1 July 1960: how British and Italian Somaliland became one republic
In just five days, two territories with different colonial languages, currencies and legal codes merged into the Somali Republic — a union whose seams still shape politics today.
Muna Yusuf·Mogadishu·
Mogadishu — On 26 June 1960, the British Somaliland Protectorate declared independence. Five days later, on 1 July, it merged with the UN-trusteeship territory administered by Italy to form the Somali Republic, with Aden Abdulle Osman as its first president.
The mechanics of the union were rushed. Two legal systems, two civil services and two currencies had to be harmonized in months. Historians trace many later strains — including Somaliland's 1991 re-declaration of independence — back to the unfinished business of that first summer.
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