Northland State

Las Anod is the administrative capital of Sool region of Somalia. The city was part of the Dervish State until 1921, when it was incorporated into the former British Somaliland protectorate. Local control is disputed between Somaliland, a self-declared independent republic that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia, the autonomous Puntland region in northeastern Somalia, and HBM-SSC , a local unionist group whose goal... is the creation of its own regional administration . Las Anod is strategically positioned along trade routes in northwestern Somalia. The city is almost surrounded by hills and has considerable water resources, the latter of which makes it a prime destination for peoples from other parts of generally arid Somalia as well as from neighboring countries such as Djibouti and Ethiopia. Las Anod is one of the largest cities in Somalia, having grown in size from 20,000 inhabitants in 1990 to 60,000 in 2001. Prior to 1991, the city was a small town.
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