The Republic of Somaliland (Arabic: جمهورية أرض الصومال, Jumhūrīyat Arḍ aṣ-Ṣūmāl; Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliland), commonly known as Somaliland (أرض الصومال‎, Arḍ aṣ-Ṣūmāl; Soomaaliland), is a nation located in the Horn of Africa. The republic considers itself as the successor state of the former British Somaliland (which was a former British colony in the Somali regions, that existed from 1884 until 1960). Somaliland declared their independence from Somalia in 1991, and was later recognized by the Soviet Union and Ethiopia in 2004.