Djibouti encyclopedia topics

Land and People

Strategically situated, Djibouti commands Bab el Mandeb, the strait between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. Largely a stony desert with isolated plateaus and highlands, it has a generally dry and hot climate. Lake Assal, the lowest point in Africa (509 ft/155 m below sea level), is in the center of the country. The population is about 60% Somali (of which the Issa constitute some 40%) and 35% Afar (of Ethiopian origin); both groups are Muslim. In addition, large numbers of refugees from Ethiopian civil wars settled in Djibouti from 1975 to 1991. There are also French, Italian, and Arab minorities. Two thirds of the people live in the capital city, and the rest are nomadic herders. Official languages are French and Arabic; Somali and Afar are both widely used.

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 and there is high unemployment. Nomadic pastoralism is a chief occupation; goats, sheep, and camels are raised. Fruits, vegetables, and dates are grown. With few natural resources (there are significant salt deposits), Djibouti's industry is mainly limited to food processing, construction, and shipbuilding and repair. The city of Djibouti is the terminus of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti RR; it and the port were modernized beginning in the late 1990s. The main exports are hides and skins, cattle, and coffee (transshipped from Ethiopia). Djibouti imports foods and beverages, transportation equipment, chemicals, and petroleum products. Its economic development depends largely on foreign investment and aid. The main trading partners are Somalia, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, India, and China.

Government

Djibouti is governed under the constitution of 1992, which provides for a president as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of government. The president is popularly elected for a six-year term and is eligible for a second term; the prime minister is appointed by the president. The unicameral Chamber of Deputies consists of 65 members, who are popularly elected for five-year terms. Administratively, the country is divided into six districts.

History

France first obtained a foothold in the region in 1862. French interest centered around Djibouti, the French commercial rival to Aden. By 1896 it was organized as a colony and in 1946 it became a territory within the French Union. Membership in the French Community followed in 1958. The political status of the territory was determined by a referendum in 1967, in which the Afar population, until then the group that had the lesser voice in government, gained political ascendancy with French support. The Afars opted for a continuation of the connection with France, whereas the Somalis voted for independence and eventual union with Somalia.

France officially recognized Djibouti's independence in 1977. In the three years that followed, the Afar and Issa-Somali communities struggled to obtain control over the government. In 1979, efforts were made to unite the two ethnic groups through the formation of the People's Progress Assembly (RPP). In 1981, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, president since independence, established the RPP as the only legal political party in the country.

Despite its attempts at peacemaking, Djibouti has been adversely affected by warfare in and between neighboring Ethiopia and Somalia. Moreover, beginning in 1991, tensions between Afars and the Issa-dominated government resulted in an Afar rebellion. A reconciliation agreement was reached in 1994, but the last remaining rebel group signed a peace accord only in 2001. There also were border clashes with Eritrea during the mid-1990s. Djibouti was the base of operations for French forces during the Persian Gulf War, and the French remain a strong military and technical presence. The United States also established a military presence in the nation beginning in 2002.

In 1992 a constitution allowing for a limited multiparty state was approved by Djibouti's voters. In 1993, Gouled was reelected in the country's first multiparty elections, which were widely boycotted by the opposition. The 1999 presidential election was won by Ismail Omar Guelleh, the governing party candidate (and a nephew of Gouled). In 2003 the government sought to expel an estimated 100,000 illegal immigrants, largely Ethiopians and Somalis, from the country. The move was prompted by security and unemployment concerns. Guelleh was reelected in 2005, but the opposition refused to contest the election, believing that the government would rig the vote. In July, 2008, fighting erupted briefly between Djibouti and Eritrea near the Bab el Mandeb; Djibouti had accused Eritrea of occupying Djiboutian territory there earlier in the year.

Bibliography

I. M. Lewis, Peoples of the Horn of Africa (1969); H. G. Marcus, The Modern History of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa (1972); R. Tholomier, Djibouti: Pawn of the Horn of Africa (1981).

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Djibouti, town (1995 est. pop. 383,000), capital of the Republic of Djibouti, a port on the Gulf of Tadjoura (an inlet of the Gulf of Aden). It is the nation's only sizable town and its administrative center. Its importance results from the large transit trade it enjoys as a terminus of the railroad from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to the sea and from its strategic position near the shipping lanes that carry the Suez Canal traffic. Activity at its port declined when the Suez Canal was closed (1967-75) after the Arab-Israeli War of 1967. Its rail lines were severely damaged by bombing during the Ethiopian civil war in 1977. The only important industry is the production of salt from the sea. There is a camel market in the town. Djibouti was founded by the French c.1888 and became the capital of French Somaliland in 1892. There was severe rioting in Djibouti in 1967 after the territory voted to retain its ties with France.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

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Wikipedia

Djibouti ( جيبوتي Jībūtī, Somali: Jabuuti), officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Djibouti is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. On the other side of the Red Sea, on the Arabian Peninsula, 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the coast of Djibouti, is Yemen. The capital of Djibouti is the city of Djibouti.

History

The history of Djibouti as recorded in poetry and songs of its nomadic people, 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 among the first on the African continent to accept Islam.

French interest developed in the nineteenth century when the area was ruled by the sultan of Raheita, Tadjoura and Gobaad. The French purchased the anchorage of Obock in 1862 and expanded it eventually to a colony called French Somaliland with essentially the current boundaries. In 1967 the area became the French overseas territory of the Afars and Issas.

The Republic of Djibouti gained its independence from France on June 27,1977. Djibouti is a Somali, Arab and Islamic country which regularly takes part in Islamic affairs as well as Arab meetings.

Politics

Djibouti is a semi-presidential republic, with executive power in the central government, and legislative power in both the government and parliament. The parliamentary party system is dominated by the People's Rally for Progress and the current President is Ismail Omar Guelleh. The country's current constitution was approved in September 1992. Djibouti is a one party dominant state with the People's Rally for Progress in power. Opposition parties are allowed, but have no real chance of gaining power (see Elections in Djibouti).

The government is seen as being controlled by the Somali Issa clan, though at its head power is shared between a Somali President and an Afar Prime Minister (Scoitas Shilades), with cabinet posts similarly divided. The country has recently come out of a decade long civil war, with the government and the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD) signing a peace treaty in 2000. Two FRUD members are part of the current cabinet.

Despite elections of the 1990s being described as "generally fair", Guelleh was sworn in for his second and final six year term as president in a one-man race on 8 April 2005. He took 100% of the votes in a 78.9% turnout.

Djibouti's second president, Guelleh was first elected to office in 1999, taking over from Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who had ruled the country since its independence from France in 1977.

The prime minister, who follows the council of ministers ('cabinet'), is appointed by the President. The parliament - the Chambre des Députés - consists of 52 members who are elected every five to nine years.

In 2001, the Djiboutian government leased the former French Foreign Legion base Camp Lemonier to the United States. Camp Lemonier is being used by the United States Central Command in operations as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

France's 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade shares Camp Lemonier with the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) of the United States Central Command, which arrived in 2002. It is from Djibouti that Abu Ali al-Harithi, suspected mastermind of the 2000 USS Cole bombing, and U.S. citizen Ahmed Hijazi, along with four others persons, were killed in 2002 while riding a car in Yemen, by a Hellfire missile sent by a RQ-1 Predator drone actionned from CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. It is also from there that the U.S. Army launched attacks in 2007 against Islamic forces in Somalia.

Djibouti is a member of the Arab League, as well as the African Union, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Geography

Djibouti lies in northeast Africa on the Gulf of Aden at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. Djibouti has of coastline and shares a border with Eritrea, with Ethiopia and with Somalia (total ). The country, the size of Massachusetts, is mainly a stony desert, with scattered plateaus and highlands.

Regions and districts

Djibouti is divided into 5 regions and one city. It is further subdivided into 11 districts.

The regions and city are:

Ali Sabieh Region (Region d'Ali Sabieh)
Arta Region (Region d'Arta)
Dikhil Region (Region de Dikhil)
Djibouti (city) (Ville de Djibouti)
Obock Region (Region d'Obock)
Tadjourah Region (Region de Tadjourah)

Economy

The economy of Djibouti is based on service activities connected with the country's strategic location and status as a free trade zone in northeast Africa. Two-thirds of the inhabitants live in the capital city, the remainder being mostly nomadic herders. Scant rainfall limits crop production to fruits and vegetables, and most food must be imported.

In April 2005, the United Nations World Food Programme warned that 30,000 people in Djibouti face serious food shortages following three years of poor rains.

Djibouti provides services as both a transit port for the region and an international transshipment and refueling center. It has few natural resources and little industry. The nation is, therefore, heavily dependent on foreign assistance to help support its balance of payments and to finance development projects. An unemployment rate of 40% to 50% continues to be a major problem. Inflation is not a concern, however, because of the fixed tie of the franc to the U.S. dollar. Per capita consumption dropped an estimated 35% over the last seven years because of recession, civil war, and a high population growth rate (including immigrants and refugees). Renewed fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea has been beneficial to Djibouti, the Port of Djibouti now serving as landlocked Ethiopia's primary link to the sea. Faced with a multitude of economic difficulties, the government has fallen into arrears on long-term external debt and has been struggling to meet the stipulations of foreign aid donors.

Demographics

The population consists of two major groups, the Somali people and the Afar.

The remainder is formed by Europeans (mostly French and Italians), Arabs and Ethiopians. Tensions between the Afar and Issa was the cause of the civil war in the early 1990s.

The Somali ethnic component in Djibouti is mainly composed of the Issas, who form the majority and the Gadabuursi and Isaaq, all of whom are closely related as Dir subclans. The Issas form part of the ciise Madoobe Dir, while the Gadabuursi and Isaaq are part of the Mahe Dir, Mohammed Hiniftire.

Although French and Arabic are the official languages, Somali and Afar are widely spoken.

The bulk of Djibouti's people are urban residents; the remainder are herders. Health, sanitary, and education services are relatively poor in both urban and rural areas.

Religion

Djibouti's main religion is Islam. Just like Islam in other countries, every town and village in Djibouti has a mosque, to which people go to worship. Tombs of their former religious leaders and those considered holy are known as sacred spaces. The most famous sacred space for Islam in Djibouti is the tomb of Sheikh Abu Yazid, found in the Goda Mountains. In addition to the Islamic calendar, Muslims in Djibouti also recognize New Year's Day (January 1), and Labor Day (May 1), as holidays.

The Muslim religion comprises 94 percent of Djibouti's population (about 444,440). This leaves six percent for other religions. Christianity is mainly the other prevalent religion.

Culture

Djiboutian attire reflects the hot, arid climate. Men wear a loosely wrapped piece of cloth that goes down to about the knee, along with a cotton robe over the shoulder, much like a Roman toga. Women wear long skirts, typically dyed brown. Married women wear cloth to cover their heads, sometimes also covering their upper body. Unmarried or young women do not cover their heads. Traditional Arabian dress is worn strictly during religious festivals, especially in preparation for the hajj. For some occasions, women may adorn themselves with jewelry and headdresses.

A lot of Djibouti's original art is passed on and preserved orally, mainly through song. Using their native language, these people can sing or dance a story, acting it out. Many examples of French and Islamic influences can be noted in their buildings, which contain plasterwork, carefully constructed motifs and calligraphy.