SOMALILAND PROTECTORATE, a territory on the west coast of Africa under the protection of Great Britain, lying along the Gulf of Aden from about long. 43° to 49° E., and extending from about lat. 11° to 8° N. On the east and southeast it is bounded by Italian Somaliland, on the south and west by Abys sinia and on the northwest by French Somali land. It has an area estimated at nearly 70,000 square miles, lacking in fertility largely on account of a need of natural irrigation. The surface is in great part mountainous. The climate is more healthful in the interior than along the coast where there is more humidity. Among the chief products are sheep, cattle, skins, ostrich feathers, myrrh and incense. The principal ports are Bulhar, Zeila and Berbera, connected by telegraph lines and having wire less telegraph stations. Berbera, the capital, pop. 30,000, has a good harbor and is in winter the scene of considerable commercial activity. The combined imports and exports are valued at about $2,500,000. The protectorate, created
in 1884, is administered by a commissioner and commander-in-chief appointed by the colonial office since 1 April 1905. In 1894 the boundary between this protectorate and Italian Somali land was d. fined. In the spring of 1903 an agitation in this region in favor of the Mad Mullah (q.v.) led to a considerable loss among the British troops and their concentration on the coast. Since 1912 a camel constabulary corps has been effective in checking intertribal fighting. The inhabitants arc related to the Abyssinians and Gallas and on account of their nomadic habits there are no accurate statistics of population, which is estimated at about 300,000. Consult Drake-Brockman, R. E., 'British Somaliland' (London 1912) ; Hamil ton, A., 'Somaliland' (London 1911) ; Swayne, H. G. C., 'Seventeen Trips through Somali land' (London 1900).