The Puntland is a very poor state, little known to Westerners. Located on the tip of the Horn of Africa, it stemmed from the disintegration of Somalia since the early 1990s. This territory, which does not claim independence (unlike its western neighbor Somaliland) but autonomy in relation to the power of Mogadishu (capital of Somalia, in the south) considers that it has been forced to state its institutions before the collapse of the Somali state.
A very poor and predominantly desert area, it depends heavily on development aid, and on migrants who wish to cross to Yemen. A crossing increasingly uncertain due to the ongoing murderous conflict in this country. It is also the site of intense piracy off its coast during the 2000s.
