Sanaag
Sanaag's Somaliland-Puntland contested status reflects clan dynamics that SSC-Khaatumo formation (2023) tried to navigate amid frankincense and coastal trade.
Sanaag stretches along the Gulf of Aden where Somaliland and Puntland's competing claims create contested governance. The eastern portions that Puntland administers and western areas under Somaliland control reflect the ambiguity that neither autonomous government has resolved through negotiation or force.
The region's mountainous terrain and coastal position create frankincense production—the aromatic resin traded since antiquity that provides modest income for communities with limited alternatives. Fishing along the coast supplements pastoral livelihoods that arid conditions constrain.
The SSC-Khaatumo state formation (recognized 2023, superseded by North Eastern State 2025) represented attempts by local clans to navigate between Somaliland and Puntland claims. Whether federal structures can accommodate the contested loyalties that Sanaag embodies—or whether the region remains disputed territory that neither autonomous government fully controls—shapes prospects for the broader Somali federal project.