were made, the country remained largely unvisited. The work follows a route from Hargeisa — with its MiG fighter war memorial and khat markets, where the mild stimulant leaf is traded and chewed throughout the day by much of the male population — through the agricultural plains around Gabiley to the 5,000-year-old cave paintings at Las Geel, among the best-preserved rock art in Africa. On the coast, Berbera retains Ottoman and British colonial architecture. Inland, the road climbs through the Daallo Mountains to the medieval ruins at Sheikh and Maduna, passing nomadic settlements where life continues with little reference to borders or recognition.
