Editing Somaliland (section)

=== Languages ===
{{main|Languages of Somaliland}}
Many people in Somaliland speak at least two of the three national languages: [[Somali language|Somali]], Arabic and English, although the rate of bilingualism is lower in rural areas. Article 6 of the Constitution of 2001 designates the official language of Somaliland to be Somali,<ref name="const" /> though Arabic is a mandatory subject in school and is used in mosques around the region and English is spoken and taught in schools.<ref name="B6x0e">{{cite web|url=http://www.somalilandgov.com/cprofile.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20010302083933/http://www.somalilandgov.com/cprofile.htm|title=Somaliland Republic: Country Profile|date=2 March 2001|archive-date=2 March 2001}}</ref>

The Somali language is the mother tongue of the [[Somali people]], the nation's most populous ethnic group. It is a member of the [[Cushitic languages|Cushitic]] branch of the [[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] language family, and its nearest relatives are the [[Oromo language|Oromo]], [[Afar language|Afar]] and [[Saho language|Saho]] languages.<ref name="MF5h5">I. M. Lewis (1998) ''Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho'', Red Sea Press, p. 11, {{ISBN|1-56902-104-X}}.</ref> Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages,<ref name="dOMDZ">{{Harvnb|Lecarme|Maury|1987|p=22}}.</ref> with academic studies of it dating from before 1900.

[[Northern Somali]] is the main dialect spoken in the country, in contrast to [[Benadiri Somali]] which is the main dialect spoken in Somalia.<ref name="YRXon">{{cite web|last1=Blench|first1=Roger|year=2006|title=The Afro-Asiatic Languages: Classification and Reference List|url=http://rogerblench.info/Language/Afroasiatic/General/AALIST.pdf|page=3}}</ref>

{{Largest cities of Somaliland}}