Djibouti is located in northeastern Africa, strategically located at the strait of Bab el Mandeb, which links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Republic of Djibouti takes its name from its capital city, Djibouti. Located at the intersection of trade routes connecting the Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea, and Africa with the Middle East, Djibouti has long been a cultural and commercial crossroads. It is bounded by Eritrea (N), Ethiopia (W, S), Somalia (S), and the Gulf of Aden (E). Djibouti is the capital, largest city, and most significant port.
Climate
Djibouti’s location astride the East Africa, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden rift systems provides a unique environment for studying volcanic, geothermal, and earthquake activity arising from the meeting of three tectonic plates. Over 600 tremors occur every year, virtually none of which are felt.
Population
The population of the republic of Djibouti reaches around 800,000 inhabitants, with 400,000 people gathered in the city of Djibouti. The inner districts; Ali-Sabieh, Dikhil, Obock, Tadjourah and Arta; gather 20 to 30,000 inhabitants each. The remaining of the population is composed of nomads who live in the bush. The Afar people and the Somalis people are the two main groups in the country. There is a significant minority of Arabs from Yemen, along with other groups coming from Ethiopia, Europe, and the Indian sub-continent
Nature
The submarine fauna represents a great variety of species and colours: tuna fish, barracuda, napoleon, manta ray, carnage, king fish, and the thousands of coral fishes (clown fish, balist, green parrot), etc. The land faune is also very diverse, with carnivores such as the cheetah, and the fennec; with herbivores, and with numerous bird species (200). In spite of the hard climate, the landscape offers touristic treasures such as the Assal lake, the mangroves and the beautiful beaches of the islands.
History
The Republic of Djibouti recorded in poetry and songs of its nomadic peoples, goes back thousands of years to a time when Djiboutians traded hides and skins for the perfumes and spices of ancient Egypt, India, and China. Through close contacts with the Arabian Peninsula for more than 1,000 years, the Somali and Afar tribes in this region became the first on the African continent to adopt Islam.
The Republic of Djibouti was organized in the form of modern state in the first half of the 19th century as a result of French interest in the Horn of Africa. The Republic of Djibouti gained its independence on June 27, 1977. It is the successor to the French Somaliland (later called the French Territory of the Afars and Issas).
French Interest
It was Rochet d'Hericourt's exploration into Shoa (1839-42) that marked the beginning of French interest in the African shores of the Red Sea.
The French steadily tightened their grip on the sultanate of Tadjoura and the kingdom of Addal throughout the nineteenth century. They stepped up their control in the 1850s ,the French Consular Agent at Aden, Henri Lambert negotiated with the sultan of Tadjoura ,Dini Aboubakar, to purchase land for France
In their search for a port with an outlet to the red sea,Paris signed in 1862 a treaty with the sultans of Tadjoura over the anchorage of Obock.In 1884,because Obock revealed inadeqeate for navigating and trade,Paris signed a treaty with the region’s main Somali clan ,the Issa,thus expanding its protectorate to the shores of the Gulf of Tadjoura and the Somaliland, the following month, they exchanged Zeila for the British-held Musha and maskali Islands.
The Boundaries of the protectorate, were marked out in 1897 by France and Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia, reaffirmed by agreements with Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia in 1945 and 1954.
The administrative capital was moved from Obock to Djibouti in 1896. Djibouti, which has a good natural harbor and ready access to the Ethiopian highlands, attracted trade caravans crossing East Africa as well as Somali settlers from the south. The Franco-Ethiopian railway, linking Djibouti to the heart of Ethiopia, was begun in 1897 and reached Addis Ababa in June 1917, increasing the volume of trade passing through the port.
Reform
On July 22, 1956, the colony was reorganized to give the people considerable self-governmence. A decree applying the Overseas Reform Act (Loi Cadre) of June 23, 1956, established a territorial assembly that elected eight of its members to an executive council.
In july 1956 The great Chief Mr. Mahmoud Harbi has defeated the frenchman Habib Deloncle in the race for deputy and he become the first president of the executive council Members. The executive council was responsible for one or more of the territorial services and carried the title of minister. The council advised the French-appointed governor general.
In a September 1958 constitutional referendum, Mr. Mahmoud Harbi demanded independence and asked his people to cast their ballots against membership in the French Union. The opponent won 25% of the vote-the highest score in Africa except for guinea, as a consequence of this vote the French turned to the Afar ,whom they had all but forgotten since 1930.
French Somaliland opted to join the French community as an overseas territory. This act entitled the region to representation by one deputy and one senator in the French Parliament, and one counselor in the French Union Assembly.
The first elections to the territorial assembly were held on November 23, 1958, under a system of proportional representation. In the next assembly elections (1963), a new electoral law was enacted.
Representation was abolished in exchange for a system of straight plurality vote based on lists submitted by political parties in seven designated districts. Ali Aref Bourhan, was selected to be the president of the executive council. French President Charles de Gaulle's August 1966 visit to Djibouti was marked by 2 days of public demonstrations by Somalis demanding independence. On September 21, 1966, Louis Saget, appointed governor general of the territory after the demonstrations, announced the French Government's decision to hold a referendum to determine whether the people would remain within the French Republic or become independent. In March 1967, 60% chose to continue the territory's association with France.
In July of that year, a directive from Paris formally changed the name of the region to the French Territory of Afars and Issas. The directive also reorganized the governmental structure of the territory, making the senior French representative, formerly the governor general, a high commissioner. In addition, the executive council was redesignated as the council of government, with nine members.
Independence
In 1975, the French Government began to accommodate increasingly insistent demands for independence. In June 1976, the territory's citizenship law, which favored the Afar minority, was revised to reflect more closely the weight of the Issa Somali. The electorate voted for independence in a May 1977 referendum, and the Republic of Djibouti was established June that same year. Hassan Gouled Aptidon became the country's first president.
In 1981, Hassan Gouled Aptidon was relected for the second term and in 1987 for the third term.Civil war broke out in 1991, between the government and a predominantly Afar rebel group, the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD). The FRUD signed a peace accord with the government in December 1994, ending the conflict. Two FRUD members were made cabinet members, and in the presidential elections of 1999 the FRUD campaigned in support of the RPP .Aption resigned as president 1999, H.E. Excellency , Ismail Omar Guelleh, was elected in april 1999 as a head of state and has been reelected in April 2005 for his second mandate, the new government has the full backing of the Djibouti people to concretize the country’s aspiration to become a trade, industrial and financial hub in the greater horn of Africa
Djibouti: A Peace Loving & Democratic Nation
Peace has been and remains the symbol of Djibouti Government Policy.H.E Mr.ISAMAIL OMAR GUELLEH, after a transparent, fair, equitable and a free election .Few month later an agreement between the new Government of Djibouti and the radical wing of Frud has been signed. After an intense and direct negotiation the final and comprehensive Peace Accord was signed in Djibouti on May 12, 2001.This agreement has finally ended the civil war in the north of the country.
In September 1992 the Nation of the Republic of Djibouti had adopted with huge majority the new Constitution establishing a democratic and multiparty regime .Political parties have been voluntarily limited to four in order to avoid their proliferation on ethnic basis. In accordance with this new Constitution, the year 2002 was the start of full multiparty system. Furthermore the Government has also started the process of decentralization which will allow the local entities to manage their economies and elect their own leaders. The Government of Djibouti encourages as much as possible the participation of the civil society to the process of policy making.
Another priority of President Guelleh is the promotions of gender equality .Though Djibouti women have always enjoyed the same rights than men in education, health and employment. It is the aim of president Guelleh to see women playing a bigger role in the process of decision making and particularly in the political arena.
The creation of the Ministry for Women Advancement headed by a woman was the starting point of these efforts.
Djibouti: Devoted to the Peace and the Development of the Region
At the regional level, Djibouti has never managed its efforts to contribute actively to the conflicts resolution that have undermined the development of the region and provoked huge humanitarian disasters.
Thus, the President of Djibouti H.E. Mr.ISMAIL OMAR GUELLEH, less than four months after his election launched from the podium of the General Assembly of the United Nations the Peace Initiative called “Somalia Rebirth” with an innovative, comprehensive and inclusive approach which had allowed to the civil society among others leaders to participate fully for the first time to the peace process. After less than a year has emerged the first widely accepted and recognized government and institutions since the collapse of the regime of Mohammed Siad barreh more than a decade ago, both at national and international level.
All these efforts have been supported by all members of sub-regional organization, IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development), which has it’s headquarter in Djibouti and composed by Eriterea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Djibouti.
IGAD has the ambitious task to prevent and to mange conflicts and also to mobilize the natural and human resources in order to fight the under-development. The Republic of Djibouti is devoted with others countries in the region to give all its potentialities.
With private investments, technical transfer, peace and efforts, these countries could with their huge natural and human resource feed more than half of the African population. This will contribute not only to combat hunger and poverty but will prepare the road for the prosperity of the future generation.
Economy
Djibouti's economy is based on a number of service activities associated with its strategic location and its position as a free-trade zone. It is a major port for NE Africa, as well as an international transshipment and refueling center. Otherwise, the nation is largely economically underdeveloped. Nomadic pastoralism is a chief occupation; goats, sheep, and camels are raised. Date palms are grown and there is a small fishing industry. Manufacturing is mainly limited to food processing and shipbuilding and repair.
The city of Djibouti is the terminus of the Addis Ababa–Djibouti RR; it and the port were undergoing modernization in the late 1990s. The main exports are hides, cattle, and coffee (transshipped from Ethiopia). Djibouti imports transport equipment and petroleum, as well as most of its food and consumer goods; its economic development depends largely on foreign investment and aid. The main trading partners are France and other European Union countries, Ethiopia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.
