I
City (pop., 1995 est.: 383,000), major port, and capital of Djibouti.
Located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Tadjoura in the Gulf of Aden , it was founded by the French in 1888 and made the capital of French Somaliland in 1892. Linked by rail to Addis Ababa in 1917, it was made a free port in 1949. The economic life of both the city and the nation depends on the city's function as a transshipment point, especially between Ethiopia and the Red Sea trade. Built on three level areas linked by jetties, the city has a mixture of ancient and modern architecture. Drought and war during the 1980s and early '90s brought many refugees to Djibouti from Somalia and Ethiopia, swelling its population.
II
officially Republic of Djibouti formerly (1885–1967) French Somaliland (1967–77) French Territory of the Afars and Issas
Country, eastern Africa, on the Gulf of Aden at the entrance to the Red Sea .
Area: 8,880 sq mi (22,999 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 473,000. Capital: Djibouti . Over half of the people are Issas and related Somali clans; Afars are nearly two-fifths; the balance includes Yemeni Arabs and Europeans, mostly French. Languages: French, Arabic (both official). Religion: Sunnite Islam. Currency: Djibouti franc. Djibouti is divided into three principal regions: the coastal plain; the volcanic plateaus in the country's south and centre; and the mountain ranges in the north, reaching 6,654 ft (2,028 m) at Mount Mousâ. The land is primarily desert
hot, dry, and desolate. Less than 1% is arable. Djibouti has a developing market economy that is based almost entirely on trade and commercial services, centring on Djibouti city. The country is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the president. Settled с 3rd century BC by the Arab ancestors of the Afars, it was later populated by Somali Issas. In AD 825 Islam was brought to the area by missionaries. Arabs controlled the trade in this region until the 16th century; it became the French protectorate of French Somaliland in 1888. In 1946 it became a French overseas territory and in 1977 gained its independence. In the late 20th century it received refugees from the Ethiopian-Somali war and from civil conflicts in Eritrea. From the 1990s the country suffered from political unrest.