Djibouti is located in Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia. The terrain consists of a coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains. The highest mountain Moussa Ali stands 6768ft tall along the northern border where the Ethiopian and Eritrean boundaries meet. Towards the west, lies the desert lowland with depressions containing several salt lakes, the largest being Lake Abbé situated along the Ethiopian border.
The country is surrounded by Eritrea to the north. Ethiopia to the north, west, and south; and Somalia to the southeast. While towards the east lies the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Tadjoura extends over 100 km into Djibouti from the east coast.
Djibouti was originally inhabited by nomadic tribes, the main ones being the Afars and the Issas, who are strongly linked to Ethiopia and Somalia respectively. In 1862, the French signed a treaty with the Afar leaders, giving them land on the north coast. During the rest of the 19th century, Djibouti gradually became more firmly associated with France. In 1915, a railway was completed from Djibouti to Addis Ababa. In 1945, French Somaliland (as the area was called) was declared an ‘overseas territory’ and in 1967, it became the French territory of the ‘Afars and Issas’. Tensions between the Afars, the Issas and the French led to sporadic outbreaks of violence during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1977, the French agreed to withdraw and the country achieved independence with Hassan Gouled Aptidon as president.
In 1991, Afar tribesmen launched a major assault on the regime, under the rubric of Le Front pour la Restauration de l’Unité et la Démocratie (FRUD). After two years of fighting, the rebellion was put down by the government with French support and, in May 1993, Gouled was re-elected as president of Djibouti.
Gouled resigned in the spring of 1999 after 22 years before the presidential election of Djibouti. Gouled’s nephew and former security chief, Ismail Omar Guelleh, replaced him and comfortably won the April 1999 poll. Apart from a failed coup in December 2000 – orchestrated by a disaffected former police chief – Djibouti has since enjoyed a welcome spell of domestic calm. The most recent national assembly poll in April 2003 returned the ruling coalition once again with Dileita still at the head of the government.
More than 60% of people in Djibouti from ethnic Somali origin, who form the majority in the south and 30 percent is made up of Afar. The remaining is of Arab, French, and other small groups. Even if the official languages of Djibouti are French and Arabic, Somali is also widely spoken in the south and Afar in the north.
Djibouti is hot and dry all year round, especially during summers. The average temperature varies from 23° to 29°C in January and from 31° to 41°C in July. Annual rainfall ranges from 127 mm in the capital to 380 mm in the mountains.
Muslim with Roman Catholic, Protestant and Greek Orthodox minorities.The official languages of Djibouti are French and Arabic. Afar and Somali are spoken locally. English is spoken by traders and hoteliers.
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