DJIBOUTI

	CLIMATE
	Djibouti is one of the hottest countries on Earth, with temperatures between June and August reaching 113°F (45°C). A summer wind blows sand in from the desert in the south. Cooler weather arrives in October and lasts until March.

On the Horn of Africa

There was never much to attract settlers to the land of Djibouti (ji-BOO-tee). There was some pasture for livestock, but it was mostly thorn and scrub and not farmland. However, valuable salt, left as a residue once the burning sun evaporated the waters of Lake Assal (ah-SAHL), did beckon. And, from about 4,500 years ago, so did trade with Egypt and the Middle East in frankincense and myrrh (fragrant resins, used in making incense and perfumes). There was also a natural harbor, where the seaport of Djibouti stands today, positioned between the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. This region was one of the world’s busiest trading routes.

The north and much of the interior of the country was settled in about 250 B.C.E. by people from the Arabian peninsula, the ancestors of today’s Afar (uh-FAHR). The Afar are also known as the Danakil (DAH-nah-kihl) people. About 350 years later the south was settled by Somali (soe-MAH-lee) people, who founded the Issa (EE-sah) subgroup there. Both peoples were mostly nomadic, wandering the arid zones with their herds in search of pasture.

The faith of Islam arrived from Arabia about 825 C.E., and during the Middle Ages Djibouti became part of a trading network that extended down the coast to the islands of East Africa and eastward to India. The chief goods were spices, minerals, and slaves. By the fourteenth century, an Islamic state called Adal had emerged. At the height of its power it stretched from the east of the Ethiopian Plateau, eastward to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. It took over the Red Sea trade and challenged Ethiopia, the powerful state that then dominated northeast Africa (see ETHIOPIA).

Over time it was the French who finally came to rule what is now Djibouti. They purchased the port of Obock (oe-BAWK) from the local Afar sultan in 1862 so that they could dominate the shipping lanes to the south when the Suez Canal opened in 1869. In 1884 they purchased Tadjoura (tah-JOO-rah), also from a local Afar sultan, and by 1888 their possessions in the region had become the colony of the French Somali Coast, or French Somaliland.

The capital was Djibouti, which became a very important seaport for the Suez trade. A railway was soon built, linking the coast with Addis Ababa (AHD-dis AH-bah-bah), the Ethiopian capital. By 1957, French Somaliland had home rule, but in 1967, 60 percent of the population voted against independence, since France offered aid and economic and military security. Violent riots followed the election. Ethiopia demanded Afar territory in northern Djibouti because so many of the Afar people already lived across the border in Ethiopia. After a decade of terrorism and political unrest, the country finally became independent as Djibouti in 1977.

The new state was still heavily involved with France. The presence of French Foreign Legion troops, which retained a major base in Djibouti, probably helped to deter Ethiopia and Somalia from meddling.

Djibouti faced huge problems. The closure of the Suez Canal from 1967 to 1975 during conflicts between Egypt and Israel had seriously affected the continuance of Djibouti as a seaport. War flared across the Horn of Africa from the 1970s into the 1990s (see ETHIOPIA, ERITREA, and SOMALIA). The railway was temporarily closed. Refugees poured across Djibouti’s borders. There was a severe drought in 1984 and disastrous flooding ten years later.

Unrest continued, as the Afar of the north and central regions clashed with the Issa of the south. The main sources of the conflict have been political and economic inequalities. The Issa predominate as city dwellers. This has put them in a position to take the best jobs and dominate the country’s politics. Djibouti became a one-party state in 1981, ruled by the People’s Assembly for Progress. Guerrillas of the Front for the Renewal of Democracy, supported by Afar villagers in the northeast, fought against the government until a peace agreement was reached in 1994.

Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who had been president since independence, resigned in 1999 at the age of 83. He was succeeded by his nephew, Ismail Omar Guellah.