Puntland in the context of "States and regions of Somalia"

Africa is a continent comprising 63 political territories, representing the largest of the great southward projections from the main mass of Earth's surface. Within its regular outline, it comprises an area of 30,368,609 km (11,725,385 sq mi), excluding adjacent islands. Its highest mountain is Kilimanjaro; its largest lake is Lake Victoria.

Separated from Europe by the Mediterranean Sea and from much of Asia by the Red Sea, Africa is joined to Asia at its northeast extremity by the Isthmus of Suez (which is transected by the Suez Canal), 130 km (81 mi) wide. For geopolitical purposes, the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt – east of the Suez Canal – is often considered part of Africa. From the most northerly point, Ras ben Sakka in Tunisia, at 37°21′ N, to the most southerly point, Cape Agulhas in South Africa, 34°51′15″ S, is a distance approximately of 8,000 km (5,000 mi); from Cap-Vert, 17°31′13″W, the westernmost point, to Ras Hafun in the Somali Puntland region, in the Horn of Africa, 51°27′52″ E, the most easterly projection, is a distance (also approximately) of 7,400 km (4,600 mi).

The Gulf of Aden (Arabic: خليج عدن; Somali: Gacanka Cadmeed) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. In the northwest, it connects with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, and it connects with the Arabian Sea to the east. To the west, it narrows into the Gulf of Tadjoura in Djibouti. The Aden Ridge lies along the middle of the gulf, and tectonic activity at the ridge is causing the gulf to widen by about 15 mm (0.59 in) per year.

The ancient Greeks regarded the gulf as one of the most important parts of the "Erythraean Sea". It later came to be dominated by Muslims, as the area around the gulf converted to Islam. From the late 1960s onwards, there was an increased Soviet naval presence in the Gulf. The importance of the Gulf of Aden declined while the Suez Canal was closed, but it was revitalized when the canal was reopened in 1975, after being deepened and widened by the Egyptian government.

The Somali Civil War (Somali: Dagaalkii Sokeeye ee Soomaaliya; Arabic: الحرب الأهلية الصومالية al-ḥarb al-’ahliyya aṣ-ṣūmāliyya) is an ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the military junta which was led by Siad Barre during the 1980s. From 1988 to 1990, the Somali Armed Forces began engaging in combat against various armed rebel groups, including the Somali Salvation Democratic Front in the northeast, the Somali National Movement in the Somaliland War of Independence in the northwest, and the United Somali Congress in the south. The clan-based armed opposition groups overthrew the Barre government in 1991.

Various armed factions began competing for influence in the power vacuum and turmoil that followed, particularly in the south. In 1990–92, customary law temporarily collapsed, and factional fighting proliferated. In the absence of a central government, Somalia became a "failed state". This precipitated the arrival of UNOSOM I UN military observers in July 1992, followed by the larger UNITAF and UNOSOM II missions. Following an armed conflict between Somali insurgents and UNOSOM II troops during 1993, the UN withdrew from Somalia in 1995. After the central government's collapse and the withdrawal of UN forces, there was some return to customary and religious law in most regions. In 1991 and 1998, two autonomous regional governments were also established in the northern part of the country: Somaliland and Puntland. In the south Islamic Sharia courts began proliferating in response to lawlessness. This led to a relative decrease in the intensity of the fighting, with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute removing Somalia from its list of major armed conflicts for 1997 and 1998.

The Guardafui Channel (Arabic: مضيق غواردافوي, Somali: Marinka Gardafuul) is an oceanic strait off the tip of the Horn of Africa that lies between the Puntland region of Somalia and the Socotra governorate of Yemen to the west of the Arabian Sea. It connects the Gulf of Aden to the north with the Indian Ocean to the south. Its namesake is Cape Guardafui, the very tip of the Horn of Africa.

Ras Hafun (Somali: Ras Xaafuun, Arabic: رأس حافون, Italian: Capo Hafun), also known as Cape Hafun, is a promontory in the northeastern Bari region of the Puntland state in Somalia.

A constitutional crisis emerged in Somalia on 30 March 2024, when the Federal Parliament of Somalia approved a series of constitutional amendments aimed at establishing a more "stable political system". These changes included a return to universal suffrage, replacing the decades-old clan-based electoral system, and granting the president authority to appoint the prime minister without requiring parliamentary approval. Critics argued that the reforms significantly expanded executive power. In response, the semi-autonomous state of Puntland announced the following day that it was withdrawing its recognition and confidence in the Federal Government of Somalia. Puntland called for a "mutually accepted Somali constitution that is subject to a public referendum" and declared that, until such a constitution is in place, it would operate independently.

On 28 November 2024, the semi-autonomous government of Jubaland suspended relations and cooperation with the federal government after the latter issued an arrest warrant for Jubaland President Ahmed Madobe, accusing him of treason and revealing classified information to foreign entities.

The Majeerteen Sultanate (Somali: Suldanadda Majeerteen, lit. 'Boqortooyada Majerteen', Arabic: سلطنة مجرتين), or Majerteen Kingdom also known as Majeerteenia and/or Migiurtinia, was a Somali kingdom centered in the Horn of Africa. Ruled by Osman Mohamoud during its golden age, the sultanate controlled the areas corresponding to modern-day Puntland. The earliest mention of the kingdom is the late 15th or 16th century. The polity had all of the organs of an integrated modern state and maintained a robust trading network. It also entered into treaties with foreign powers and exerted strong centralized authority on domestic affairs. On April 7, 1889, it became a protectorate of Italy after a treaty. After the Campaign of the Sultanates, a nearly year war, it was eventually integrated into the colony of Italian Somaliland.

Established in 1998, the autonomous Puntland state within northeastern Somalia now administers much of the former territories of the Majeerteen Sultanate (Majeerteenia).

Cape Guardafui (Somali: Raas Caseyr, Arabic: راس عسير) is a headland in Somalia, in the federal state of Puntland. It forms the geographical apex of the Horn of Africa. Its shore at 51°27'52"E is the second easternmost point on mainland Africa after Ras Hafun. It is named after the offshore oceanic strait of the Guardafui Channel.

Bari (Somali: Bari, Arabic: بري) is an administrative region (gobol) in northeastern Somalia that consists of six districts: Qandala, Iskushuban, Alula, Bosaso, Bandarbeyla, and Qardho. The port city of Bosaso is the capital of the region and the largest city in Bari. The region is part of the autonomous Somali state of Puntland.