While most of Somalia has been a dangerous, unstable place since the fall of Siad Barre in 1991, Somaliland, the northernmost part of the former Somalia, has fared surprisingly well. It has a functioning government, a police force, currency, and strong aspirations towards sovreignty. The unrecognized country has just held its first democratic poll since declaring independence, electing 82 members of a parliament. Head Heeb observes that the electoral commission will be posting results online as they're available, something that many electoral boards in the US are unable to do…

Yvette Lopez, who blogs at Inside Somaliland, has terrific first-hand coverage of the elections. Serving with an election monitoring team, she found herself working in Erigavo, capital of Sanaag, a territory in southern Somaliland that is also claimed by Puntland. She's got brilliant photos of her time in Erigavo – very much worth a look and a read…