HARGEISA, Nov. 10 (Horndiplomat) — The U.S. Embassy in Australia has shared a global freedom map depicting Somaliland separately from Somalia, reflecting different assessments of political rights and civil liberties.
The graphic, produced by Statista using Freedom House data for 2025, shows Somaliland in yellow, indicating “Partly Free”, while Somalia appears in red, denoting “Not Free”.
“This map says it best,” the embassy wrote in its accompanying post on X. “Freedom is the foundation of our strongest partnerships.”
The embassy’s message focused on shared freedoms in the United States and Australia, contrasting them with restrictions in China. It made no direct reference to Somaliland or Somalia.
Freedom House’s 2025 assessment gave Somaliland a score of 47 out of 100, comprising 21 points for political rights and 26 for civil liberties. Somalia scored eight out of 100 and was classified as “Not Free”.
The map covers 208 countries and territories, assessing factors including electoral processes, political participation, government functioning, freedom of expression, associational rights and the rule of law.
Freedom House assesses Somaliland separately under a methodology that allows distinct evaluations of territories with different political rights and civil liberties conditions and sufficiently stable boundaries for comparisons over time. The embassy’s accompanying statement contained no announcement concerning recognition of Somaliland.
Somaliland’s separate depiction highlights its distinct political institutions and record of competitive elections and peaceful transfers of power between rival parties, features documented in Freedom House’s assessment.
