| Shaped something like a fish hook, Somalia is located on the Horn of Africa, the northeastern corner of the continent. The country was formed in 1960 by uniting the former British Somaililand, which faces north on the Gulf of Aden, with the former Italian Somaliland, which mostly faces east southeast on the Indian Ocean. This union has never been complete and since 1991 the country has been splintered by repeated secession and conflict. The Republic of Somaliland, which controls most of the former British Somaliland, declared its independence of Somalia in 1991 and has been seeking international recognition. Lighthouses of Somaliland are described on a separate page. For the rest of the country the Federal Government of Somalia, organized in 2012, is recognized by the United Nations and is attempting to create a federal union of semi-autonomous states.. Puntland is one of the federated states of Somalia. It was founded in 1998 by a convention of local leaders, taking its name from the legendary Land of Punt, a region southeast of ancient Egypt that may or may not have included Somalia. It is located on the point of the Horn of Africa, the northeastern corner of the continent, with Somaliland to its west. With an organized and functioning government it is by far the most stable of the federal states. In March 2024, following changes to the federal constitution enacted by the federal legislature, the government of Puntland announced it was breaking ties with the federal government and would henceforth operate as if it were independent, although it continues to style itself as a state of Somalia. Puntland has a population of about 4.3 million. It has a major port, Bosaso, facing north on the Gulf of Aden. Somali and Arabic are official languages in Somalia. Unlike Arabic, Somali is written in the Latin alphabet. The Somali word for a lighthouse is laydh; jasiirad is an island and dekedda is a harbor. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume D of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: South: Southern Somalia | West: Somaliland
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Posted July 1, 2005. Checked and revised February 15, 2026. Lighthouses: 6. Site copyright 2026 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.