
This article needs additional citations for verification.(April 2024) |
Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area of 23,200 km2 (8,958 sq mi).
Republic of Djibouti | |
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Motto: Midnimo, Sinnaan, Nabad (Somali) Inkittiino, Qeedala, Wagari (Afar) Unité, Égalité, Paix (French) اتحاد، مساواة، سلام (Arabic) Unity, Equality, Peace (English) | |
Anthem: Djibouti | |
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Capital and largest city | Djibouti City 11°36′N 43°10′E / 11.600°N 43.167°E |
Official languages | |
National languages | |
Ethnic groups |
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Religion | 94% Islam (official) 6% Christianity |
Demonym(s) | Djiboutian |
Government | Unitary dominant-partypresidential republic under a hereditary dictatorship |
• President | Ismaïl Omar Guelleh |
• Prime Minister | Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed |
Legislature | National Assembly |
Formation | |
• Obock Territory | 12 May 1862 |
• French Somaliland | 20 May 1883 |
• French Territory of the Afars and Issas | 5 July 1967 |
• Independence from France | 27 June 1977 |
• Admitted to the United Nations | 20 September 1977 |
• Current constitution | 4 September 1992 |
Area | |
• Total | 23,200 km2 (9,000 sq mi) (146th) |
• Water (%) | 0.09 (20 km² / 7.7 sq mi) |
Population | |
• 2024 census | 1,066,809 |
• Density | 46.0/km2 (119.1/sq mi) (168th) |
GDP (PPP) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | |
• Per capita | |
GDP (nominal) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | |
• Per capita | |
Gini (2017) | ![]() medium inequality |
HDI (2021) | low (171st) |
Currency | Djiboutian franc (DJF) |
Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
Calling code | +253 |
ISO 3166 code | DJ |
Internet TLD | .dj |
In antiquity, the territory, together with Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somaliland, was part of the Land of Punt. Nearby Zeila, now in Somaliland, was the seat of the medieval Adal and Ifat Sultanates. In the late 19th century, the colony of French Somaliland was established after the ruling Dir Somali and Afar sultans signed treaties with the French, and its railroad to Dire Dawa (and later Addis Ababa) allowed it to quickly supersede Zeila as the port for southern Ethiopia and the Ogaden. It was renamed the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas in 1967. A decade later, the Djiboutian people voted for independence. This officially marked the establishment of the Republic of Djibouti, named after its capital city. The new state joined the United Nations in its first year. In the early 1990s, tensions over government representation led to armed conflict, which ended in a power-sharing agreement in 2000 between the ruling party and the opposition.
Djibouti is a multi-ethnic nation with a population of 1,066,809 at the census held on 20 May 2024 (the smallest in mainland Africa). French and Arabic are its two official languages; Afar and Somali are national languages. About 94% of Djiboutians adhere to Islam, which is the official religion and has been predominant in the region for more than 1,000 years. The Somalis and Afar make up the two largest ethnic groups, with the former comprising the majority of the population. Both speak a language of the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages.
Djibouti is near some of the world's busiest shipping lanes, controlling access to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. It serves as a key refuelling and transshipment center and the principal maritime port for imports from and exports to neighboring Ethiopia. A burgeoning commercial hub, the nation is the site of various foreign military bases. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) regional body also has its headquarters in Djibouti City.
Name and etymology
Djibouti is officially known as the Republic of Djibouti. In local languages it is known as Gabuuti (in Afar) and Jabuuti (in Somali).
The country is named for its capital, the City of Djibouti. The etymology of the name is disputed. There are several theories and legends about its origin, varying based on ethnicity. One theory derives it from the Afar word gabouti, meaning "plate", possibly referring to the area's geographical features. Another connects it to gabood, meaning "upland/plateau". Djibouti could also mean "Land of Tehuti" or "Land of Thoth (Egyptian: Djehuti/ Djehuty)", after the Egyptian moon god.
Under French administration, from 1862 until 1894, the land to the north of the Gulf of Tadjoura was called "Obock". While 1897 to 1967 the area was known as French Somaliland (French: Côte française des Somalis), and from 1967 to 1977 as the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (French: Territoire français des Afars et des Issas).
History
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Prehistory
The Bab-el-Mandeb region has often been considered a primary crossing point for early hominins following a southern coastal route from East Africa to South and Southeast Asia.
The Djibouti area has been inhabited since the Neolithic. According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations arrived in the region during this period from the family's proposed urheimat ("original homeland") in the Nile Valley, or the Near East. Other scholars propose that the Afroasiatic family developed in situ in the Horn, with its speakers subsequently dispersing from there.
Cut stones dated about 3 million years old have been collected in the area of Lake Abbe.[citation needed] In the Gobaad plain (between Dikhil and Lake Abbe), the remains of the extinct elephant Palaeoloxodon recki were also discovered, visibly butchered using basalt tools found nearby. These remains would date from 1.4 million years BCE. Subsequently, other similar sites were identified as probably the work of Homo ergaster. An Acheulean site (from 800,000 to 400,000 years BCE), where stone was cut, was excavated in the 1990s, in Gombourta, between Damerdjog and Loyada, 15 km south of Djibouti City. Finally, in Gobaad, a Homo erectus jaw was found, dating from 100,000 BCE. On Devil's Island, tools dating back 6,000 years have been found, which were used to open shells. In the area at the bottom of Goubet (Dankalélo, not far from Devil's Island), circular stone structures and fragments of painted pottery have also been discovered. Previous investigators have also reported a fragmentary maxilla, attributed to an older form of Homo sapiens and dated to c. 250 Ka, from the valley of the Dagadlé Wadi.
Pottery predating the mid-2nd millennium has been found at Asa Koma, an inland lake area on the Gobaad Plain. The site's ware is characterized by punctate and incision geometric designs, which bear a similarity to the Sabir culture phase 1 ceramics from Ma'layba in Southern Arabia. Long-horned humpless cattle bones have likewise been discovered at Asa Koma, suggesting that domesticated cattle were present by around 3,500 years ago. Rock art of what appear to be antelopes and a giraffe are also found at Dorra and Balho. Handoga, dated to the fourth millennium BCE, has in turn yielded obsidian microliths and plain ceramics used by early nomadic pastoralists with domesticated cattle.
The site of Wakrita is a small Neolithic establishment located on a wadi in the tectonic depression of Goba'ad in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. The 2004 excavations yielded abundant ceramics that enabled us to define one Neolithic cultural facies of this region, which was also identified at the nearby site of Asa Koma. The faunal remains confirm the importance of fishing in Neolithic settlements close to Lake Abbé, but also the importance of bovine husbandry and, for the first time in this area, evidence for caprine herding practices. Radiocarbon dating places this occupation at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE, similar in range to Asa Koma. These two sites represent the oldest evidence of herding in the region, and they provide a better understanding of the development of Neolithic societies in this region.
Up to 4000 years BCE, the region benefited from a climate very different from the one it knows today and probably close to the Mediterranean climate. The water resources were numerous with lakes in Goba'ad, lakes Assal and Abbé larger and resembling real bodies of water. The humans therefore lived by gathering, fishing and hunting. The region was populated by a very rich fauna: felines, buffaloes, elephants, rhinos, etc., as evidenced, for example, by the bestiary of cave paintings at Balho. In the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE, few nomads settled around the lakes and practiced fishing and cattle breeding. The burial of an 18-year-old woman, dating from this period, as well as the bones of hunted animals, bone tools and small jewels have been unearthed. By about 1500 BCE, the climate was already beginning to change, with sources of fresh water becoming more scarce. Engravings show dromedaries (animal of arid zones), some of which are ridden by armed warriors. The sedentary people now returned to a nomadic life. Stone tumuli of various shapes and sheltering graves dating from this period have been unearthed all over the territory.
Antiquity
The earliest recorded ancient Egyptian expedition to Punt was organized by Pharaoh Sahure of the Fifth Dynasty (25th century BC), returning with cargoes of antyue and Puntites. However, gold from Punt is recorded as having been in Egypt as early as the time of Pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty.
Subsequently, there were more expeditions to Punt in the Sixth, Eleventh, Twelfth and Eighteenth dynasties of Egypt. In the Twelfth Dynasty, trade with Punt was celebrated in popular literature in the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor.
In the reign of Mentuhotep III (11th dynasty, ca. 2000 BC), an officer named Hannu organized one or more voyages to Punt, but it is uncertain whether he personally traveled on these expeditions. Trading missions of the 12th dynasty pharaohs Senusret I, Amenemhat II and Amenemhat IV had also successfully navigated their way to and from the mysterious land of Punt.
In the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Hatshepsut built a Red Sea fleet to facilitate trade between the head of the Gulf of Aqaba and points south as far as Punt to bring mortuary goods to Karnak in exchange for Nubian gold. Hatshepsut personally made the most famous ancient Egyptian expedition that sailed to Punt. Her artists revealing much about the royals, inhabitants, habitation and variety of trees on the island, revealing it as the "Land of the Gods, a region far to the east in the direction of the sunrise, blessed with products for religious purposes", where traders returned with gold, ivory, ebony, incense, aromatic resins, animal skins, live animals, eye-makeup cosmetics, fragrant woods, and cinnamon. During the reign of Queen Hatshepsut in the 15th century BC, ships regularly crossed the Red Sea in order to obtain bitumen, copper, carved amulets, naptha and other goods transported overland and down the Dead Sea to Elat at the head of the gulf of Aqaba where they were joined with frankincense and myrrh coming north both by sea and overland along trade routes through the mountains running north along the east coast of the Red Sea. Together with northern Ethiopia, Somaliland, Eritrea and the Red Sea coast of Sudan, Djibouti is considered the most likely location of the territory known to the Ancient Egyptians as Punt (or Ta Netjeru, meaning "God's Land"). The first mention of the Land of Punt dates to the 25th century BC. The Puntites were a nation of people who had close relations with Ancient Egypt during the reign of the 5th dynasty Pharaoh Sahure and the 18th dynasty Queen Hatshepsut. According to the temple murals at Deir el-Bahari, the Land of Punt was ruled at that time by King Parahu and Queen Ati.
Introduction of Islam and the Middle Ages
The Adal (also Awdal, Adl, or Adel) was centered around Zeila, its capital. It was established by the local Somali clans in the early 9th century. Zeila attracted merchants from around the world, contributing to the wealth of the city. Zeila is an ancient city and it was one of the earliest cities in the world to embrace Islam, shortly after the hijra. Zeila's two-mihrab Masjid al-Qiblatayn dates to the 7th century, and is the oldest mosque. In the late 9th century, Al-Yaqubi, an Arab Muslim scholar and traveler, wrote that the Kingdom of Adal was a small wealthy kingdom and that Zeila served as the headquarters for the kingdom, which dated back to the beginning of the century.
The earliest reference to Adal was following the collapse of the Makhzumi dynasty in July 1288 when 'Ali Baziyu led a campaign in Adal and Mora which was concluded by the killing of the lords of Adal and Mora, the victorious Sultan then annexed Adal and Mora to his Kingdom. Adal is also mentioned by Marco Polo in 1295 as a state continuously in conflict with Abyssinia. According to fourteenth century Arab historian Al Umari, Adal was one of the founding regions of the Ifat Sultanate alongside Biqulzar, Shewa, Kwelgora, Shimi, Jamme and Laboo. It was used ambiguously in the medieval era to indicate the Muslim inhabitant low land portion east of the Ethiopian Empire. Including north of the Awash River towards Lake Abbe in modern Djibouti–Ethiopia border as well as the territory between Shewa and Zeila on the coast of Somalia. Districts within Adal included Hubat, Gidaya and Hargaya. It also occasionally included the Hadiya Sultanate. The region was mostly located in modern day Awdal and had Zeila as a capital city but also controlled other interior towns like Abasa or Dakkar extending into the Harar plateau to the south-east and modern day Djibouti in the west.
The Walashma dynasty are regarded by scholars as the founders of the Ifat Sultanate. Ifat first emerged when Umar Ibn Dunyā-ḥawaz, later to be known as Sultan Umar Walasma, carved out his own kingdom and conquered the Sultanate of Shewa located in northern Hararghe. In 1288 Sultan Wali Asma successfully imposed his rule on Hubat, Zeila and other Muslim states in the region. Taddesse Tamrat explains Sultan Walashma's military acts as an effort to consolidate the Muslim territories in the Horn of Africa in much the same way as Emperor Yekuno Amlak was attempting to consolidate the Christian territories in the highlands during the same period.
In 1320 a conflict between the Christian monarch and Muslim Ifat leaders began. The conflict was precipitated by Al-Nasir Muhammad of Egypt. The Mamluk ruler Al-Nasir Muhammad was persecuting Christian Copts and destroying Coptic churches. The Ethiopian Emperor Amda Seyon I sent an envoy with a warning to the Mamluk ruler that if he did not stop the persecution of Christians in Egypt, he would retaliate against Muslims under his rule and would starve the peoples of Egypt by diverting the course of the Nile. According to Pankhurst, of the two threats, the diversion of Nile was an idle threat and the Egyptian sultan dismissed it because he likely realized this to be so. The fear that the Ethiopians might tamper with the Nile, states Pankhurst, was nevertheless to remain with Egyptians for many centuries.
Sabr ad-Din's rebellion was not an attempt to achieve independence, but to become emperor of a Muslim Ethiopia. Amda Seyon's royal chronicle states that Sabr ad-Din proclaimed:
- "I wish to be King of all Ethiopia; I will rule the Christians according to their law and I will destroy their churches...I will nominate governors in all the provinces of Ethiopia, as does the King of Zion (Ethiopia)...I will transform the churches into mosques. I will subjugate and convert the King of the Christians to my religion, I will make him a provincial governor, and if he refuses to be converted I will hand him over to one of the shepherds, called Warjeke [i.e. Warjih], that he may be made a keeper of camels. As for the Queen Jan Mangesha, his wife, I will employ her to grind corn. I will make my residence at Marade [i.e. Tegulet], the capital of his kingdom."
In fact, after his first incursion, Sabr ad-Din appointed governors for nearby and neighboring provinces such as Fatagar and Alamalé, as well as far-off provinces in the north like Damot, Amhara, Angot, Inderta, Begemder, and Gojjam. He also threatened to plant khat at the capital, a stimulant used by Muslims but forbidden to Ethiopian Orthodox Christians.
In 1376, Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din Abdul Muhammad, also called Sa'ad ad-Din II, succeeded his brother and came to power, who continued to attack the Abyssinian Christian army. He attacked regional chiefs such as at Zalan and Hadeya, who supported the Emperor. According to Mordechai Abir, Sa'ad ad-Din II raids against the Ethiopian empire were largely hit-and-run type, which hardened the resolve of the Christian ruler to end the Muslim rule in their east. In the early 15th century, the Ethiopian Emperor who was likely Dawit I collected a large army to respond. He branded the Muslims of the surrounding area "enemies of the Lord", and invaded Ifat. After much war, Ifat's troops were defeated in 1403 on the Harar plateau, Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din subsequently fled to Zeila where Ethiopian soldiers pursued him.Al-Maqrizi narrates:
the Amhara pursued Sa'd al-Din as far as the peninsula of Zeila, in the ocean, where he took refuge. The Amhara besieged him there, and deprived him of water; at last one of the impious showed them a way by which they could reach him. When they came upon him a battle ensued; and after three days the water failed. Sa'd al Din was wounded in the forehead and fell to the ground, whereupon they pierced him with their swords. But he died happily, falling in God's cause.
After Sa'ad ad-Din's death “the strength of the Muslims was abated”, as Maqrizi states, and then the Amhara settled in the country “and from the ravaged mosques and they made churches”. The followers of Islam were said to have been harassed for over twenty years. The sources disagree on which Ethiopian Emperor conducted this campaign. According to the medieval historian al-Makrizi, Emperor Dawit I in 1403 pursued the Sultan of Adal, Sa'ad ad-Din II, to Zeila, where he killed the Sultan and sacked the city of Zeila. However, another contemporary source dates the death of Sa'ad ad-Din II to 1410, and credits Emperor Yeshaq with the slaying. His children and the remainder of the Walashma dynasty would flee to Yemen where they would live in exile until 1415.
In 1415, Sabr ad-Din III, the eldest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II, would return to Adal from his exile in Arabia to restore his father's throne. He would proclaim himself "king of Adal" after his return from Yemen to the Harar plateau and established his new capital at Dakkar. Sabr ad-Din III and his brothers would defeat an army of 20,000 men led by an unnamed commander hoping to restore the "lost Amhara rule". The victorious king then returned to his capital, but gave the order to his many followers to continue and extend the war against the Christians. The Emperor of Ethiopia Tewodros I was soon killed by the Adal Sultanate upon the return of Sa'ad ad-Din's heirs to the Horn of Africa.Sabr ad-Din III died a natural death and was succeeded by his brother Mansur ad-Din who invaded the capital and royal seat of the Solomonic Empire and drove Emperor Dawit I to Yedaya where according to al-Maqrizi, Sultan Mansur destroyed a Solomonic army and killed the Emperor. He then advanced to the mountains of Mokha, where he encountered a 30,000 strong Solomonic army. The Adalite soldiers surrounded their enemies and for two months besieged the trapped Solomonic soldiers until a truce was declared in Mansur's favour. During this period, Adal emerged as a centre of Muslim resistance against the expanding Christian Abyssinian kingdom. Adal would thereafter govern all of the territory formerly ruled by the Ifat Sultanate, as well as the land further east all the way from the Bab el Mandeb to Cape Guardafui, according to Leo Africanus. Adal is mentioned by name in the 14th century in the context of the battles between the Muslims of the Somali and Afar seaboard and the Abyssinian King Amda Seyon I's Christian troops. Adal originally had its capital in the port city of Zeila, situated in the western Awdal region. The polity at the time was an Emirate in the larger Ifat Sultanate ruled by the Walashma dynasty.
According to I.M. Lewis, the polity was governed by local dynasties consisting of Somalized Arabs or Arabized Somalis, who also ruled over the similarly established Sultanate of Mogadishu in the Benadir region to the south. Adal's history from this founding period forth would be characterized by a succession of battles with neighbouring Abyssinia. At its height, the Adal kingdom controlled large parts of modern-day Djibouti, Somaliland, Eritrea and Ethiopia. Between Djibouti City and Loyada are a number of anthropomorphic and phallic stelae. The structures are associated with graves of rectangular shape flanked by vertical slabs, as also found in Tiya, central Ethiopia. The Djibouti-Loyada stelae are of uncertain age, and some of them are adorned with a T-shaped symbol. Additionally, archaeological excavations at Tiya have yielded tombs. As of 1997, 118 stelae were reported in the area. Along with the stelae in the Hadiya Zone, the structures are identified by local residents as Yegragn Dingay or "Gran's stone", in reference to Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (Ahmad "Gurey" or "Gran"), ruler of the Adal Sultanate.
Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi was a military leader of the medieval Adal Sultanate in the northern Horn of Africa. Between 1529 and 1543, he embarked on a campaign referred to as the Futuh Al-Habash, bringing the three-quarters of Christian Abyssinia under the control of the Muslim empire. With an army composed of Afar, Harari (Harla), and Somalis, al-Ghazi's forces came close to extinguishing the ancient Ethiopian kingdom, slaughtering any Ethiopian who refused to convert to Islam. Within the span of fourteen years the Imam was able to conquer the heartland of the country, wreaking havoc on the Christian nation. The Bahri Negash joined Emperor Gelawdewos and the Portuguese in the decisive Battle of Wayna Daga, where tradition states that Imam Ahmad was shot in the chest by a Portuguese musketeer named João de Castilho, who had charged alone into the Muslim lines and died. The wounded Imam was then beheaded by an Ethiopian cavalry commander, Azmach Calite. Once the Imam's soldiers learned of his death, they fled the battlefield. This conflict provided an opportunity for the Oromo people to conquer and migrate into the historically Gafat land of Welega south of the Blue Nile and eastward to the walls of Harar, establishing new territories.
Early modern era
In 1550, Nur ibn Mujahid became the Emir of Harar and the de facto ruler of Adal, fortifying Harar by constructing a defensive wall still present today. In 1559, he led an invasion against the Ethiopian Empire, killing Emperor Gelawdewos at the Battle of Fatagar, while simultaneously repelling an Ethiopian assault on Harar, which resulted in the death of Sultan Barakat ibn Umar Din and the end of the Walashma dynasty. The Oromo then invaded Adal, and Nur's army suffered a defeat at the Battle of Hazalo, though the city's walls kept it safe, albeit under severe famine conditions. Nur died in 1567, and was succeeded by Uthman the Abyssinian, whose peace treaty with the Oromos led to his overthrow. His successor, Muhammad ibn Nasir, attempted an expedition against Ethiopia but was defeated and killed at the Battle of Webi River, marking the end of Adal's aggression. Muhammad's successor, Mansur ibn Muhammad, fought the Oromos unsuccessfully and later reconquered Aussa and Zeila. The death of Nur and the fall of the Walashma monarchs sparked power struggles, with Muhammad Gasa taking the title of Imam in 1576 and relocating the capital to Aussa, founding the Imamate of Aussa, which declined over the next century, eventually falling to the Afar people. In the seventeenth century, Harla people and Doba populations integrated into the Afar identity, leading to the emergence of the Sultanate of Aussa. Enrico Cerulli attributed Adal's downfall to its inability to overcome tribal divisions, unlike the Ethiopian Empire under Sarsa Dengel, resulting in ongoing struggles among the nomadic tribes. The collapse of the Adal Sultanate led to the formation of multiple rump states such as Aussa, Tadjourah and Rahayto.
Mamluk Egypt being conquered by the Ottomans alarmed the Arabian merchants, who were afraid of these new Turkish conquerors hence they chose to travel towards Adal's shores. This was also followed by Indian merchants fleeing from the same enemy. The Ottomans noticing this sudden mass movement, hastidly occupied Zeyla and established a customs house and galleys patrolling the Bab-el-Mandeb. By the 17th century, when the Ottomans were compelled to retire from Zeyla, the town and its environs such as Tadjoura fell under the control of the rulers of Mocha and Sana'a, who had leased the territory to a Sana'a merchant called Sayyid Al-Barr. Zeyla was subsequently ruled by an Emir, whom Mordechai Abir suggested had "some vague claim to authority over all of the Sahil, but whose real authority did not extend very far beyond the walls of the town." Assisted by cannons and a few mercenaries armed with matchlocks, the governor succeeded in fending off incursions by both the disunited nomads of the interior, who had penetrated the area, as well as brigands in the Gulf of Aden. Although Tadjoura claimed complete independence, it was considered subordinate to Zeyla as the sultan would received an annual stipend from the local governor. Abubakr Pasha explained to Vice-Admiral Alphonse Fleuriot de Langle that when the Imam of Sana'a still controlled the Yemeni coast, some soldiers sent to Tadjoura were one day massacred by the inhabitants of the city. The governor of Mocha then dispatched a new detachment to avenge them. Rather than suffer these reprisals, the city preferred to commit to paying the Imam, each year at the time of the fairs, a perpetual annuity which the governor of Zeyla would be responsible for extracting. Tadjourah's vizier Mahammed Mahammed renewed it for the benefit of the Turkish Pasha of Al-Hodeydah although the Ottoman Empire never exercised political right over Tadjoura. Mohammed Al-Barr would later be succeeded as governor of Zeila and its dependencies(Sahil) by Sharmake Ali Salih. In June 1861, the French accused Sharmarke Ali Salih of being involved in the murder of Henri Lambert, a former French consular agent and supporter of Sharmarke's rival, Aboubakr Pasha, an Afar slave trader. Although the Turkish Pasha of Al-Hodeydah and the British Residency in Aden believed Sharmarke was innocent, he and some of his supporters were arrested and handed over to the French navy. The trial, originally planned for Constantinople, was later moved to Jeddah.
Muhammad Ali, Pasha of Egypt, came to control Yemen, Harar, Gulf of Tadjoura with Zeila and Berbera included. The Governor Abou Baker ordered the Egyptian garrison at Sagallo to retire to Zeila. The cruiser Seignelay reached Sagallo shortly after the Egyptians had departed. French troops occupied the fort despite protests from the British Agent in Aden, Major Frederick Mercer Hunter, who dispatched troops to safeguard British and Egyptian interests in Zeila and prevent further extension of French influence in that direction.
On 14 April 1884 the Commander of the patrol sloop L'Inferent reported on the Egyptian occupation in the Gulf of Tadjoura. The Commander of the patrol sloop Le Vaudreuil reported that the Egyptians were occupying the interior between Obock and Tadjoura. Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia signed an accord with Great Britain to cease fighting the Egyptians and to allow the evacuation of Egyptian forces from Ethiopia and the Somaliland littoral. The Egyptian garrison was withdrawn from Tadjoura. Léonce Lagarde deployed a patrol sloop to Tadjoura the following night.
French colonization (1862–1977)
The boundaries of the present-day Djibouti state were established as the first French establishment in the Horn of Africa during the Scramble for Africa. The March 11, 1862, agreement the Afar sultan, Raieta Dini Ahmet, signed in Paris was a treaty where the Afars sold lands surrounding in Obock. The French were interested in having a coaling station for steamships, which would become especially important upon the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. (Up to that time French ships had to buy coal at the British port of Aden across the gulf, an unwise dependency in case of war.) Later on, that treaty was used by the captain of the Fleuriot de Langle to colonize the south of the Gulf of Tadjoura. On March 26, 1885, the French signed another treaty with the Issas where the latter would become a protectorate under the French.
It was established between 1883 and 1887, after the ruling Somalis and Afar sultans each signed a treaty with the French. An attempt by Nikolay Ivanovitch Achinov, a Russian adventurer, to establish a settlement at Sagallo in 1889 was promptly thwarted by French forces after just one month. In 1894, Léonce Lagarde established a permanent French administration in the city of Djibouti and named the region French Somaliland. The construction of the Imperial Ethiopian Railway west into Ethiopia turned the port of Djibouti into a boomtown of 15,000 at a time when Harar was the only city in Ethiopia to exceed that. Although the population fell after the completion of the railwayline to Dire Dawa and the original company failed and required a government bail-out, the rail link allowed the territory to quickly supersede the caravan-based trade carried on at Zeila (then in the British area of Somaliland) and become the premier port for coffee and other goods leaving southern Ethiopia and the Ogaden through Harar.
The 6th Somali Marching Battalion was formed in Madagascar on May 11, 1916, with recruits from the French Somali Coast and renamed the 1st Battalion of Somali Tirailleurs upon arrival in France in June. Originally intended as a staging unit, the battalion’s officers responded to the Somalis' desire to fight, leading to their participation alongside the RICM in the October 1916 assault on Fort Douaumont. For their distinguished role, the battalion's companies were awarded the Croix de Guerre, and the RICM flag received the Legion of Honor. Reorganized as a combat unit by December 1916, the battalion fought at Chemin des Dames in May 1917 and later in significant battles such as Malmaison, the 3rd Battle of the Aisne, and the 2nd Battle of the Marne, earning multiple citations and the right to wear the Croix de Guerre fourragère. Of the 2,434 riflemen deployed, 517 were killed and 1,200 wounded in Europe.
After the Italian invasion and occupation of Ethiopia in the mid-1930s, constant border skirmishes occurred between French forces in French Somaliland and Italian forces in Italian East Africa. In June 1940, during the early stages of World War II, France fell and the colony was then ruled by the pro-Axis Vichy (French) government.
British and Commonwealth forces fought the neighboring Italians during the East African Campaign. In 1941, the Italians were defeated and the Vichy forces in French Somaliland were isolated. The Vichy French administration continued to hold out in the colony for over a year after the Italian collapse. In response, the British blockaded the port of Djibouti City but it could not prevent local French from providing information on the passing ship convoys. In 1942, about 4,000 British troops occupied the city. A local battalion from French Somaliland participated in the Liberation of France in 1944.
In 1958, on the eve of neighboring Somalia's independence in 1960, a referendum was held in Djibouti to decide whether to remain with France or to be an independent country. The referendum turned out in favour of a continued association with France, partly due to a combined yes vote by the sizable Afar ethnic group and resident French. There were also allegations of widespread vote rigging. The majority of those who had voted no were Somalis who were strongly in favour of joining a united Somalia as had been proposed by Mahmoud Harbi, Vice President of the Government Council. Harbi was killed in a plane crash two years later under suspicious circumstances.
In 1966, France rejected the United Nations' recommendation that it should grant French Somaliland independence. In August of the same year, an official visit to the territory by then French President Charles de Gaulle, was also met with demonstrations and rioting. In response to the protests, de Gaulle ordered another referendum.
In 1967, a second plebiscite was held to determine the fate of the territory. Initial results supported a continued but looser relationship with France. Voting was also divided along ethnic lines, with the resident Somalis generally voting for independence, with the goal of eventual union with Somalia, and the Afars largely opting to remain associated with France. The referendum was again marred by reports of vote rigging on the part of the French authorities. Shortly after the plebiscite was held, the former Côte française des Somalis (French Somaliland) was renamed to Territoire français des Afars et des Issas. Announcement of the plebiscite results sparked civil unrest, including several deaths. France also increased its military force along the frontier.
During the 1960s, the struggle for independence was led by the Front for the Liberation of the Somali Coast (FLCS), who waged an armed struggle for independence with much of its violence aimed at French personnel. FLCS used to initiate few mounting cross-border operations into French Somaliland from Somalia and Ethiopia to attacks on French targets. On March 24, 1975, the Front de Libération de la Côte des Somalis kidnapped the French Ambassador to Somalia, Jean Guery, to be exchanged against two activists of FLCS members who were both serving life terms in mainland France. He was exchanged for the two FLCS members in Aden, South Yemen. The FLCS was recognized as a national liberation movement by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which participated in its financing. The FLCS evolved its demands between the request of integration in a possible "Greater Somalia" influenced by the Somali government or the simple independence of the territory. In 1975 the African People's League for the Independence (LPAI) and FLCS met in Kampala, Uganda with several meeting later they finally opted for independence path, causing tensions with Somalia.
In 1976, members of the Front de Libération de la Côte des Somalis which sought Djibouti's independence from France, also clashed with the Gendarmerie Nationale Intervention Group over a bus hijacking en route to Loyada. This event, by showing the difficulties of maintaining the French colonial presence in Djibouti, was an important step in the independence of the territory. The likelihood of a third referendum appearing successful for the French had grown even dimmer. The prohibitive cost of maintaining the colony, France's last outpost on the continent, was another factor that compelled observers to doubt that the French would attempt to hold on to the territory.
Djibouti Republic
A third independence referendum was held in the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas on 8 May 1977. The previous referendums were held in 1958 and 1967, which rejected independence. This referendum backed independence from France. A landslide 98.8% of the electorate supported disengagement from France, officially marking Djibouti's independence.Hassan Gouled Aptidon, an Issa (ethnic Somali) politician who had campaigned for a yes vote in the referendum of 1958, became the nation's first president (1977–1999).
During its first year, Djibouti joined the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union), the Arab League, and the United Nations. In 1986, the nascent republic was also among the founding members of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development regional development organization. During the Ogaden War, influential Issa politicians envisioned a Greater Djibouti or "Issa-land", where Djibouti's borders would extend from the Red Sea to Dire Dawa. That dream was dashed towards the end of the war as Somali forces were routed from Ethiopia.
In the early 1990s, tensions over government representation led to armed conflict between Djibouti's ruling People's Rally for Progress (PRP) party and the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD) opposition group. The impasse ended in a power-sharing agreement in 2000.
In April 2021, Ismael Guelleh, the second President of Djibouti since independence from France in 1977, was re-elected for his fifth term.
Politics
Djibouti is a unitary presidential republic, with executive power resting in the presidency, which is by turn dominant over the cabinet, and legislative power in both the government and the National Assembly.
Governance
The president, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, is the prominent figure in Djiboutian politics—the head of state and commander-in-chief. The president exercises their executive power assisted by their appointee, the Prime Minister, currently Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed. The Council of Ministers (cabinet) is responsible to and presided over by the president.
The judicial system consists of courts of first instance, a High Court of Appeal, and a Supreme Court. The legal system is a blend of French civil law and customary law (Xeer) of the Somali and Afar peoples.
The National Assembly (formerly the Chamber of Deputies) is the country's legislature, consisting of 65 members elected every five years. Although unicameral, the Constitution provides for the creation of a Senate. The last election was held on 23 February 2018. Djibouti has a dominant-party system, with the People's Rally for Progress (RPP) controlling the legislature and the executive since its foundation in 1979 (the party rules as a part of the Union for a Presidential Majority, which holds a supermajority of seats). Opposition parties are allowed (limited) freedom, but the main opposition party, the Union for National Salvation, boycotted the 2005 and 2008 elections, citing government control of the media and repression of the opposition candidates.
The government is dominated by the Somali Issa Dir clan, who have the support of the Somali clans, especially the Gadabuursi Dir clan. The country emerged from a decade-long civil war at the end of the 1990s with the government and the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD) signing a peace treaty in 2000. Two FRUD members joined the cabinet, and beginning with the presidential elections of 1999, the FRUD has campaigned in support of the RPP.
President Guelleh succeeded Hassan Gouled Aptidon in office in 1999. Guelleh was sworn in for his second six-year term after a one-man election on 8 April 2005. He took 100% of the votes in a 78.9% turnout. In early 2011, the Djiboutian citizenry took part in a series of protests against the long-serving government, which were associated with the larger Arab Spring demonstrations. Guelleh was reelected to a third term later that year with 80.63% of the vote in a 75% turnout. Although opposition groups boycotted the ballot over changes to the constitution permitting Guelleh to run again for office, international observers from the African Union generally described the election as free and fair.
On 31 March 2013, Guelleh replaced long-serving Prime Minister Dilleita Mohamed Dilleita with former president of the Union for a Presidential Majority (UMP) Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed. In December 2014, the ruling Union for the Presidential Majority also signed a framework agreement with the Union of National Salvation coalition, which paves the way for opposition legislators to enter parliament and for reformation of the national electoral agency.
Foreign relations
Foreign relations of Djibouti are managed by the Djiboutian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Djibouti maintains close ties with the governments of Somalia, Ethiopia, France and the United States. It is likewise an active participant in African Union, United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and Arab League affairs. Since the 2000s, Djiboutian authorities have also strengthened relations with Turkey.
Djibouti has been a member of The Forum of Small States (FOSS) since the group's founding in 1992.
Military
The Djiboutian Armed Forces include the Djiboutian Army, which consists of the Djiboutian Navy, the Djiboutian Air Force, and the National Gendarmerie (GN). As of 2011[update], the manpower available for military service was 170,386 males and 221,411 females aged 16 to 49. Djibouti spent over US$36 million annually on its military as of 2011[update] (141st in the SIPRI database). After independence, Djibouti had two regiments commanded by French officers. In the early 2000s, it looked outward for a model of army organization that would best advance defensive capabilities by restructuring forces into smaller, more mobile units instead of traditional divisions.
The first war to involve the Djiboutian Armed Forces was the Djiboutian Civil War between the Djiboutian government, supported by France, and the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD). The war lasted from 1991 to 2001, although most of the hostilities ended when the moderate factions of FRUD signed a peace treaty with the government after suffering an extensive military setback when the government forces captured most of the rebel-held territory. A radical group continued to fight the government, but signed its own peace treaty in 2001. The war ended in a government victory, and FRUD became a political party.
As the headquarters of the IGAD regional body, Djibouti has been an active participant in the Somali peace process, hosting the Arta conference in 2000. Following the establishment of the Federal Government of Somalia in 2012, a Djiboutian delegation attended the inauguration ceremony of Somalia's new president.
In recent years, Djibouti has improved its training techniques, military command and information structures and has taken steps to becoming more self-reliant in supplying its military to collaborate with the United Nations in peacekeeping missions, or to provide military help to countries that officially ask for it. Now deployed to Somalia and Sudan.
Foreign military presence
The French Forces remained present in Djibouti when the territory gained independence, first as part of a provisional protocol of June 1977 laying down the conditions for the stationing of French forces, constituting a defense agreement. A new defence cooperation treaty between France and Djibouti was signed in Paris on 21 December 2011. It entered into force on 1 May 2014. By that treaty and its security clause, France reaffirmed its commitment to the independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Djibouti. As well before independence, in 1962, a French Foreign Legion unit, the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13 DBLE) was transferred from Algeria to Djibouti to form the core of the French garrison there. On 31 July 2011, the (13 DBLE) left Djibouti to the United Arab Emirates.
Djibouti's strategic location by the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which separates the Gulf of Aden from the Red Sea and controls the approaches to the Suez Canal, has made it a desirable location for foreign military bases. Camp Lemonnier was abandoned by the French and later leased to the United States Central Command in September 2002. The lease was renewed in 2014 for another 20 years. The Italian National Support Military Base is also located in Djibouti. The country also hosts the only overseas Japanese military base and Chinese support base.
The hosting of foreign military bases is an important part of Djibouti's economy. The United States pays $63 million a year to rent Camp Lemonnier, France and Japan each pay about $30 million a year respectively, and China pays $20 million a year. The lease payments added up to more than 5% of Djibouti's total GDP of US$2.3 billion in 2017.
Human rights
In its 2011 Freedom in the World report, Freedom House ranked Djibouti as "Not Free", a downgrading from its former status as "Partly Free".
According to the 2019 U.S. State Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices, Djibouti's significant human rights issues include unlawful or arbitrary killings by government agents; arbitrary detention by government agents; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists; criminal libel; substantial interference with the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association; significant acts of corruption; and violence against women and girls with inadequate government action for prosecution and accountability, including female genital mutilation/cutting. It states also that impunity was a problem, with the government seldom taking steps to identify and punish officials who committed abuses, whether in the security services or elsewhere in the government.
Administrative divisions
Djibouti is sub-divided into six administrative regions, with Djibouti city being one of the official regions. It is further subdivided into twenty sub-prefectures.
Region | Area (km2) | Population 2009 census | Population 2024 census | Capital |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ali Sabieh | 2,200 | 86,949 | 76,414 | Ali Sabieh |
Arta | 1,800 | 42,380 | 48,922 | Arta |
Dikhil | 7,200 | 88,948 | 66,196 | Dikhil |
Djibouti | 200 | 475,322 | 776,966 | Djibouti City |
Obock | 4,700 | 37,856 | 37,666 | Obock |
Tadjourah | 7,100 | 86,704 | 50,645 | Tadjoura |
Geography
Location and habitat
Djibouti is in the Horn of Africa, on the Gulf of Aden and the Bab-el-Mandeb, at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. It lies between latitudes 11° and 14°N and longitudes 41° and 44°E, at the northernmost point of the Great Rift Valley. It is in Djibouti that the rift between the African Plate and the Somali Plate meets the Arabian Plate, forming a geologic tripoint. The tectonic interaction at this tripoint has created the lowest elevation of any place in Africa at Lake Assal, and the second-lowest depression on dry land anywhere on earth (surpassed only by the depression along the border of Jordan and Israel).
The country's coastline stretches 314 kilometres (195 miles), with terrain consisting mainly of plateau, plains and highlands. Djibouti has a total area of 23,200 square kilometres (8,958 sq mi). Its borders extend 575 km (357 mi), 125 km (78 mi) of which are shared with Eritrea, 390 km (242 mi) with Ethiopia, and 60 km (37 mi) with Somaliland. Djibouti is the southernmost country on the Arabian Plate.
Djibouti has eight mountain ranges with peaks of over 1,000 metres (3,300 feet). The Mousa Ali range is considered the country's highest mountain range, with the tallest peak on the border with Ethiopia and Eritrea. It has an elevation of 2,028 metres (6,654 feet). The Grand Bara desert covers parts of southern Djibouti in the Arta, Ali Sabieh and Dikhil regions. The majority of it sits at a relatively low elevation, below 1,700 feet (520 metres).
Extreme geographic points include: to the north, Ras Doumera and the point at which the border with Eritrea enters the Red Sea in the Obock Region; to the east, a section of the Red Sea coast north of Ras Bir; to the south, a location on the border with Ethiopia west of the town of As Ela; and to the west, a location on the frontier with Ethiopia immediately east of the Ethiopian town of Afambo.
Most of Djibouti is part of the Ethiopian xeric grasslands and shrublands ecoregion. The exception is an eastern strip along the Red Sea coast, which is part of the Eritrean coastal desert.
- Landscapes of Djibouti
- Lake Assal
- Traditional houses on the Mabla Mountains
- Lake Abbe
- The mountains near Dasbiyo
- Beach south of Djibouti City, overlooking the Gulf of Aden
Climate
Djibouti's climate is significantly warmer and has significantly less seasonal variation than the world average. The mean daily maximum temperatures range from 32 to 41 °C (90 to 106 °F), except at high elevations. In Djibouti City, for instance, average afternoon highs range from 28 to 34 °C (82 to 93 °F) in April. But at Airolaf, which ranges from 1,535 to 1,600 m (5,036 to 5,249 ft), maximum temperature is 30 °C (86 °F) in summer and minimum 9 °C (48 °F) in winter. In the uplands ranges from 500 to 800 m (1,600 to 2,600 ft), are comparable and cooler to those on the coast in the hottest months of June until August. December and January is the coolest month with averages low temperatures falling as low as 15 °C (59 °F). Djibouti has either a hot semi-arid climate (BSh) or a hot desert climate (BWh), although temperatures are much moderated at the highest elevations.
Djibouti's climate ranges from arid in the northeastern coastal regions to semi-arid in the central, northern, western and southern parts of the country. On the eastern seaboard, annual rainfall is less than 5 inches (130 mm); in the central highlands, precipitation is about 8 to 16 inches (200 to 410 millimetres). The hinterland is significantly less humid than the coastal regions.
Location | July (°C) | July (°F) | January (°C) | January (°F) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Djibouti City | 41/31 | 107/88 | 28/21 | 83/70 |
Ali Sabieh | 36/25 | 96/77 | 26/15 | 79/60 |
Tadjoura | 41/31 | 107/88 | 29/22 | 84/72 |
Dikhil | 38/27 | 100/81 | 27/17 | 80/63 |
Obock | 41/30 | 105/87 | 28/22 | 84/72 |
Arta | 36/25 | 97/78 | 25/15 | 78/60 |
Randa | 34/23 | 94/73 | 23/13 | 74/56 |
Holhol | 38/28 | 101/81 | 26/17 | 79/62 |
Ali Adde | 38/27 | 100/82 | 26/16 | 80/61 |
Airolaf | 31/18 | 88/66 | 22/9 | 71/49 |
Wildlife
The country's flora and fauna live in a harsh landscape with forest accounting for less than one percent of the total area of the country. Wildlife is spread over three main regions, namely from the northern mountain region of the country to the volcanic plateaux in its southern and central part and culminating in the coastal region.
Most species of wildlife are found in the northern part of the country, in the ecosystem of the Day Forest National Park. At an average altitude of 1,500 metres (4,921 feet), the area includes the Goda massif, with a peak of 1,783 m (5,850 ft). It covers an area of 3.5 square kilometres (1 sq mi) of Juniperus procera forest, with many of the trees rising to 20 metres (66 feet) height. This forest area is the main habitat of the endangered and endemic Djibouti francolin (a bird), and another recently noted vertebrate, Platyceps afarensis (a colubrine snake). It also contains many species of woody and herbaceous plants, including boxwood and olive trees, which account for 60% of the total identified species in the country.
According to the country profile related to biodiversity of wildlife in Djibouti, the nation contains more than 820 species of plants, 493 species of invertebrates, 455 species of fish, 40 species of reptiles, three species of amphibians, 360 species of birds and 66 species of mammals. Wildlife of Djibouti is also listed as part of Horn of Africa biodiversity hotspot and the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coral reef hotspot. Mammals include several species of antelope, such as Soemmerring's gazelle and Pelzeln's gazelle. As a result of the hunting ban imposed since early 1970 these species are well conserved now. Other characteristic mammals are Grevy's zebra, hamadryas baboon and Hunter's antelope. The warthog, a vulnerable species, is also found in the Day National park. The coastal waters have dugongs and Abyssinian genet; the latter needs confirmation by further studies. Green turtles and hawksbill turtles are in the coastal waters where nestling also takes place. The Northeast African cheetah Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii is thought to be extinct in Djibouti.
Economy
Djibouti's economy is largely concentrated in the service sector. Commercial activities revolve around the country's free trade policies and strategic location as a Red Sea transit point. Due to limited rainfall, vegetables and fruits are the principal production crops, and other food items require importation. The GDP (purchasing power parity) in 2013 was estimated at $2.505 billion, with a real growth rate of 5% annually. Per capita income is around $2,874 (PPP). The services sector constituted around 79.7% of the GDP, followed by industry at 17.3%, and agriculture at 3%.
As of 2013[update], the container terminal at the Port of Djibouti handles the bulk of the nation's trade. About 70% of the seaport's activity consists of imports to and exports from neighboring Ethiopia, which depends on the harbour as its main maritime outlet. As of 2018, 95% of Ethiopian transit cargo was handled by the Port of Djibouti. The port also serves as an international refueling center and transshipment hub. In 2012, the Djiboutian government in collaboration with DP World started construction of the Doraleh Container Terminal, a third major seaport intended to further develop the national transit capacity. A $396 million project, it has the capacity to accommodate 1.5 million twenty foot container units annually.
Djibouti was ranked the 177th safest investment destination in the world in the March 2011 Euromoney Country Risk rankings. To improve the environment for direct foreign investment, the Djibouti authorities in conjunction with various non-profit organizations have launched a number of development projects aimed at highlighting the country's commercial potential. The government has also introduced new private sector policies targeting high interest and inflation rates, including relaxing the tax burden on enterprises and allowing exemptions on consumption tax. Additionally, efforts have been made to lower the estimated 60% urban unemployment rate by creating more job opportunities through investment in diversified sectors. Funds have especially gone toward building telecommunications infrastructure and increasing disposable income by supporting small businesses. Owing to its growth potential, the fishing and agro-processing sector, which represents around 15% of GDP, has also enjoyed rising investment since 2008.
To expand the modest industrial sector, a 56 megawatt geothermal power plant slated to be completed by 2018 is being constructed with the help of OPEC, the World Bank and the Global Environmental Facility. The facility is expected to solve the recurring electricity shortages, decrease the nation's reliance on Ethiopia for energy, reduce costly oil imports for diesel-generated electricity, and thereby buttress the GDP and lower debt.
The Djibouti firm Salt Investment (SIS) began a large-scale operation to industrialize the plentiful salt in Djibouti's Lake Assal region. Operating at an annual capacity of 4 million tons, the desalination project has lifted export revenues, created more job opportunities, and provided more fresh water for the area's residents. In 2012, the Djibouti government also enlisted the services of the China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd for the construction of an ore terminal. Worth $64 million, the project enabled Djibouti to export a further 5,000 tons of salt per year to markets in Southeast Asia.
Djibouti's gross domestic product expanded by an average of more than 6 percent per year, from US$341 million in 1985 to US$1.5 billion in 2015. The Djiboutian franc is the currency of Djibouti. It is issued by the Central Bank of Djibouti, the country's monetary authority. Since the Djiboutian franc is pegged to the U.S. dollar, it is generally stable and inflation is not a problem. This has contributed to the growing interest in investment in the country.
As of 2010[update], 10 conventional and Islamic banks operate in Djibouti. Most arrived within the past few years, including the Somali money transfer company Dahabshiil and BDCD, a subsidiary of Swiss Financial Investments. The banking system had previously been monopolized by two institutions: the Indo-Suez Bank and the Commercial and Industrial Bank (BCIMR). To assure a robust credit and deposit sector, the government requires commercial banks to maintain 30% of shares in the financial institution;[clarification needed] a minimum of 300 million Djiboutian francs in up-front capital is mandatory for international banks. Lending has likewise been encouraged by the creation of a guarantee fund, which allows banks to issue loans to eligible small- and medium-sized businesses without first requiring a large deposit or other collateral.
Saudi investors are also reportedly exploring the possibility of linking the Horn of Africa with the Arabian Peninsula via a 28.5-kilometre-long (17.7 mi) oversea bridge through Djibouti, referred to as the Bridge of the Horns. The investor Tarek bin Laden has been linked to the project. In June 2010, Phase I of the project was delayed.
Transport
The Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport in Djibouti City, the country's only international airport, serves many intercontinental routes with scheduled and chartered flights. Air Djibouti is the flag carrier of Djibouti and is the country's largest airline.
The new and electrified standard gauge Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway started operation in January 2018. Its main purpose is to facilitate freight services between the Ethiopian hinterland and the Djiboutian Port of Doraleh.
Car ferries pass the Gulf of Tadjoura from Djibouti City to Tadjoura. There is the Port of Doraleh west of Djibouti City, which is the main port of Djibouti. The Port of Doraleh is the terminal of the new Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway. In addition to the Port of Doraleh, which handles general cargo and oil imports, Djibouti (2018) has three other major ports for the import and export of bulk goods and livestock, the Port of Tadjourah (potash), the Damerjog Port (livestock) and the (salt). Almost 95% of Ethiopia's imports and exports move through Djiboutian ports.[citation needed]
The Djiboutian highway system is named according to the road classification. Roads that are considered primary roads are those that are fully asphalted (throughout their entire length) and in general they carry traffic between all the major towns in Djibouti.
Djibouti is part of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road that runs from the Chinese coast to the Upper Adriatic region with its connections to Central and Eastern Europe.
Media and telecommunications
Telecommunications in Djibouti fall under the authority of the Ministry of Communication.
Djibouti Telecom is the sole provider of telecommunication services. It mostly utilizes a microwave radio relay network. A fiber-optic cable is installed in the capital, whereas rural areas are connected via wireless local loop radio systems. Mobile cellular coverage is primarily limited to the area in and around Djibouti city. As of 2015[update], 23,000 telephone main lines and 312,000 mobile/cellular lines were in use. The SEA-ME-WE 3 submarine cable operates to Jeddah, Suez, Sicily, Marseille, Colombo, Singapore and beyond. Telephone satellite earth stations include 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat. Medarabtel is the regional microwave radio relay telephone network.
Radio Television of Djibouti is the state-owned national broadcaster. It operates the sole terrestrial TV station, as well as the two domestic radio networks on AM 1, FM 2, and shortwave 0. Licensing and operation of broadcast media is regulated by the government. Movie theaters include the Odeon Cinema in the capital.
As of 2012[update], there were 215 local internet service providers. Internet users comprised around 99,000 individuals (2015). The internet country top-level domain is .dj.
The main print newspapers are owned by the government: the French-language daily La Nation, the English weekly Djibouti Post, and the Arabic weekly Al-Qarn. There is also a state news agency, Agence Djiboutienne d'Information. Non-government news websites are based abroad; for instance, La Voix de Djibouti operates out of Belgium.
Tourism
Tourism in Djibouti is one of the growing economic sectors of the country and is an industry that generates less than 80,000 arrivals per year, mostly the family and friends of the soldiers stationed in the country's major naval bases. Although the numbers are on the rise, there are talks of the visa on arrival being stopped, which could limit tourism growth.
Infrastructure makes it difficult for tourists to travel independently and costs of private tours are high. Since the re-opening of the train line from Addis Ababa to Djibouti in January 2018, travel by land has also resumed. Djibouti's two main geological marvels, Lake Abbe and Lake Assal, are the country's top tourist destinations. The two sites draw hundreds of tourists every year looking for remote places that are not visited by many.
Energy
Djibouti has an installed electrical power generating capacity of 126 MW from fuel oil and diesel plants. In 2002 electrical power output was put at 232 GWh, with consumption at 216 GWh. At 2015, per capita annual electricity consumption is about 330 kilowatt-hours (kWh); moreover, about 45% of the population does not have access to electricity, and the level of unmet demand in the country's power sector is significant. Increased hydropower imports from Ethiopia, which satisfies 65% of Djibouti's demand, will play a significant role in boosting the country's renewable energy supply. The geothermal potential has generated particular interest in Japan, with 13 potential sites; they have already started the construction on one site near Lake Assal. The construction of the photovoltaic power station (solar farms) in Grand Bara will generate 50 MW capacity.
Demographics
Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
---|---|---|
1950 | 62,001 | — |
1955 | 69,589 | +2.34% |
1960 | 83,636 | +3.75% |
1965 | 114,963 | +6.57% |
1970 | 159,659 | +6.79% |
1977 | 277,750 | +8.23% |
1980 | 358,960 | +8.93% |
1985 | 425,613 | +3.47% |
1990 | 590,398 | +6.76% |
1995 | 630,388 | +1.32% |
2000 | 717,584 | +2.62% |
2005 | 784,256 | +1.79% |
2010 | 850,146 | +1.63% |
2015 | 869,099 | +0.44% |
2018 | 884,017 | +0.57% |
2024 | 1,066,809 | +3.18% |
Source: World Bank to 2018; 2024 Census by Institut National de la Statistique de Djibouti, INSTAD. |
Djibouti had a population of 1,066,809 inhabitants at the Census held on 20 May 2024. It is a multiethnic country. The local population grew rapidly during the latter half of the 20th century, increasing from about 69,589 in 1955 to around 869,099 by 2015. The two largest ethnic groups native to Djibouti are the Somalis (60%) and the Afar (35%). The Somali clan component is mainly composed of the Issa (who make up 33%), followed by the Gadabuursi (15-20%) and the Isaaq (13.3-20%). The remaining 5% of Djibouti's population primarily consists of Yemeni Arabs, Ethiopians and Europeans (French and Italians). Approximately 76% of local residents are urban dwellers; the remainder are pastoralists. Djibouti also hosts a number of immigrants and refugees from neighboring states, with Djibouti City nicknamed the "French Hong Kong in the Red Sea" due to its cosmopolitan urbanism. Djibouti's location on the eastern coast of Africa makes it a hub of regional migration, with Somalis, Yemenis, and Ethiopians traveling through the country en route to the Gulf and northern Africa. Djibouti has received a massive influx of migrants from Yemen.
Islam in Djibouti (Pew)
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Languages
Djibouti is a multilingual nation. The majority of local residents speak Somali (60%) and Afar (35%) as first languages. They are the mother tongues of the Somali and Afar ethnic groups, respectively. Both languages belong to the larger Afroasiatic Cushitic family. Northern Somali is the main dialect spoken in the country and in neighbouring Somaliland, in contrast to Benadiri Somali which is the main dialect spoken in Somalia. There are two official languages in Djibouti: Arabic and French.
Arabic is of religious importance. In formal settings, it consists of Modern Standard Arabic. Colloquially, about 59,000 local residents speak the Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic dialect, also known as Djibouti Arabic. French serves as a statutory national language. It was inherited from the colonial period, and is the primary language of instruction. Around 17,000 Djiboutians speak it as a first language. Immigrant languages include Omani Arabic (38,900 speakers), Amharic (1,400 speakers), and Greek (1,000 speakers).
Religion
Djibouti's population is predominantly Muslim. Islam is observed by around 98% of the nation's population (approximately 891,000 as of 2022[update]). As of 2012[update], 94% of the population was Muslim whereas the remaining 6% of residents are Christian adherents.
Islam entered the region very early on, as a group of persecuted Muslims had sought refuge across the Red Sea in the Horn of Africa at the urging of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In 1900, during the early part of the colonial era, there were virtually no Christians in the territories, with only about 100–300 followers coming from the schools and orphanages of the few Catholic missions in the French Somaliland. The Constitution of Djibouti names Islam as the sole state religion, and also provides for the equality of citizens of all faiths (Article 1) and freedom of religious practice (Article 11). Most local Muslims adhere to the Sunni denomination, following the Shafi'i school. The non-denominational Muslims largely belong to Sufi orders of varying schools. According to the International Religious Freedom Report 2008, while Muslim Djiboutians have the legal right to convert to or marry someone from another faith, converts may encounter negative reactions from their family and clan or from society at large, and they often face pressure to go back to Islam.
The Diocese of Djibouti serves the small local Catholic population, which it estimates numbered around 7,000 individuals in 2006.
Largest cities
Largest cities or towns in Djibouti According to the 2009 Census | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Name | Region | Pop. | ||||||
Djibouti Ali Sabieh | 1 | Djibouti | Djibouti | 475,322 | Dikhil Tadjoura | ||||
2 | Ali Sabieh | Ali Sabieh | 37,939 | ||||||
3 | Dikhil | Dikhil | 24,886 | ||||||
4 | Tadjoura | Tadjourah | 14,820 | ||||||
5 | Arta | Arta | 13,260 | ||||||
6 | Obock | Obock | 11,706 | ||||||
7 | Ali Adde | Ali Sabieh | 3,500 | ||||||
8 | Holhol | Ali Sabieh | 3,000 | ||||||
9 | Airolaf | Tadjourah | 1,023 | ||||||
10 | Randa | Tadjourah | 1,023 |
Health
The life expectancy at birth is around 64.7 for both males and females. Fertility is at 2.35 children per woman. In Djibouti there are about 18 doctors per 100,000 persons.
The 2010 maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births for Djibouti is 300. This is compared with 461.6 in 2008 and 606.5 in 1990. The under 5 mortality rate per 1,000 births is 95 and the neonatal mortality as a percentage of under 5's mortality are 37. In Djibouti the number of midwives per 1,000 live births is 6 and the lifetime risk of death for pregnant women 1 in 93.
About 93.1% of Djibouti's women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM, sometimes referred to as 'female circumcision'), a pre-marital custom mainly endemic to Northeast Africa and parts of the Near East. Although legally proscribed in 1994, the procedure is still widely practiced, as it is deeply ingrained in the local culture. Encouraged and performed by women in the community, FGM is primarily intended to deter promiscuity and to offer protection from assault. About 94% of Djibouti's male population have also reportedly undergone male circumcision, a figure in line with adherence to Islam; the Shafi'i school of Islam, the predominant madhhab in the Horn of Africa, requires circumcision of males and females.
Education
Education is a priority for the government of Djibouti. As of 2009[update], it allocates 20.5% of its annual budget to scholastic instruction.
The Djiboutian educational system was initially formulated to cater to a limited pupil base. As such, the schooling framework was largely elitist and drew considerably from the French colonial paradigm, which was ill-suited to local circumstances and needs.
In the late 1990s, the Djiboutian authorities revised the national educational strategy and launched a broad-based consultative process involving administrative officials, teachers, parents, national assembly members and NGOs. The initiative identified areas in need of attention and produced concrete recommendations on how to go about improving them. The government subsequently prepared a comprehensive reform plan aimed at modernizing the educational sector over the 2000–10 period. In August 2000, it passed an official Education Planning Act and drafted a medium-term development plan for the next five years. The fundamental academic system was significantly restructured and made compulsory; it now consists of five years of primary school and four years of middle school. Secondary schools also require a Certificate of Fundamental Education for admission. In addition, the new law introduced secondary-level vocational instruction and established university facilities in the country.
As a result of the Education Planning Act and the medium-term action strategy, substantial progress has been registered throughout the educational sector. In particular, school enrollment, attendance, and retention rates have all steadily increased, with some regional variation. From 2004 to 2005 to 2007–08, net enrollments of girls in primary school rose by 18.6%; for boys, it increased 8.0%. Net enrollments in middle school over the same period rose by 72.4% for girls and 52.2% for boys. At the secondary level, the rate of increase in net enrollments was 49.8% for girls and 56.1% for boys.
The Djiboutian government has especially focused on developing and improving institutional infrastructure and teaching materials, including constructing new classrooms and supplying textbooks. At the post-secondary level, emphasis has also been placed on producing qualified instructors and encouraging out-of-school youngsters to pursue vocational training. As of 2012[update], the literacy rate in Djibouti was estimated at 70%.
Institutions of higher learning in the country include the University of Djibouti.
Culture
Djiboutian attire reflects the region's hot and arid climate. When not dressed in Western clothing such as jeans and T-shirts, men typically wear the macawiis, which is a traditional sarong-like garment worn around the waist. Many nomadic people wear a loosely wrapped white cotton robe called a tobe that goes down to about the knee, with the end thrown over the shoulder (much like a Roman toga).
Women typically wear the dirac, which is a long, light, diaphanous voile dress made of cotton or polyester that is worn over a full-length half-slip and a bra. Married women tend to sport head-scarves referred to as shash and often cover their upper body with a shawl known as garbasaar. Unmarried or young women do not always cover their heads. Traditional Arabian garb such as the male jellabiya (jellabiyaad in Somali) and the female jilbāb is also commonly worn. For some occasions such as festivals, women may adorn themselves with specialized jewelry and head-dresses similar to those worn by the Berber tribes of the Maghreb.
A lot of Djibouti's original art is passed on and preserved orally, mainly through song. Many examples of Islamic, Ottoman, and French influences can also be noted in the local buildings, which contain plasterwork, carefully constructed motifs, and calligraphy.
Music
Somalis have a rich musical heritage centered on traditional Somali folklore. Most Somali songs are pentatonic. That is, they only use five pitches per octave in contrast to a heptatonic (seven note) scale such as the major scale. At first listen, Somali music might be mistaken for the sounds of nearby regions such as Ethiopia, Sudan or the Arabian Peninsula, but it is ultimately recognizable by its own unique tunes and styles. Somali songs are usually the product of collaboration between lyricists (midho), songwriters (laxan) and singers (codka or "voice"). Balwo is a Somali musical style centered on love themes that is popular in Djibouti.
Traditional Afar music resembles the folk music of other parts of the Horn of Africa such as Ethiopia; it also contains elements of Arabic music. The history of Djibouti is recorded in the poetry and songs of its nomadic people, and goes back thousands of years to a time when the peoples of Djibouti traded hides and skins for the perfumes and spices of ancient Egypt, India and China. Afar oral literature is also quite musical. It comes in many varieties, including songs for weddings, war, praise and boasting.
Literature
Djibouti has a long tradition of poetry. Several well-developed Somali forms of verse include the gabay, jiifto, geeraar, wiglo, 'buraanbur, beercade, afarey and guuraw. The gabay (epic poem) has the most complex length and meter, often exceeding 100 lines. It is considered the mark of poetic attainment when a young poet is able to compose such verse, and is regarded as the height of poetry. Groups of memorizers and reciters (hafidayaal) traditionally propagated the well-developed art form. Poems revolve around several main themes, including baroorodiiq (elegy), amaan (praise), jacayl (romance), guhaadin (diatribe), digasho (gloating) and guubaabo (guidance). The baroorodiiq is composed to commemorate the death of a prominent poet or figure. The Afar are familiar with the ginnili, a kind of warrior-poet and diviner, and have a rich oral tradition of folk stories. They also have an extensive repertoire of battle songs.
Additionally, Djibouti has a long tradition of Islamic literature. Among the most prominent historical works is the medieval Futuh Al-Habash by Shihāb al-Dīn, which chronicles the Adal Sultanate's Conquest of Abyssinia during the 16th century. In recent years, a number of politicians and intellectuals have also penned memoirs or reflections on the country.
Sport
Football is the most popular sport amongst Djiboutians. The country became a member of FIFA in 1994, but has only taken part in the qualifying rounds for the African Cup of Nations as well as the FIFA World Cup in the mid-2000s. In November 2007, the Djibouti national football team beat Somalia's national squad 1–0 in the qualification rounds for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, marking its first ever World Cup-related win.
Recently, the World Archery Federation has helped to implement the Djibouti Archery Federation, and an international archery training center is being created in Arta to support archery development in East Africa and Red Sea area.[citation needed]
Cuisine
Djiboutian cuisine is a mixture of Somali, Afar, Yemeni, and French cuisine, with some additional South Asian (especially Indian) culinary influences. Local dishes are commonly prepared using a lot of Middle Eastern spices, ranging from saffron to cinnamon. Grilled Yemeni fish, opened in half and often cooked in tandoori style ovens, are a local delicacy. Spicy dishes come in many variations, from the traditional Fah-fah or "Soupe Djiboutienne" (spicy boiled beef soup), to the yetakelt wet (spicy mixed vegetable stew). Xalwo (pronounced "halwo") or halva is a popular confection eaten during festive occasions, such as Eid celebrations or wedding receptions. Halva is made from sugar, corn starch, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and ghee. Peanuts are sometimes added to enhance texture and flavor. After meals, homes are traditionally perfumed using incense (cuunsi) or frankincense (lubaan), which is prepared inside an incense burner referred to as a dabqaad.
See also
- Index of Djibouti-related articles
- Outline of Djibouti
- Religion in Djibouti
- Christianity in Djibouti
- Protestant Church of Djibouti
- Catholic Church in Djibouti
Notes
- /dʒɪˈbuːti/ jih-BOO-tee; Arabic: جيبوتي, romanized: Jībūtī; French: Djibouti; Somali: Jabuuti; Afar: Yibuuti
- The Djiboutian–Somali border is de jure controlled by the internationally recognized Federal Republic of Somalia, but is de facto under the control of the unrecognized Republic of Somaliland.
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External links
This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Djibouti news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2024 Learn how and when to remove this message Djibouti officially the Republic of Djibouti is a country in the Horn of Africa bordered by Somalia to the south Ethiopia to the southwest Eritrea in the north and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east The country has an area of 23 200 km2 8 958 sq mi Republic of Djiboutiجمهورية جيبوتي Arabic Republique de Djibouti French Jamhuuriyadda Jabuuti Somali Gabuutih Ummuuno Afar Flag EmblemMotto Midnimo Sinnaan Nabad Somali Inkittiino Qeedala Wagari Afar Unite Egalite Paix French اتحاد مساواة سلام Arabic Unity Equality Peace English Anthem Djibouti source source track track track track track track track track track track track track Show globeShow map of AfricaCapitaland largest cityDjibouti City 11 36 N 43 10 E 11 600 N 43 167 E 11 600 43 167Official languagesArabicFrenchNational languagesSomaliAfarEthnic groupsSomalis 60 Afar 35 Arabs 5 Religion94 Islam official 6 ChristianityDemonym s DjiboutianGovernmentUnitary dominant partypresidential republic under a hereditary dictatorship PresidentIsmail Omar Guelleh Prime MinisterAbdoulkader Kamil MohamedLegislatureNational AssemblyFormation Obock Territory12 May 1862 French Somaliland20 May 1883 French Territory of the Afars and Issas5 July 1967 Independence from France27 June 1977 Admitted to the United Nations20 September 1977 Current constitution4 September 1992Area Total23 200 km2 9 000 sq mi 146th Water 0 09 20 km 7 7 sq mi Population 2024 census1 066 809 Density46 0 km2 119 1 sq mi 168th GDP PPP 2023 estimate Total 7 193 billion 167th Per capita 6 985 137th GDP nominal 2023 estimate Total 3 873 billion 172nd Per capita 3 761 126th Gini 2017 41 6 medium inequalityHDI 2021 0 509 low 171st CurrencyDjiboutian franc DJF Time zoneUTC 3 EAT Calling code 253ISO 3166 codeDJInternet TLD dj In antiquity the territory together with Ethiopia Eritrea and Somaliland was part of the Land of Punt Nearby Zeila now in Somaliland was the seat of the medieval Adal and Ifat Sultanates In the late 19th century the colony of French Somaliland was established after the ruling Dir Somali and Afar sultans signed treaties with the French and its railroad to Dire Dawa and later Addis Ababa allowed it to quickly supersede Zeila as the port for southern Ethiopia and the Ogaden It was renamed the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas in 1967 A decade later the Djiboutian people voted for independence This officially marked the establishment of the Republic of Djibouti named after its capital city The new state joined the United Nations in its first year In the early 1990s tensions over government representation led to armed conflict which ended in a power sharing agreement in 2000 between the ruling party and the opposition Djibouti is a multi ethnic nation with a population of 1 066 809 at the census held on 20 May 2024 the smallest in mainland Africa French and Arabic are its two official languages Afar and Somali are national languages About 94 of Djiboutians adhere to Islam which is the official religion and has been predominant in the region for more than 1 000 years The Somalis and Afar make up the two largest ethnic groups with the former comprising the majority of the population Both speak a language of the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages Djibouti is near some of the world s busiest shipping lanes controlling access to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean It serves as a key refuelling and transshipment center and the principal maritime port for imports from and exports to neighboring Ethiopia A burgeoning commercial hub the nation is the site of various foreign military bases The Intergovernmental Authority on Development IGAD regional body also has its headquarters in Djibouti City Name and etymologyDjibouti is officially known as the Republic of Djibouti In local languages it is known as Gabuuti in Afar and Jabuuti in Somali The country is named for its capital the City of Djibouti The etymology of the name is disputed There are several theories and legends about its origin varying based on ethnicity One theory derives it from the Afar word gabouti meaning plate possibly referring to the area s geographical features Another connects it to gabood meaning upland plateau Djibouti could also mean Land of Tehuti or Land of Thoth Egyptian Djehuti Djehuty after the Egyptian moon god Under French administration from 1862 until 1894 the land to the north of the Gulf of Tadjoura was called Obock While 1897 to 1967 the area was known as French Somaliland French Cote francaise des Somalis and from 1967 to 1977 as the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas French Territoire francais des Afars et des Issas HistoryThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed November 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message Prehistory Geometric design pottery found in Asa Koma The Bab el Mandeb region has often been considered a primary crossing point for early hominins following a southern coastal route from East Africa to South and Southeast Asia The Djibouti area has been inhabited since the Neolithic According to linguists the first Afroasiatic speaking populations arrived in the region during this period from the family s proposed urheimat original homeland in the Nile Valley or the Near East Other scholars propose that the Afroasiatic family developed in situ in the Horn with its speakers subsequently dispersing from there Cut stones dated about 3 million years old have been collected in the area of Lake Abbe citation needed In the Gobaad plain between Dikhil and Lake Abbe the remains of the extinct elephant Palaeoloxodon recki were also discovered visibly butchered using basalt tools found nearby These remains would date from 1 4 million years BCE Subsequently other similar sites were identified as probably the work of Homo ergaster An Acheulean site from 800 000 to 400 000 years BCE where stone was cut was excavated in the 1990s in Gombourta between Damerdjog and Loyada 15 km south of Djibouti City Finally in Gobaad a Homo erectus jaw was found dating from 100 000 BCE On Devil s Island tools dating back 6 000 years have been found which were used to open shells In the area at the bottom of Goubet Dankalelo not far from Devil s Island circular stone structures and fragments of painted pottery have also been discovered Previous investigators have also reported a fragmentary maxilla attributed to an older form of Homo sapiens and dated to c 250 Ka from the valley of the Dagadle Wadi Prehistoric rock art and tombs in Djibouti Pottery predating the mid 2nd millennium has been found at Asa Koma an inland lake area on the Gobaad Plain The site s ware is characterized by punctate and incision geometric designs which bear a similarity to the Sabir culture phase 1 ceramics from Ma layba in Southern Arabia Long horned humpless cattle bones have likewise been discovered at Asa Koma suggesting that domesticated cattle were present by around 3 500 years ago Rock art of what appear to be antelopes and a giraffe are also found at Dorra and Balho Handoga dated to the fourth millennium BCE has in turn yielded obsidian microliths and plain ceramics used by early nomadic pastoralists with domesticated cattle The site of Wakrita is a small Neolithic establishment located on a wadi in the tectonic depression of Goba ad in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa The 2004 excavations yielded abundant ceramics that enabled us to define one Neolithic cultural facies of this region which was also identified at the nearby site of Asa Koma The faunal remains confirm the importance of fishing in Neolithic settlements close to Lake Abbe but also the importance of bovine husbandry and for the first time in this area evidence for caprine herding practices Radiocarbon dating places this occupation at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE similar in range to Asa Koma These two sites represent the oldest evidence of herding in the region and they provide a better understanding of the development of Neolithic societies in this region Up to 4000 years BCE the region benefited from a climate very different from the one it knows today and probably close to the Mediterranean climate The water resources were numerous with lakes in Goba ad lakes Assal and Abbe larger and resembling real bodies of water The humans therefore lived by gathering fishing and hunting The region was populated by a very rich fauna felines buffaloes elephants rhinos etc as evidenced for example by the bestiary of cave paintings at Balho In the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE few nomads settled around the lakes and practiced fishing and cattle breeding The burial of an 18 year old woman dating from this period as well as the bones of hunted animals bone tools and small jewels have been unearthed By about 1500 BCE the climate was already beginning to change with sources of fresh water becoming more scarce Engravings show dromedaries animal of arid zones some of which are ridden by armed warriors The sedentary people now returned to a nomadic life Stone tumuli of various shapes and sheltering graves dating from this period have been unearthed all over the territory Antiquity The earliest recorded ancient Egyptian expedition to Punt was organized by Pharaoh Sahure of the Fifth Dynasty 25th century BC returning with cargoes of antyue and Puntites However gold from Punt is recorded as having been in Egypt as early as the time of Pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty Subsequently there were more expeditions to Punt in the Sixth Eleventh Twelfth and Eighteenth dynasties of Egypt In the Twelfth Dynasty trade with Punt was celebrated in popular literature in the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor The Hatshepsut Punt Relief depicting three men in Puntite dress bearing gifts In the reign of Mentuhotep III 11th dynasty ca 2000 BC an officer named Hannu organized one or more voyages to Punt but it is uncertain whether he personally traveled on these expeditions Trading missions of the 12th dynasty pharaohs Senusret I Amenemhat II and Amenemhat IV had also successfully navigated their way to and from the mysterious land of Punt In the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt Hatshepsut built a Red Sea fleet to facilitate trade between the head of the Gulf of Aqaba and points south as far as Punt to bring mortuary goods to Karnak in exchange for Nubian gold Hatshepsut personally made the most famous ancient Egyptian expedition that sailed to Punt Her artists revealing much about the royals inhabitants habitation and variety of trees on the island revealing it as the Land of the Gods a region far to the east in the direction of the sunrise blessed with products for religious purposes where traders returned with gold ivory ebony incense aromatic resins animal skins live animals eye makeup cosmetics fragrant woods and cinnamon During the reign of Queen Hatshepsut in the 15th century BC ships regularly crossed the Red Sea in order to obtain bitumen copper carved amulets naptha and other goods transported overland and down the Dead Sea to Elat at the head of the gulf of Aqaba where they were joined with frankincense and myrrh coming north both by sea and overland along trade routes through the mountains running north along the east coast of the Red Sea Together with northern Ethiopia Somaliland Eritrea and the Red Sea coast of Sudan Djibouti is considered the most likely location of the territory known to the Ancient Egyptians as Punt or Ta Netjeru meaning God s Land The first mention of the Land of Punt dates to the 25th century BC The Puntites were a nation of people who had close relations with Ancient Egypt during the reign of the 5th dynasty Pharaoh Sahure and the 18th dynasty Queen Hatshepsut According to the temple murals at Deir el Bahari the Land of Punt was ruled at that time by King Parahu and Queen Ati Introduction of Islam and the Middle Ages The Adal also Awdal Adl or Adel was centered around Zeila its capital It was established by the local Somali clans in the early 9th century Zeila attracted merchants from around the world contributing to the wealth of the city Zeila is an ancient city and it was one of the earliest cities in the world to embrace Islam shortly after the hijra Zeila s two mihrab Masjid al Qiblatayn dates to the 7th century and is the oldest mosque In the late 9th century Al Yaqubi an Arab Muslim scholar and traveler wrote that the Kingdom of Adal was a small wealthy kingdom and that Zeila served as the headquarters for the kingdom which dated back to the beginning of the century The Sultan of Adal right and his troops battling King Yagbea Sion and his men depicted in Livre Des Merveilles The earliest reference to Adal was following the collapse of the Makhzumi dynasty in July 1288 when Ali Baziyu led a campaign in Adal and Mora which was concluded by the killing of the lords of Adal and Mora the victorious Sultan then annexed Adal and Mora to his Kingdom Adal is also mentioned by Marco Polo in 1295 as a state continuously in conflict with Abyssinia According to fourteenth century Arab historian Al Umari Adal was one of the founding regions of the Ifat Sultanate alongside Biqulzar Shewa Kwelgora Shimi Jamme and Laboo It was used ambiguously in the medieval era to indicate the Muslim inhabitant low land portion east of the Ethiopian Empire Including north of the Awash River towards Lake Abbe in modern Djibouti Ethiopia border as well as the territory between Shewa and Zeila on the coast of Somalia Districts within Adal included Hubat Gidaya and Hargaya It also occasionally included the Hadiya Sultanate The region was mostly located in modern day Awdal and had Zeila as a capital city but also controlled other interior towns like Abasa or Dakkar extending into the Harar plateau to the south east and modern day Djibouti in the west The Ifat Sultanate s realm in the 14th century The Walashma dynasty are regarded by scholars as the founders of the Ifat Sultanate Ifat first emerged when Umar Ibn Dunya ḥawaz later to be known as Sultan Umar Walasma carved out his own kingdom and conquered the Sultanate of Shewa located in northern Hararghe In 1288 Sultan Wali Asma successfully imposed his rule on Hubat Zeila and other Muslim states in the region Taddesse Tamrat explains Sultan Walashma s military acts as an effort to consolidate the Muslim territories in the Horn of Africa in much the same way as Emperor Yekuno Amlak was attempting to consolidate the Christian territories in the highlands during the same period In 1320 a conflict between the Christian monarch and Muslim Ifat leaders began The conflict was precipitated by Al Nasir Muhammad of Egypt The Mamluk ruler Al Nasir Muhammad was persecuting Christian Copts and destroying Coptic churches The Ethiopian Emperor Amda Seyon I sent an envoy with a warning to the Mamluk ruler that if he did not stop the persecution of Christians in Egypt he would retaliate against Muslims under his rule and would starve the peoples of Egypt by diverting the course of the Nile According to Pankhurst of the two threats the diversion of Nile was an idle threat and the Egyptian sultan dismissed it because he likely realized this to be so The fear that the Ethiopians might tamper with the Nile states Pankhurst was nevertheless to remain with Egyptians for many centuries Sabr ad Din s rebellion was not an attempt to achieve independence but to become emperor of a Muslim Ethiopia Amda Seyon s royal chronicle states that Sabr ad Din proclaimed I wish to be King of all Ethiopia I will rule the Christians according to their law and I will destroy their churches I will nominate governors in all the provinces of Ethiopia as does the King of Zion Ethiopia I will transform the churches into mosques I will subjugate and convert the King of the Christians to my religion I will make him a provincial governor and if he refuses to be converted I will hand him over to one of the shepherds called Warjeke i e Warjih that he may be made a keeper of camels As for the Queen Jan Mangesha his wife I will employ her to grind corn I will make my residence at Marade i e Tegulet the capital of his kingdom In fact after his first incursion Sabr ad Din appointed governors for nearby and neighboring provinces such as Fatagar and Alamale as well as far off provinces in the north like Damot Amhara Angot Inderta Begemder and Gojjam He also threatened to plant khat at the capital a stimulant used by Muslims but forbidden to Ethiopian Orthodox Christians In 1376 Sultan Sa ad ad Din Abdul Muhammad also called Sa ad ad Din II succeeded his brother and came to power who continued to attack the Abyssinian Christian army He attacked regional chiefs such as at Zalan and Hadeya who supported the Emperor According to Mordechai Abir Sa ad ad Din II raids against the Ethiopian empire were largely hit and run type which hardened the resolve of the Christian ruler to end the Muslim rule in their east In the early 15th century the Ethiopian Emperor who was likely Dawit I collected a large army to respond He branded the Muslims of the surrounding area enemies of the Lord and invaded Ifat After much war Ifat s troops were defeated in 1403 on the Harar plateau Sultan Sa ad ad Din subsequently fled to Zeila where Ethiopian soldiers pursued him Al Maqrizi narrates the Amhara pursued Sa d al Din as far as the peninsula of Zeila in the ocean where he took refuge The Amhara besieged him there and deprived him of water at last one of the impious showed them a way by which they could reach him When they came upon him a battle ensued and after three days the water failed Sa d al Din was wounded in the forehead and fell to the ground whereupon they pierced him with their swords But he died happily falling in God s cause A depiction of Adal s traditional costumes worn by the local inhabitants by Giuseppe Antonelli After Sa ad ad Din s death the strength of the Muslims was abated as Maqrizi states and then the Amhara settled in the country and from the ravaged mosques and they made churches The followers of Islam were said to have been harassed for over twenty years The sources disagree on which Ethiopian Emperor conducted this campaign According to the medieval historian al Makrizi Emperor Dawit I in 1403 pursued the Sultan of Adal Sa ad ad Din II to Zeila where he killed the Sultan and sacked the city of Zeila However another contemporary source dates the death of Sa ad ad Din II to 1410 and credits Emperor Yeshaq with the slaying His children and the remainder of the Walashma dynasty would flee to Yemen where they would live in exile until 1415 In 1415 Sabr ad Din III the eldest son of Sa ad ad Din II would return to Adal from his exile in Arabia to restore his father s throne He would proclaim himself king of Adal after his return from Yemen to the Harar plateau and established his new capital at Dakkar Sabr ad Din III and his brothers would defeat an army of 20 000 men led by an unnamed commander hoping to restore the lost Amhara rule The victorious king then returned to his capital but gave the order to his many followers to continue and extend the war against the Christians The Emperor of Ethiopia Tewodros I was soon killed by the Adal Sultanate upon the return of Sa ad ad Din s heirs to the Horn of Africa Sabr ad Din III died a natural death and was succeeded by his brother Mansur ad Din who invaded the capital and royal seat of the Solomonic Empire and drove Emperor Dawit I to Yedaya where according to al Maqrizi Sultan Mansur destroyed a Solomonic army and killed the Emperor He then advanced to the mountains of Mokha where he encountered a 30 000 strong Solomonic army The Adalite soldiers surrounded their enemies and for two months besieged the trapped Solomonic soldiers until a truce was declared in Mansur s favour During this period Adal emerged as a centre of Muslim resistance against the expanding Christian Abyssinian kingdom Adal would thereafter govern all of the territory formerly ruled by the Ifat Sultanate as well as the land further east all the way from the Bab el Mandeb to Cape Guardafui according to Leo Africanus Adal is mentioned by name in the 14th century in the context of the battles between the Muslims of the Somali and Afar seaboard and the Abyssinian King Amda Seyon I s Christian troops Adal originally had its capital in the port city of Zeila situated in the western Awdal region The polity at the time was an Emirate in the larger Ifat Sultanate ruled by the Walashma dynasty An illustration of the young Ahmad ibn Ibrahim demonstrating his strength According to I M Lewis the polity was governed by local dynasties consisting of Somalized Arabs or Arabized Somalis who also ruled over the similarly established Sultanate of Mogadishu in the Benadir region to the south Adal s history from this founding period forth would be characterized by a succession of battles with neighbouring Abyssinia At its height the Adal kingdom controlled large parts of modern day Djibouti Somaliland Eritrea and Ethiopia Between Djibouti City and Loyada are a number of anthropomorphic and phallic stelae The structures are associated with graves of rectangular shape flanked by vertical slabs as also found in Tiya central Ethiopia The Djibouti Loyada stelae are of uncertain age and some of them are adorned with a T shaped symbol Additionally archaeological excavations at Tiya have yielded tombs As of 1997 118 stelae were reported in the area Along with the stelae in the Hadiya Zone the structures are identified by local residents as Yegragn Dingay or Gran s stone in reference to Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al Ghazi Ahmad Gurey or Gran ruler of the Adal Sultanate Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al Ghazi was a military leader of the medieval Adal Sultanate in the northern Horn of Africa Between 1529 and 1543 he embarked on a campaign referred to as the Futuh Al Habash bringing the three quarters of Christian Abyssinia under the control of the Muslim empire With an army composed of Afar Harari Harla and Somalis al Ghazi s forces came close to extinguishing the ancient Ethiopian kingdom slaughtering any Ethiopian who refused to convert to Islam Within the span of fourteen years the Imam was able to conquer the heartland of the country wreaking havoc on the Christian nation The Bahri Negash joined Emperor Gelawdewos and the Portuguese in the decisive Battle of Wayna Daga where tradition states that Imam Ahmad was shot in the chest by a Portuguese musketeer named Joao de Castilho who had charged alone into the Muslim lines and died The wounded Imam was then beheaded by an Ethiopian cavalry commander Azmach Calite Once the Imam s soldiers learned of his death they fled the battlefield This conflict provided an opportunity for the Oromo people to conquer and migrate into the historically Gafat land of Welega south of the Blue Nile and eastward to the walls of Harar establishing new territories Early modern era In 1550 Nur ibn Mujahid became the Emir of Harar and the de facto ruler of Adal fortifying Harar by constructing a defensive wall still present today In 1559 he led an invasion against the Ethiopian Empire killing Emperor Gelawdewos at the Battle of Fatagar while simultaneously repelling an Ethiopian assault on Harar which resulted in the death of Sultan Barakat ibn Umar Din and the end of the Walashma dynasty The Oromo then invaded Adal and Nur s army suffered a defeat at the Battle of Hazalo though the city s walls kept it safe albeit under severe famine conditions Nur died in 1567 and was succeeded by Uthman the Abyssinian whose peace treaty with the Oromos led to his overthrow His successor Muhammad ibn Nasir attempted an expedition against Ethiopia but was defeated and killed at the Battle of Webi River marking the end of Adal s aggression Muhammad s successor Mansur ibn Muhammad fought the Oromos unsuccessfully and later reconquered Aussa and Zeila The death of Nur and the fall of the Walashma monarchs sparked power struggles with Muhammad Gasa taking the title of Imam in 1576 and relocating the capital to Aussa founding the Imamate of Aussa which declined over the next century eventually falling to the Afar people In the seventeenth century Harla people and Doba populations integrated into the Afar identity leading to the emergence of the Sultanate of Aussa Enrico Cerulli attributed Adal s downfall to its inability to overcome tribal divisions unlike the Ethiopian Empire under Sarsa Dengel resulting in ongoing struggles among the nomadic tribes The collapse of the Adal Sultanate led to the formation of multiple rump states such as Aussa Tadjourah and Rahayto Mamluk Egypt being conquered by the Ottomans alarmed the Arabian merchants who were afraid of these new Turkish conquerors hence they chose to travel towards Adal s shores This was also followed by Indian merchants fleeing from the same enemy The Ottomans noticing this sudden mass movement hastidly occupied Zeyla and established a customs house and galleys patrolling the Bab el Mandeb By the 17th century when the Ottomans were compelled to retire from Zeyla the town and its environs such as Tadjoura fell under the control of the rulers of Mocha and Sana a who had leased the territory to a Sana a merchant called Sayyid Al Barr Zeyla was subsequently ruled by an Emir whom Mordechai Abir suggested had some vague claim to authority over all of the Sahil but whose real authority did not extend very far beyond the walls of the town Assisted by cannons and a few mercenaries armed with matchlocks the governor succeeded in fending off incursions by both the disunited nomads of the interior who had penetrated the area as well as brigands in the Gulf of Aden Although Tadjoura claimed complete independence it was considered subordinate to Zeyla as the sultan would received an annual stipend from the local governor Abubakr Pasha explained to Vice Admiral Alphonse Fleuriot de Langle that when the Imam of Sana a still controlled the Yemeni coast some soldiers sent to Tadjoura were one day massacred by the inhabitants of the city The governor of Mocha then dispatched a new detachment to avenge them Rather than suffer these reprisals the city preferred to commit to paying the Imam each year at the time of the fairs a perpetual annuity which the governor of Zeyla would be responsible for extracting Tadjourah s vizier Mahammed Mahammed renewed it for the benefit of the Turkish Pasha of Al Hodeydah although the Ottoman Empire never exercised political right over Tadjoura Mohammed Al Barr would later be succeeded as governor of Zeila and its dependencies Sahil by Sharmake Ali Salih In June 1861 the French accused Sharmarke Ali Salih of being involved in the murder of Henri Lambert a former French consular agent and supporter of Sharmarke s rival Aboubakr Pasha an Afar slave trader Although the Turkish Pasha of Al Hodeydah and the British Residency in Aden believed Sharmarke was innocent he and some of his supporters were arrested and handed over to the French navy The trial originally planned for Constantinople was later moved to Jeddah Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt came to control Yemen Harar Gulf of Tadjoura with Zeila and Berbera included The Governor Abou Baker ordered the Egyptian garrison at Sagallo to retire to Zeila The cruiser Seignelay reached Sagallo shortly after the Egyptians had departed French troops occupied the fort despite protests from the British Agent in Aden Major Frederick Mercer Hunter who dispatched troops to safeguard British and Egyptian interests in Zeila and prevent further extension of French influence in that direction The Ottoman Eyalet in 1566 On 14 April 1884 the Commander of the patrol sloop L Inferent reported on the Egyptian occupation in the Gulf of Tadjoura The Commander of the patrol sloop Le Vaudreuil reported that the Egyptians were occupying the interior between Obock and Tadjoura Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia signed an accord with Great Britain to cease fighting the Egyptians and to allow the evacuation of Egyptian forces from Ethiopia and the Somaliland littoral The Egyptian garrison was withdrawn from Tadjoura Leonce Lagarde deployed a patrol sloop to Tadjoura the following night French colonization 1862 1977 Map of the French Somali Coast and neighboring regions in 1870 The boundaries of the present day Djibouti state were established as the first French establishment in the Horn of Africa during the Scramble for Africa The March 11 1862 agreement the Afar sultan Raieta Dini Ahmet signed in Paris was a treaty where the Afars sold lands surrounding in Obock The French were interested in having a coaling station for steamships which would become especially important upon the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 Up to that time French ships had to buy coal at the British port of Aden across the gulf an unwise dependency in case of war Later on that treaty was used by the captain of the Fleuriot de Langle to colonize the south of the Gulf of Tadjoura On March 26 1885 the French signed another treaty with the Issas where the latter would become a protectorate under the French Solemn procession of Muslims using Sudanese lyres to celebrate Eid in 1913 It was established between 1883 and 1887 after the ruling Somalis and Afar sultans each signed a treaty with the French An attempt by Nikolay Ivanovitch Achinov a Russian adventurer to establish a settlement at Sagallo in 1889 was promptly thwarted by French forces after just one month In 1894 Leonce Lagarde established a permanent French administration in the city of Djibouti and named the region French Somaliland The construction of the Imperial Ethiopian Railway west into Ethiopia turned the port of Djibouti into a boomtown of 15 000 at a time when Harar was the only city in Ethiopia to exceed that Although the population fell after the completion of the railwayline to Dire Dawa and the original company failed and required a government bail out the rail link allowed the territory to quickly supersede the caravan based trade carried on at Zeila then in the British area of Somaliland and become the premier port for coffee and other goods leaving southern Ethiopia and the Ogaden through Harar Ahmed Abokob a Somali tirailleur from Djibouti who participated in WW1 The 6th Somali Marching Battalion was formed in Madagascar on May 11 1916 with recruits from the French Somali Coast and renamed the 1st Battalion of Somali Tirailleurs upon arrival in France in June Originally intended as a staging unit the battalion s officers responded to the Somalis desire to fight leading to their participation alongside the RICM in the October 1916 assault on Fort Douaumont For their distinguished role the battalion s companies were awarded the Croix de Guerre and the RICM flag received the Legion of Honor Reorganized as a combat unit by December 1916 the battalion fought at Chemin des Dames in May 1917 and later in significant battles such as Malmaison the 3rd Battle of the Aisne and the 2nd Battle of the Marne earning multiple citations and the right to wear the Croix de Guerre fourragere Of the 2 434 riflemen deployed 517 were killed and 1 200 wounded in Europe After the Italian invasion and occupation of Ethiopia in the mid 1930s constant border skirmishes occurred between French forces in French Somaliland and Italian forces in Italian East Africa In June 1940 during the early stages of World War II France fell and the colony was then ruled by the pro Axis Vichy French government British and Commonwealth forces fought the neighboring Italians during the East African Campaign In 1941 the Italians were defeated and the Vichy forces in French Somaliland were isolated The Vichy French administration continued to hold out in the colony for over a year after the Italian collapse In response the British blockaded the port of Djibouti City but it could not prevent local French from providing information on the passing ship convoys In 1942 about 4 000 British troops occupied the city A local battalion from French Somaliland participated in the Liberation of France in 1944 In 1958 on the eve of neighboring Somalia s independence in 1960 a referendum was held in Djibouti to decide whether to remain with France or to be an independent country The referendum turned out in favour of a continued association with France partly due to a combined yes vote by the sizable Afar ethnic group and resident French There were also allegations of widespread vote rigging The majority of those who had voted no were Somalis who were strongly in favour of joining a united Somalia as had been proposed by Mahmoud Harbi Vice President of the Government Council Harbi was killed in a plane crash two years later under suspicious circumstances An aerial view of Djibouti City the capital of Djibouti In 1966 France rejected the United Nations recommendation that it should grant French Somaliland independence In August of the same year an official visit to the territory by then French President Charles de Gaulle was also met with demonstrations and rioting In response to the protests de Gaulle ordered another referendum In 1967 a second plebiscite was held to determine the fate of the territory Initial results supported a continued but looser relationship with France Voting was also divided along ethnic lines with the resident Somalis generally voting for independence with the goal of eventual union with Somalia and the Afars largely opting to remain associated with France The referendum was again marred by reports of vote rigging on the part of the French authorities Shortly after the plebiscite was held the former Cote francaise des Somalis French Somaliland was renamed to Territoire francais des Afars et des Issas Announcement of the plebiscite results sparked civil unrest including several deaths France also increased its military force along the frontier The Front de Liberation de la Cote des Somalis FLCS During the 1960s the struggle for independence was led by the Front for the Liberation of the Somali Coast FLCS who waged an armed struggle for independence with much of its violence aimed at French personnel FLCS used to initiate few mounting cross border operations into French Somaliland from Somalia and Ethiopia to attacks on French targets On March 24 1975 the Front de Liberation de la Cote des Somalis kidnapped the French Ambassador to Somalia Jean Guery to be exchanged against two activists of FLCS members who were both serving life terms in mainland France He was exchanged for the two FLCS members in Aden South Yemen The FLCS was recognized as a national liberation movement by the Organization of African Unity OAU which participated in its financing The FLCS evolved its demands between the request of integration in a possible Greater Somalia influenced by the Somali government or the simple independence of the territory In 1975 the African People s League for the Independence LPAI and FLCS met in Kampala Uganda with several meeting later they finally opted for independence path causing tensions with Somalia In 1976 members of the Front de Liberation de la Cote des Somalis which sought Djibouti s independence from France also clashed with the Gendarmerie Nationale Intervention Group over a bus hijacking en route to Loyada This event by showing the difficulties of maintaining the French colonial presence in Djibouti was an important step in the independence of the territory The likelihood of a third referendum appearing successful for the French had grown even dimmer The prohibitive cost of maintaining the colony France s last outpost on the continent was another factor that compelled observers to doubt that the French would attempt to hold on to the territory Djibouti Republic Ahmed Dini Ahmed proclaiming the Djibouti Declaration of Independence on 27 June 1977 A third independence referendum was held in the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas on 8 May 1977 The previous referendums were held in 1958 and 1967 which rejected independence This referendum backed independence from France A landslide 98 8 of the electorate supported disengagement from France officially marking Djibouti s independence Hassan Gouled Aptidon an Issa ethnic Somali politician who had campaigned for a yes vote in the referendum of 1958 became the nation s first president 1977 1999 During its first year Djibouti joined the Organization of African Unity now the African Union the Arab League and the United Nations In 1986 the nascent republic was also among the founding members of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development regional development organization During the Ogaden War influential Issa politicians envisioned a Greater Djibouti or Issa land where Djibouti s borders would extend from the Red Sea to Dire Dawa That dream was dashed towards the end of the war as Somali forces were routed from Ethiopia In the early 1990s tensions over government representation led to armed conflict between Djibouti s ruling People s Rally for Progress PRP party and the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy FRUD opposition group The impasse ended in a power sharing agreement in 2000 In April 2021 Ismael Guelleh the second President of Djibouti since independence from France in 1977 was re elected for his fifth term PoliticsDjibouti is a unitary presidential republic with executive power resting in the presidency which is by turn dominant over the cabinet and legislative power in both the government and the National Assembly Governance President of Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh The president Ismail Omar Guelleh is the prominent figure in Djiboutian politics the head of state and commander in chief The president exercises their executive power assisted by their appointee the Prime Minister currently Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed The Council of Ministers cabinet is responsible to and presided over by the president The judicial system consists of courts of first instance a High Court of Appeal and a Supreme Court The legal system is a blend of French civil law and customary law Xeer of the Somali and Afar peoples The National Assembly formerly the Chamber of Deputies is the country s legislature consisting of 65 members elected every five years Although unicameral the Constitution provides for the creation of a Senate The last election was held on 23 February 2018 Djibouti has a dominant party system with the People s Rally for Progress RPP controlling the legislature and the executive since its foundation in 1979 the party rules as a part of the Union for a Presidential Majority which holds a supermajority of seats Opposition parties are allowed limited freedom but the main opposition party the Union for National Salvation boycotted the 2005 and 2008 elections citing government control of the media and repression of the opposition candidates The government is dominated by the Somali Issa Dir clan who have the support of the Somali clans especially the Gadabuursi Dir clan The country emerged from a decade long civil war at the end of the 1990s with the government and the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy FRUD signing a peace treaty in 2000 Two FRUD members joined the cabinet and beginning with the presidential elections of 1999 the FRUD has campaigned in support of the RPP President Guelleh succeeded Hassan Gouled Aptidon in office in 1999 Guelleh was sworn in for his second six year term after a one man election on 8 April 2005 He took 100 of the votes in a 78 9 turnout In early 2011 the Djiboutian citizenry took part in a series of protests against the long serving government which were associated with the larger Arab Spring demonstrations Guelleh was reelected to a third term later that year with 80 63 of the vote in a 75 turnout Although opposition groups boycotted the ballot over changes to the constitution permitting Guelleh to run again for office international observers from the African Union generally described the election as free and fair On 31 March 2013 Guelleh replaced long serving Prime Minister Dilleita Mohamed Dilleita with former president of the Union for a Presidential Majority UMP Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed In December 2014 the ruling Union for the Presidential Majority also signed a framework agreement with the Union of National Salvation coalition which paves the way for opposition legislators to enter parliament and for reformation of the national electoral agency Foreign relations The Djibouti National Assembly in Djibouti City Foreign relations of Djibouti are managed by the Djiboutian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Djibouti maintains close ties with the governments of Somalia Ethiopia France and the United States It is likewise an active participant in African Union United Nations Non Aligned Movement Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and Arab League affairs Since the 2000s Djiboutian authorities have also strengthened relations with Turkey Djibouti has been a member of The Forum of Small States FOSS since the group s founding in 1992 Military Maryama base during a martial exercise in the Arta Region The Djiboutian Armed Forces include the Djiboutian Army which consists of the Djiboutian Navy the Djiboutian Air Force and the National Gendarmerie GN As of 2011 update the manpower available for military service was 170 386 males and 221 411 females aged 16 to 49 Djibouti spent over US 36 million annually on its military as of 2011 update 141st in the SIPRI database After independence Djibouti had two regiments commanded by French officers In the early 2000s it looked outward for a model of army organization that would best advance defensive capabilities by restructuring forces into smaller more mobile units instead of traditional divisions The first war to involve the Djiboutian Armed Forces was the Djiboutian Civil War between the Djiboutian government supported by France and the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy FRUD The war lasted from 1991 to 2001 although most of the hostilities ended when the moderate factions of FRUD signed a peace treaty with the government after suffering an extensive military setback when the government forces captured most of the rebel held territory A radical group continued to fight the government but signed its own peace treaty in 2001 The war ended in a government victory and FRUD became a political party As the headquarters of the IGAD regional body Djibouti has been an active participant in the Somali peace process hosting the Arta conference in 2000 Following the establishment of the Federal Government of Somalia in 2012 a Djiboutian delegation attended the inauguration ceremony of Somalia s new president In recent years Djibouti has improved its training techniques military command and information structures and has taken steps to becoming more self reliant in supplying its military to collaborate with the United Nations in peacekeeping missions or to provide military help to countries that officially ask for it Now deployed to Somalia and Sudan Foreign military presence American service members in the Grand Bara desert 2017 The French Forces remained present in Djibouti when the territory gained independence first as part of a provisional protocol of June 1977 laying down the conditions for the stationing of French forces constituting a defense agreement A new defence cooperation treaty between France and Djibouti was signed in Paris on 21 December 2011 It entered into force on 1 May 2014 By that treaty and its security clause France reaffirmed its commitment to the independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Djibouti As well before independence in 1962 a French Foreign Legion unit the 13th Demi Brigade of the Foreign Legion 13 DBLE was transferred from Algeria to Djibouti to form the core of the French garrison there On 31 July 2011 the 13 DBLE left Djibouti to the United Arab Emirates Djibouti s strategic location by the Bab el Mandeb Strait which separates the Gulf of Aden from the Red Sea and controls the approaches to the Suez Canal has made it a desirable location for foreign military bases Camp Lemonnier was abandoned by the French and later leased to the United States Central Command in September 2002 The lease was renewed in 2014 for another 20 years The Italian National Support Military Base is also located in Djibouti The country also hosts the only overseas Japanese military base and Chinese support base The hosting of foreign military bases is an important part of Djibouti s economy The United States pays 63 million a year to rent Camp Lemonnier France and Japan each pay about 30 million a year respectively and China pays 20 million a year The lease payments added up to more than 5 of Djibouti s total GDP of US 2 3 billion in 2017 Human rights In its 2011 Freedom in the World report Freedom House ranked Djibouti as Not Free a downgrading from its former status as Partly Free According to the 2019 U S State Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices Djibouti s significant human rights issues include unlawful or arbitrary killings by government agents arbitrary detention by government agents harsh and life threatening prison conditions arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists criminal libel substantial interference with the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association significant acts of corruption and violence against women and girls with inadequate government action for prosecution and accountability including female genital mutilation cutting It states also that impunity was a problem with the government seldom taking steps to identify and punish officials who committed abuses whether in the security services or elsewhere in the government Administrative divisions A map of Djibouti s regions Djibouti is sub divided into six administrative regions with Djibouti city being one of the official regions It is further subdivided into twenty sub prefectures Regions of Djibouti Region Area km2 Population 2009 census Population 2024 census CapitalAli Sabieh 2 200 86 949 76 414 Ali SabiehArta 1 800 42 380 48 922 ArtaDikhil 7 200 88 948 66 196 DikhilDjibouti 200 475 322 776 966 Djibouti CityObock 4 700 37 856 37 666 ObockTadjourah 7 100 86 704 50 645 TadjouraGeographyLocation and habitat Satellite images of Djibouti during the day left and night right Djibouti is in the Horn of Africa on the Gulf of Aden and the Bab el Mandeb at the southern entrance to the Red Sea It lies between latitudes 11 and 14 N and longitudes 41 and 44 E at the northernmost point of the Great Rift Valley It is in Djibouti that the rift between the African Plate and the Somali Plate meets the Arabian Plate forming a geologic tripoint The tectonic interaction at this tripoint has created the lowest elevation of any place in Africa at Lake Assal and the second lowest depression on dry land anywhere on earth surpassed only by the depression along the border of Jordan and Israel The country s coastline stretches 314 kilometres 195 miles with terrain consisting mainly of plateau plains and highlands Djibouti has a total area of 23 200 square kilometres 8 958 sq mi Its borders extend 575 km 357 mi 125 km 78 mi of which are shared with Eritrea 390 km 242 mi with Ethiopia and 60 km 37 mi with Somaliland Djibouti is the southernmost country on the Arabian Plate Djibouti has eight mountain ranges with peaks of over 1 000 metres 3 300 feet The Mousa Ali range is considered the country s highest mountain range with the tallest peak on the border with Ethiopia and Eritrea It has an elevation of 2 028 metres 6 654 feet The Grand Bara desert covers parts of southern Djibouti in the Arta Ali Sabieh and Dikhil regions The majority of it sits at a relatively low elevation below 1 700 feet 520 metres Extreme geographic points include to the north Ras Doumera and the point at which the border with Eritrea enters the Red Sea in the Obock Region to the east a section of the Red Sea coast north of Ras Bir to the south a location on the border with Ethiopia west of the town of As Ela and to the west a location on the frontier with Ethiopia immediately east of the Ethiopian town of Afambo Most of Djibouti is part of the Ethiopian xeric grasslands and shrublands ecoregion The exception is an eastern strip along the Red Sea coast which is part of the Eritrean coastal desert Landscapes of Djibouti Lake Assal Traditional houses on the Mabla Mountains Lake Abbe The mountains near Dasbiyo Beach south of Djibouti City overlooking the Gulf of AdenClimate Djibouti map of Koppen climate classification Semi arid climate Arid climate Djibouti s climate is significantly warmer and has significantly less seasonal variation than the world average The mean daily maximum temperatures range from 32 to 41 C 90 to 106 F except at high elevations In Djibouti City for instance average afternoon highs range from 28 to 34 C 82 to 93 F in April But at Airolaf which ranges from 1 535 to 1 600 m 5 036 to 5 249 ft maximum temperature is 30 C 86 F in summer and minimum 9 C 48 F in winter In the uplands ranges from 500 to 800 m 1 600 to 2 600 ft are comparable and cooler to those on the coast in the hottest months of June until August December and January is the coolest month with averages low temperatures falling as low as 15 C 59 F Djibouti has either a hot semi arid climate BSh or a hot desert climate BWh although temperatures are much moderated at the highest elevations Djibouti s climate ranges from arid in the northeastern coastal regions to semi arid in the central northern western and southern parts of the country On the eastern seaboard annual rainfall is less than 5 inches 130 mm in the central highlands precipitation is about 8 to 16 inches 200 to 410 millimetres The hinterland is significantly less humid than the coastal regions Average daily temperatures for the ten cities in Djibouti citation needed Location July C July F January C January F Djibouti City 41 31 107 88 28 21 83 70Ali Sabieh 36 25 96 77 26 15 79 60Tadjoura 41 31 107 88 29 22 84 72Dikhil 38 27 100 81 27 17 80 63Obock 41 30 105 87 28 22 84 72Arta 36 25 97 78 25 15 78 60Randa 34 23 94 73 23 13 74 56Holhol 38 28 101 81 26 17 79 62Ali Adde 38 27 100 82 26 16 80 61Airolaf 31 18 88 66 22 9 71 49Wildlife The Djibouti francolin a critically endangered species living only in Djibouti The country s flora and fauna live in a harsh landscape with forest accounting for less than one percent of the total area of the country Wildlife is spread over three main regions namely from the northern mountain region of the country to the volcanic plateaux in its southern and central part and culminating in the coastal region Plant species on the Foret du Day National Park Most species of wildlife are found in the northern part of the country in the ecosystem of the Day Forest National Park At an average altitude of 1 500 metres 4 921 feet the area includes the Goda massif with a peak of 1 783 m 5 850 ft It covers an area of 3 5 square kilometres 1 sq mi of Juniperus procera forest with many of the trees rising to 20 metres 66 feet height This forest area is the main habitat of the endangered and endemic Djibouti francolin a bird and another recently noted vertebrate Platyceps afarensis a colubrine snake It also contains many species of woody and herbaceous plants including boxwood and olive trees which account for 60 of the total identified species in the country According to the country profile related to biodiversity of wildlife in Djibouti the nation contains more than 820 species of plants 493 species of invertebrates 455 species of fish 40 species of reptiles three species of amphibians 360 species of birds and 66 species of mammals Wildlife of Djibouti is also listed as part of Horn of Africa biodiversity hotspot and the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coral reef hotspot Mammals include several species of antelope such as Soemmerring s gazelle and Pelzeln s gazelle As a result of the hunting ban imposed since early 1970 these species are well conserved now Other characteristic mammals are Grevy s zebra hamadryas baboon and Hunter s antelope The warthog a vulnerable species is also found in the Day National park The coastal waters have dugongs and Abyssinian genet the latter needs confirmation by further studies Green turtles and hawksbill turtles are in the coastal waters where nestling also takes place The Northeast African cheetah Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii is thought to be extinct in Djibouti EconomyDjibouti GDP by sector Djibouti s economy is largely concentrated in the service sector Commercial activities revolve around the country s free trade policies and strategic location as a Red Sea transit point Due to limited rainfall vegetables and fruits are the principal production crops and other food items require importation The GDP purchasing power parity in 2013 was estimated at 2 505 billion with a real growth rate of 5 annually Per capita income is around 2 874 PPP The services sector constituted around 79 7 of the GDP followed by industry at 17 3 and agriculture at 3 As of 2013 update the container terminal at the Port of Djibouti handles the bulk of the nation s trade About 70 of the seaport s activity consists of imports to and exports from neighboring Ethiopia which depends on the harbour as its main maritime outlet As of 2018 95 of Ethiopian transit cargo was handled by the Port of Djibouti The port also serves as an international refueling center and transshipment hub In 2012 the Djiboutian government in collaboration with DP World started construction of the Doraleh Container Terminal a third major seaport intended to further develop the national transit capacity A 396 million project it has the capacity to accommodate 1 5 million twenty foot container units annually Djibouti was ranked the 177th safest investment destination in the world in the March 2011 Euromoney Country Risk rankings To improve the environment for direct foreign investment the Djibouti authorities in conjunction with various non profit organizations have launched a number of development projects aimed at highlighting the country s commercial potential The government has also introduced new private sector policies targeting high interest and inflation rates including relaxing the tax burden on enterprises and allowing exemptions on consumption tax Additionally efforts have been made to lower the estimated 60 urban unemployment rate by creating more job opportunities through investment in diversified sectors Funds have especially gone toward building telecommunications infrastructure and increasing disposable income by supporting small businesses Owing to its growth potential the fishing and agro processing sector which represents around 15 of GDP has also enjoyed rising investment since 2008 To expand the modest industrial sector a 56 megawatt geothermal power plant slated to be completed by 2018 is being constructed with the help of OPEC the World Bank and the Global Environmental Facility The facility is expected to solve the recurring electricity shortages decrease the nation s reliance on Ethiopia for energy reduce costly oil imports for diesel generated electricity and thereby buttress the GDP and lower debt The Djibouti firm Salt Investment SIS began a large scale operation to industrialize the plentiful salt in Djibouti s Lake Assal region Operating at an annual capacity of 4 million tons the desalination project has lifted export revenues created more job opportunities and provided more fresh water for the area s residents In 2012 the Djibouti government also enlisted the services of the China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd for the construction of an ore terminal Worth 64 million the project enabled Djibouti to export a further 5 000 tons of salt per year to markets in Southeast Asia Djibouti s gross domestic product expanded by an average of more than 6 percent per year from US 341 million in 1985 to US 1 5 billion in 2015 Djibouti s gross domestic product expanded by an average of more than 6 percent per year from US 341 million in 1985 to US 1 5 billion in 2015 The Djiboutian franc is the currency of Djibouti It is issued by the Central Bank of Djibouti the country s monetary authority Since the Djiboutian franc is pegged to the U S dollar it is generally stable and inflation is not a problem This has contributed to the growing interest in investment in the country As of 2010 update 10 conventional and Islamic banks operate in Djibouti Most arrived within the past few years including the Somali money transfer company Dahabshiil and BDCD a subsidiary of Swiss Financial Investments The banking system had previously been monopolized by two institutions the Indo Suez Bank and the Commercial and Industrial Bank BCIMR To assure a robust credit and deposit sector the government requires commercial banks to maintain 30 of shares in the financial institution clarification needed a minimum of 300 million Djiboutian francs in up front capital is mandatory for international banks Lending has likewise been encouraged by the creation of a guarantee fund which allows banks to issue loans to eligible small and medium sized businesses without first requiring a large deposit or other collateral Saudi investors are also reportedly exploring the possibility of linking the Horn of Africa with the Arabian Peninsula via a 28 5 kilometre long 17 7 mi oversea bridge through Djibouti referred to as the Bridge of the Horns The investor Tarek bin Laden has been linked to the project In June 2010 Phase I of the project was delayed Transport Main Terminal at Djibouti Ambouli International Airport The Djibouti Ambouli International Airport in Djibouti City the country s only international airport serves many intercontinental routes with scheduled and chartered flights Air Djibouti is the flag carrier of Djibouti and is the country s largest airline The new and electrified standard gauge Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway started operation in January 2018 Its main purpose is to facilitate freight services between the Ethiopian hinterland and the Djiboutian Port of Doraleh Car ferries pass the Gulf of Tadjoura from Djibouti City to Tadjoura There is the Port of Doraleh west of Djibouti City which is the main port of Djibouti The Port of Doraleh is the terminal of the new Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway In addition to the Port of Doraleh which handles general cargo and oil imports Djibouti 2018 has three other major ports for the import and export of bulk goods and livestock the Port of Tadjourah potash the Damerjog Port livestock and the salt Almost 95 of Ethiopia s imports and exports move through Djiboutian ports citation needed The Djiboutian highway system is named according to the road classification Roads that are considered primary roads are those that are fully asphalted throughout their entire length and in general they carry traffic between all the major towns in Djibouti Djibouti is part of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road that runs from the Chinese coast to the Upper Adriatic region with its connections to Central and Eastern Europe Media and telecommunications The Djibouti Telecom headquarters in Djibouti City Telecommunications in Djibouti fall under the authority of the Ministry of Communication Djibouti Telecom is the sole provider of telecommunication services It mostly utilizes a microwave radio relay network A fiber optic cable is installed in the capital whereas rural areas are connected via wireless local loop radio systems Mobile cellular coverage is primarily limited to the area in and around Djibouti city As of 2015 update 23 000 telephone main lines and 312 000 mobile cellular lines were in use The SEA ME WE 3 submarine cable operates to Jeddah Suez Sicily Marseille Colombo Singapore and beyond Telephone satellite earth stations include 1 Intelsat Indian Ocean and 1 Arabsat Medarabtel is the regional microwave radio relay telephone network Radio Television of Djibouti is the state owned national broadcaster It operates the sole terrestrial TV station as well as the two domestic radio networks on AM 1 FM 2 and shortwave 0 Licensing and operation of broadcast media is regulated by the government Movie theaters include the Odeon Cinema in the capital As of 2012 update there were 215 local internet service providers Internet users comprised around 99 000 individuals 2015 The internet country top level domain is dj The main print newspapers are owned by the government the French language daily La Nation the English weekly Djibouti Post and the Arabic weekly Al Qarn There is also a state news agency Agence Djiboutienne d Information Non government news websites are based abroad for instance La Voix de Djibouti operates out of Belgium Tourism Arta Plage on the Gulf of Tadjoura Tourism in Djibouti is one of the growing economic sectors of the country and is an industry that generates less than 80 000 arrivals per year mostly the family and friends of the soldiers stationed in the country s major naval bases Although the numbers are on the rise there are talks of the visa on arrival being stopped which could limit tourism growth Infrastructure makes it difficult for tourists to travel independently and costs of private tours are high Since the re opening of the train line from Addis Ababa to Djibouti in January 2018 travel by land has also resumed Djibouti s two main geological marvels Lake Abbe and Lake Assal are the country s top tourist destinations The two sites draw hundreds of tourists every year looking for remote places that are not visited by many Energy Djibouti has an installed electrical power generating capacity of 126 MW from fuel oil and diesel plants In 2002 electrical power output was put at 232 GWh with consumption at 216 GWh At 2015 per capita annual electricity consumption is about 330 kilowatt hours kWh moreover about 45 of the population does not have access to electricity and the level of unmet demand in the country s power sector is significant Increased hydropower imports from Ethiopia which satisfies 65 of Djibouti s demand will play a significant role in boosting the country s renewable energy supply The geothermal potential has generated particular interest in Japan with 13 potential sites they have already started the construction on one site near Lake Assal The construction of the photovoltaic power station solar farms in Grand Bara will generate 50 MW capacity DemographicsA Somali woman in nomadic attireAn Afar man in nomadic attire Historical populationYearPop p a 195062 001 195569 589 2 34 196083 636 3 75 1965114 963 6 57 1970159 659 6 79 1977277 750 8 23 1980358 960 8 93 1985425 613 3 47 1990590 398 6 76 1995630 388 1 32 2000717 584 2 62 2005784 256 1 79 2010850 146 1 63 2015869 099 0 44 2018884 017 0 57 20241 066 809 3 18 Source World Bank to 2018 2024 Census by Institut National de la Statistique de Djibouti INSTAD Djibouti had a population of 1 066 809 inhabitants at the Census held on 20 May 2024 It is a multiethnic country The local population grew rapidly during the latter half of the 20th century increasing from about 69 589 in 1955 to around 869 099 by 2015 The two largest ethnic groups native to Djibouti are the Somalis 60 and the Afar 35 The Somali clan component is mainly composed of the Issa who make up 33 followed by the Gadabuursi 15 20 and the Isaaq 13 3 20 The remaining 5 of Djibouti s population primarily consists of Yemeni Arabs Ethiopians and Europeans French and Italians Approximately 76 of local residents are urban dwellers the remainder are pastoralists Djibouti also hosts a number of immigrants and refugees from neighboring states with Djibouti City nicknamed the French Hong Kong in the Red Sea due to its cosmopolitan urbanism Djibouti s location on the eastern coast of Africa makes it a hub of regional migration with Somalis Yemenis and Ethiopians traveling through the country en route to the Gulf and northern Africa Djibouti has received a massive influx of migrants from Yemen Languages of Djibouti Somali 60 Afar 35 Arabic 2 Other 3 00 Islam in Djibouti Pew Sunnism 87 Non denominational Muslims 8 Other Muslim 3 Shiaism 2 Languages Djibouti is a multilingual nation The majority of local residents speak Somali 60 and Afar 35 as first languages They are the mother tongues of the Somali and Afar ethnic groups respectively Both languages belong to the larger Afroasiatic Cushitic family Northern Somali is the main dialect spoken in the country and in neighbouring Somaliland in contrast to Benadiri Somali which is the main dialect spoken in Somalia There are two official languages in Djibouti Arabic and French Arabic is of religious importance In formal settings it consists of Modern Standard Arabic Colloquially about 59 000 local residents speak the Ta izzi Adeni Arabic dialect also known as Djibouti Arabic French serves as a statutory national language It was inherited from the colonial period and is the primary language of instruction Around 17 000 Djiboutians speak it as a first language Immigrant languages include Omani Arabic 38 900 speakers Amharic 1 400 speakers and Greek 1 000 speakers Religion Djibouti s population is predominantly Muslim Islam is observed by around 98 of the nation s population approximately 891 000 as of 2022 update As of 2012 update 94 of the population was Muslim whereas the remaining 6 of residents are Christian adherents Islam entered the region very early on as a group of persecuted Muslims had sought refuge across the Red Sea in the Horn of Africa at the urging of the Islamic prophet Muhammad In 1900 during the early part of the colonial era there were virtually no Christians in the territories with only about 100 300 followers coming from the schools and orphanages of the few Catholic missions in the French Somaliland The Constitution of Djibouti names Islam as the sole state religion and also provides for the equality of citizens of all faiths Article 1 and freedom of religious practice Article 11 Most local Muslims adhere to the Sunni denomination following the Shafi i school The non denominational Muslims largely belong to Sufi orders of varying schools According to the International Religious Freedom Report 2008 while Muslim Djiboutians have the legal right to convert to or marry someone from another faith converts may encounter negative reactions from their family and clan or from society at large and they often face pressure to go back to Islam The Diocese of Djibouti serves the small local Catholic population which it estimates numbered around 7 000 individuals in 2006 Largest cities Largest cities or towns in Djibouti According to the 2009 CensusRank Name Region Pop Djibouti Ali Sabieh 1 Djibouti Djibouti 475 322 Dikhil Tadjoura2 Ali Sabieh Ali Sabieh 37 9393 Dikhil Dikhil 24 8864 Tadjoura Tadjourah 14 8205 Arta Arta 13 2606 Obock Obock 11 7067 Ali Adde Ali Sabieh 3 5008 Holhol Ali Sabieh 3 0009 Airolaf Tadjourah 1 02310 Randa Tadjourah 1 023 Health Entrance to the ISSS Faculty of Medicine in Djibouti City The life expectancy at birth is around 64 7 for both males and females Fertility is at 2 35 children per woman In Djibouti there are about 18 doctors per 100 000 persons The 2010 maternal mortality rate per 100 000 births for Djibouti is 300 This is compared with 461 6 in 2008 and 606 5 in 1990 The under 5 mortality rate per 1 000 births is 95 and the neonatal mortality as a percentage of under 5 s mortality are 37 In Djibouti the number of midwives per 1 000 live births is 6 and the lifetime risk of death for pregnant women 1 in 93 About 93 1 of Djibouti s women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation FGM sometimes referred to as female circumcision a pre marital custom mainly endemic to Northeast Africa and parts of the Near East Although legally proscribed in 1994 the procedure is still widely practiced as it is deeply ingrained in the local culture Encouraged and performed by women in the community FGM is primarily intended to deter promiscuity and to offer protection from assault About 94 of Djibouti s male population have also reportedly undergone male circumcision a figure in line with adherence to Islam the Shafi i school of Islam the predominant madhhab in the Horn of Africa requires circumcision of males and females Education Education is a priority for the government of Djibouti As of 2009 update it allocates 20 5 of its annual budget to scholastic instruction Djiboutian women participating in the Global Pulse educational initiative 2010 The Djiboutian educational system was initially formulated to cater to a limited pupil base As such the schooling framework was largely elitist and drew considerably from the French colonial paradigm which was ill suited to local circumstances and needs In the late 1990s the Djiboutian authorities revised the national educational strategy and launched a broad based consultative process involving administrative officials teachers parents national assembly members and NGOs The initiative identified areas in need of attention and produced concrete recommendations on how to go about improving them The government subsequently prepared a comprehensive reform plan aimed at modernizing the educational sector over the 2000 10 period In August 2000 it passed an official Education Planning Act and drafted a medium term development plan for the next five years The fundamental academic system was significantly restructured and made compulsory it now consists of five years of primary school and four years of middle school Secondary schools also require a Certificate of Fundamental Education for admission In addition the new law introduced secondary level vocational instruction and established university facilities in the country As a result of the Education Planning Act and the medium term action strategy substantial progress has been registered throughout the educational sector In particular school enrollment attendance and retention rates have all steadily increased with some regional variation From 2004 to 2005 to 2007 08 net enrollments of girls in primary school rose by 18 6 for boys it increased 8 0 Net enrollments in middle school over the same period rose by 72 4 for girls and 52 2 for boys At the secondary level the rate of increase in net enrollments was 49 8 for girls and 56 1 for boys The Djiboutian government has especially focused on developing and improving institutional infrastructure and teaching materials including constructing new classrooms and supplying textbooks At the post secondary level emphasis has also been placed on producing qualified instructors and encouraging out of school youngsters to pursue vocational training As of 2012 update the literacy rate in Djibouti was estimated at 70 Institutions of higher learning in the country include the University of Djibouti CultureTraditional wood carved jar from Oue a in the Tadjourah region Djiboutian attire reflects the region s hot and arid climate When not dressed in Western clothing such as jeans and T shirts men typically wear the macawiis which is a traditional sarong like garment worn around the waist Many nomadic people wear a loosely wrapped white cotton robe called a tobe that goes down to about the knee with the end thrown over the shoulder much like a Roman toga Women typically wear the dirac which is a long light diaphanous voile dress made of cotton or polyester that is worn over a full length half slip and a bra Married women tend to sport head scarves referred to as shash and often cover their upper body with a shawl known as garbasaar Unmarried or young women do not always cover their heads Traditional Arabian garb such as the male jellabiya jellabiyaad in Somali and the female jilbab is also commonly worn For some occasions such as festivals women may adorn themselves with specialized jewelry and head dresses similar to those worn by the Berber tribes of the Maghreb A lot of Djibouti s original art is passed on and preserved orally mainly through song Many examples of Islamic Ottoman and French influences can also be noted in the local buildings which contain plasterwork carefully constructed motifs and calligraphy Music The oud is a common instrument in traditional Djibouti music Somalis have a rich musical heritage centered on traditional Somali folklore Most Somali songs are pentatonic That is they only use five pitches per octave in contrast to a heptatonic seven note scale such as the major scale At first listen Somali music might be mistaken for the sounds of nearby regions such as Ethiopia Sudan or the Arabian Peninsula but it is ultimately recognizable by its own unique tunes and styles Somali songs are usually the product of collaboration between lyricists midho songwriters laxan and singers codka or voice Balwo is a Somali musical style centered on love themes that is popular in Djibouti Traditional Afar music resembles the folk music of other parts of the Horn of Africa such as Ethiopia it also contains elements of Arabic music The history of Djibouti is recorded in the poetry and songs of its nomadic people and goes back thousands of years to a time when the peoples of Djibouti traded hides and skins for the perfumes and spices of ancient Egypt India and China Afar oral literature is also quite musical It comes in many varieties including songs for weddings war praise and boasting Literature Djibouti has a long tradition of poetry Several well developed Somali forms of verse include the gabay jiifto geeraar wiglo buraanbur beercade afarey and guuraw The gabay epic poem has the most complex length and meter often exceeding 100 lines It is considered the mark of poetic attainment when a young poet is able to compose such verse and is regarded as the height of poetry Groups of memorizers and reciters hafidayaal traditionally propagated the well developed art form Poems revolve around several main themes including baroorodiiq elegy amaan praise jacayl romance guhaadin diatribe digasho gloating and guubaabo guidance The baroorodiiq is composed to commemorate the death of a prominent poet or figure The Afar are familiar with the ginnili a kind of warrior poet and diviner and have a rich oral tradition of folk stories They also have an extensive repertoire of battle songs Additionally Djibouti has a long tradition of Islamic literature Among the most prominent historical works is the medieval Futuh Al Habash by Shihab al Din which chronicles the Adal Sultanate s Conquest of Abyssinia during the 16th century In recent years a number of politicians and intellectuals have also penned memoirs or reflections on the country Sport El Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium in Djibouti City Football is the most popular sport amongst Djiboutians The country became a member of FIFA in 1994 but has only taken part in the qualifying rounds for the African Cup of Nations as well as the FIFA World Cup in the mid 2000s In November 2007 the Djibouti national football team beat Somalia s national squad 1 0 in the qualification rounds for the 2010 FIFA World Cup marking its first ever World Cup related win Recently the World Archery Federation has helped to implement the Djibouti Archery Federation and an international archery training center is being created in Arta to support archery development in East Africa and Red Sea area citation needed Cuisine A plate of sambusas a popular traditional snack Djiboutian cuisine is a mixture of Somali Afar Yemeni and French cuisine with some additional South Asian especially Indian culinary influences Local dishes are commonly prepared using a lot of Middle Eastern spices ranging from saffron to cinnamon Grilled Yemeni fish opened in half and often cooked in tandoori style ovens are a local delicacy Spicy dishes come in many variations from the traditional Fah fah or Soupe Djiboutienne spicy boiled beef soup to the yetakelt wet spicy mixed vegetable stew Xalwo pronounced halwo or halva is a popular confection eaten during festive occasions such as Eid celebrations or wedding receptions Halva is made from sugar corn starch cardamom powder nutmeg powder and ghee Peanuts are sometimes added to enhance texture and flavor After meals homes are traditionally perfumed using incense cuunsi or frankincense lubaan which is prepared inside an incense burner referred to as a dabqaad See alsoIndex of Djibouti related articles Outline of Djibouti Religion in Djibouti Christianity in Djibouti Protestant Church of Djibouti Catholic Church in DjiboutiNotes dʒ ɪ ˈ b uː t i jih BOO tee Arabic جيبوتي romanized Jibuti French Djibouti Somali Jabuuti Afar Yibuuti Arabic جمهورية جيبوتي romanized Jumhuriyyat JibutiFrench Republique de DjiboutiSomali Jamhuuriyadda JabuutiAfar Gabuutih Ummuuno The Djiboutian Somali border is de jure controlled by the internationally recognized Federal Republic of Somalia but is de facto under the control of the unrecognized Republic of Somaliland References Djibouti The World Factbook CIA 5 February 2013 Archived from the original on 9 January 2021 Retrieved 26 February 2013 Djibouti Freedom in the World 2024 Country Report Freedom House Retrieved 23 January 2025 While Djibouti technically has a multiparty political system the ruling Union for a Presidential Majority UMP uses authoritarian means to maintain its dominant position Other electoral provisions favor the dominant party for example by awarding at least 80 percent of the seats in each 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