British Somaliland (or more fully, British Somaliland Protectorate) (Somali: Dhulka Maxmiyada Soomaalida ee Biritishka, Arabic: الصومال البريطاني Al-Sumal Al-Britaniy‎‎) was a British protectorate in present-day northwestern Somalia. For much of its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Somaliland, French Somaliland and Ethiopia. From 1940 to 1941, it was occupied by the Italians and was part of Italian East Africa. On 1 July 1960, the British Somaliland protectorate united as scheduled with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic (Somalia). The government of Somaliland, a self-declared sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia, regards itself as the successor state to British Somal