Instead , they include Somaliland as a part of Somalia . Somaliland ( , Ará aá # - á cents Å `` mÄ l ) is an unrecognised self-declared sovereign state that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia . The government of Somaliland regards the territory as the successor state to the British Somaliland protectorate , which was independent for a few days in 1960 as the State of Somaliland , before uniting with the Trust Territory of Somalia ( the former Italian Somaliland ) later the same week to form the Somali Republic .