DJIBOUTI, HISTORY OF

history of Djibouti from independence in 1977 to the present. On the eve of independence, Djibouti's viability as a sovereign state was questionable. However, fears that the Afar and the Issa Somali would become pawns in a struggle between the republic's rival neighbours, Ethiopia and Somalia, did not materialize. No Djiboutian political leader, either Afar or Somali, ever condoned unification with either of the larger states. Indeed, Djibouti established a peaceful international profile through a policy of strict neutrality in regional affairs. In keeping with friendship treaties with both Somalia and Ethiopia, the government refused to support armed groups opposing the neighbouring regimes, and it hosted negotiations between Somalia's and Ethiopia's leaders that resulted in a series of accords in 1988. Djibouti's balanced posture in external relations was reflected in its internal politics. Hassan Gouled Aptidon, an Issa Somali, was elected to two consecutive terms as president in 1981 and 1987. Barkat Gourad Hamadou, an Afar serving as prime minister since 1978, was reappointed in 1987. Power appeared to be shared, with ministry appointments following a formula designed to maintain ethnic balance. In the first years of self-government, though, ethnic tensions were evident. By 1978 the state had experienced two cabinet crises and changes of prime minister. Those ousted were Afars accused of fomenting ethnic strife. Since the banning of opposition parties in 1981, ethnic conflict in the political arena has been for the most part minimal. However, Issa predominance in the civil service, the armed forces, and the RPP was only slightly masked, and occasional tremors of social unrest disturbed Djibouti's superficial calm. Challenges to Djibouti's stability could not be reduced to traditional Afar and Issa enmity; signs of the serious problems facing the young nation were also to be found in the urban demography of its capital. On the outskirts of the city an expansive squatter community known as Balbala, which originally developed just beyond the barbed-wire boundary erected by the French colonial administration to prevent migration to the capital, tripled in size within a decade after independence. In 1987 it was officially incorporated into the city, with the promise of development of basic water and sanitary services. Its growth continued owing to a high birth rate, rural migration, and displacement of persons from the urban core. Conditions in the densely populated native quarters of Djibouti city were only marginally better than in Balbala. Structures were limited to wood and corrugated iron by colonial, and later national, restrictions on the construction and location of permanent dwellings. Distinct ethnic enclaves were identifiable: the retail centre surrounding the main mosque (Hamoudi Mosque) and the former caravan terminus (Harbi Square), housing the Arab community; the neighbourhoods radiating beyond this area, settled by the Issaq, Gadaboursi, and Issa Somali; and the quarter known as Arhiba, built by the French to house the Afar dockworkers recruited from the north of the colony in the 1960s. As the urban infrastructure was developed, and as government-subsidized housing was realized through international aid programs, conditions in the old districts of the city improved. Yet the needs remained immense, and progress was accompanied by perceptions of ethnic favouritism. Discontent was also fostered by a high cost of living, unemployment, and a widening gap in living conditions between the majority of the population and the new urban elite. Finally, government efforts to assist the people in desolate rural areas were complicated by the presence of large numbers of Ethiopian and Somalian refugees. Under the auspices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, thousands of persons who were displaced by the Ogaden dispute of the late 1970s and the droughts of the early 1980s were repatriated. However, continued civil upheavals in Somalia precipitated more refugee movement into the republic. Thus, the chronic conflicts of the troubled Horn of Africa encumbered the realization of Djibouti's national goals of unity, equality, and peace. Catherine C. Cutbill Additional reading Virginia Thompson and Richard Adloff, Djibouti and the Horn of Africa (1968), is the standard English-language text on the history of Djibouti, although it is now dated and lacks detail and depth of analysis; it can be supplemented by Robert Tholomier (Robert Saint Vran), Djibouti, Pawn of the Horn of Africa, abridged ed. (1981; originally published in French, 1977), covering the French Territory of the Afars and Issas from 1967 to 1977. Events since the 1950s have yet to be chronicled in a single source in English. W. Sheldon Clarke, The Republic of Djibouti: An Introduction to Africa's Newest State and a Review of Related Literature and Sources, A Current Bibliography on African Affairs, 10(1):331 (197778), provides a useful overview and a good, though dated, bibliography, with many French works. The following French sources are also recommended: Centre des Hautes tudes sur l'Afrique et l'Asie Modernes, France, Ocan Indien, Mer Rouge: tudes (1986), with an extensive background chapter on Djibouti; Philippe Oberl and Pierre Hugot, Histoire de Djibouti: des origines la Rpublique (1985), the most comprehensive history of Djibouti published to date; and Olivier Weber (ed.), Corne de l'Afrique (1987), with several articles devoted to history, culture, and contemporary Djibouti life and with discussions developing the regional context. Catherine C. Cutbill The economy Djibouti has few natural resources and extensive unemployment. Efforts to exploit geothermal energy are under way, but without substantial results. Salt was commercially exploited for export until the 1950s; today, surface deposits are collected and marketed through the informal sector of the economy. In rural areas, nomadic pastoralism is a way of life. Sheep and goats are raised for milk, meat, and skins, while camels are used for transport caravans. Agriculture is confined to a few wadis, which produce small yields of vegetables (mostly tomatoes) and dates. The fishing industry is still in the early stages of development. More than 90 percent of the country's food requirements is imported, mainly from France, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Much of the country's economic potential lies in the transport and service sectors. An international airport is located at Ambouli. The port of Djibouti is a free-trade zone with modern container and refrigeration facilities and a rail link to Ethiopia. International telecommunications services are some of the best in sub-Saharan Africa. The capital has attracted several large commercial banks and provides a thriving entertainment industry necessary to a port city. There is also much unrecorded transshipment, via camels, dhows, and trucks, to bordering countries. Major public works projects have been funded through foreign aid, and the government actively coordinates donors' efforts. In 1988 a paved road linking Tadjoura and the north with the capital was completed. The improvement of housing and the urban infrastructure continues. The land The landscape of Djibouti is varied and extreme, ranging from rugged mountains in the north to a series of low desert plains separated by parallel plateaus in the west and south. Its highest peak is Mount Mousa at 6,768 feet (2,063 metres); the lowest point, which is also the lowest in Africa, is the saline Lake Assal, 515 feet (157 metres) below sea level. Located at the convergence of the African and Arabian tectonic plates, the territory is geologically active. Slight tremors are frequent, and much of the terrain is littered with basalt from past volcanic activity. Rainfall is rare, and vegetation is minimal. There are no regularly flowing surface watercourses in the republic. Cool-season (October to April) daily maximum temperatures at Djibouti city average 87 F (31 C); in the hot months 99 F (37 C) is the average daily maximum. Temperatures increase and humidity drops in midsummer as the arid khamsin wind blows off the inland desert. The country's wildlife includes antelopes, gazelles, hyenas, jackals, and ostriches. Offshore, Djibouti's waters teem with many species of marine life, including tuna, barracuda, and grouper. Djibouti is virtually a city-state, since about two-thirds of the population lives in or near the capital. Outlying towns are small trading centres that experience periodic population increases as camel caravans and sheep and goat herders encamp. The people Ethnic composition Based on linguistic criteria, the two largest ethnic groups are the Somali and the Afar. Both groups adhere at least nominally to the Sunnite branch of Islam and speak related, but not mutually intelligible, eastern Cushitic languages. The Afar (Denakil, or Danakil) speak a language that forms a dialect continuum with Saho. Saho-Afar is usually classified as an Eastern Cushitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language phylum. The Afar live in the sparsely populated areas to the west and north of the Gulf of Tadjoura. This region includes parts of several former as well as extant Afar sultanates. The sultans' roles are now largely ceremonial, and the social divisions within the traditional Afar hierarchy are of diminished importance. The Somali, who also speak an Eastern Cushitic language, are concentrated in the capital and the southeastern quarter of the country. Their social identity is determined by clan-family membership. More than half of the Somali belong to the Issa, whose numbers exceed those of the Afar; the remaining Somali are predominately members of the Gadaboursi and Issaq clans. Djibouti city is home to a long-established community of Yemeni Arabs and houses a sizable contingent of French technical advisers and military personnel. In recent decades these groups have been joined by small but significant numbers of ethnic Ethiopians as well as Greek and Italian expatriates. Language The republic recognizes two official languages: French and Arabic. However, Somali is the most widely spoken language, although it is rarely written and is not taught in the schools. The use of Afar is mostly restricted to Afar areas. Many Djiboutians are multilingual.