Las Anod, Somalia – Google Maps has redrawn its depiction of northern Somalia, adjusting Somaliland’s once expansive outline to exclude the disputed regions of Sool, Sanaag, and Cayn, in a move that underscores the shifting political landscape following the creation of the new Northeast State.
For decades, Somaliland projected itself as a de facto republic, basing its claims on the borders of the former British protectorate. Its proclaimed territory stretched from Djibouti on the western frontier to the towns of Las Anod and Erigavo in the east — areas bitterly contested with Somalia’s Puntland and the federal government in Mogadishu. However, that image no longer aligns with the current reality.
Google has long drawn Somaliland’s borders with dotted lines — a cartographic signal of disputed territory, not recognition of independence. But with the rise of the Northeast State, even that dotted space has now shrunk.
The cartographic shift follows a dramatic year of conflict. In February 2023, elders in Las Anod declared they would no longer accept Hargeisa’s rule and pledged loyalty to Mogadishu.
What followed were months of fierce fighting between Somaliland’s forces and local militias, leaving hundreds dead and displacing tens of thousands. By August, Somaliland’s army had been driven out of Sool entirely.
“This is the first time a global platform has mirrored the political reality,” said a Somali analyst in Mogadishu. “It shows that Somaliland’s claims are no longer just disputed on the battlefield — they’re collapsing in perception too.”
Out of the violence emerged a new administration. By mid-2025, Somalia’s federal government formally recognized the Northeast State, bringing the Sool, Sanaag, and Cayn regions into the country’s federal system.
On August 30, lawmakers in Las Anod elected Abdiqadir Ahmed Aw-Ali, better known as Firdhiye, as their first president in a historic vote. The victory cemented Northeast’s transition from an interim authority into Somalia’s newest federal member state.
For Mogadishu, it was a strategic win — strengthening President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s federalist vision while undercutting Somaliland’s secessionist claims.
Celebrations erupted in the streets of Las Anod after the vote, even as the city still bore the scars of war. Curfews and security patrols underscored the fragility of the moment, but for many, the election was proof that the tide had turned.
Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has established parallel state institutions for over three decades. It runs its own army, currency, and government, and has long lobbied for international recognition. Yet no country has formally acknowledged its sovereignty, and the loss of Sool, Sanaag, and Cayn now narrows both its physical territory and its political leverage.
“The door is closing fast for Somaliland,” said a regional diplomat in Nairobi. “Maps matter. They shape how the world sees you. Once the world stops drawing you the way you want, it becomes harder to sustain political fantasies. Reality bites.”
The impact of Google’s update is as much about symbolism as it is about geography. For Somaliland’s leaders in Hargeisa, it represents a loss of visibility on one of the world’s most widely used mapping platforms. Where once Somaliland’s proclaimed republic appeared on maps stretching deep into the Northeast, today the outline is noticeably trimmed.”
For many in Mogadishu, the change is seen as long overdue. “Somaliland used to live on the map,” one Somali commentator wrote on social media. “Now, the map itself has turned against them.”
As Northeast State takes its place in Somalia’s fragile federal system, the global perception of Somaliland is shifting. The struggle for recognition continues, but the cartographic reality is clear: Somaliland is shrinking, both on the ground and in the eyes of the world.