THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME

According to a legend of the Issa, one of the two main groups which make up the population of the country, the name comes from a fabulous beast which terrorised the inhabitants with its ferocity.

Djabouti, in Somali, means “the ogre has been conquered”. The other version comes from the Afars, the other main ethnic group, who named the territory gabod, which means “plateaus” (a characteristic of the landscape). The Arab sailors pronounced this gabouti.

The third possible etymology and the most commonly believed, is that dji-bouti is Arab deformed by the Issas as dji but meaning “the boat (bout) has arrived (dji)”.
The Yemenites arriving on the African coast of the Gulf of Aden used boutres (bout in Arab), small sailing boats with a high sail at the back, still seen sailing the open seas of Djibouti, carrying cargo and passengers.

RELIGION

The population consists of Afar and Somali. It is population is 98% Muslim, Sunnite. But the communities have retained their ancestral customs. There are neither religious police nor prohibition of any kind, such as alcohol for example. The capital, Djibouti, is home to many Muslim and Christian places of worship.

ANCIENT TIMES TO COLONIZATION

Populated by pastors, the country probably witnessed its first “invasion” at the end of the fifteenth century BC, from Pharaonic Egypt. Accounts of the expedition organized by Queen Hatshepsut, describe the country as the “land of the gods” then famous for its frankincense and myrrh market, near Tadjourah.

Then came the Persians, Somali, Afar and the Arabs. A crossroads or trade, Djibouti saw exchange intensify and the spread of Islam from the seventh century AD. The first European came from Spain (1520), then from France (1710). The influence of French in the sultanate of Tadjourah intensified and led to the signing of the Paris treaty of alliance by which they took possession of the port town of Obock on 11 May, 1862. This was followed by the annex of Djibouti by the French (1888). The territory became a colony under the name of French Somaliland (1896). After the bloody repression of the first independence protests (1966), the country changed its name, becoming the French Territory of Afars and Issas (1967).

INDEPENDENCE TO REBELLION

Independence came late: 17 years after independence was granted to most of the other colonies in Africa. Led by the African Popular League for Independence (LPAI), their demands were eventually met after the referendum held on May 8, 1977: The majority of the population of the territory voted for independence (contrary to the previous referendum in 1958).

The country gained independence on June 27, 1977 under the name of Republic of Djibouti, with Hassan Gouled Aptidon as the first president and the People’s Rally for Progress (RPP, then single-party) directing the affairs of the country. An armed rebellion broke out in 1991 in the north, led by the opposition party, Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (Frud), which denounced the single-party sytem and ethnic domination.

After the institution of a multi-party system (new Constitution passed in 1992), a peace agreement was signed in December 1994 between the government and a faction of the Frud. But peace was only sealed on 12 May 2001 – after the arrival in power of President Ismail Omar Guelleh (May 1999) – with the head of the faction army, Ahmed Dini, in exile. During these years of crisis, military expenditure, together with the decline of State revenue (port activity was in decline), left the State coffers empty.

CIVIL PEACE TO ECONOMIC REVIVAL

Once elected, President Ismail Omar Guelleh established the multi-party system set out in the Constitution of 1992, consolidating civil peace and reviving the economic machine. In the “war against terrorism” (post-2001), Djibouti has played a strategic role: the American military base joined that of the French.

The country has been able to take advantage of port saturation in the region and booming world trade across the Red Sea (Asia-Europe traffic) to attract foreign capital, including the Gulf (United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saud Arabia etc.).

Megaprojects – the deep-water port of Doraleh, free zones, refineries, tourism and real estate – are multiplying in the capital and the outlying areas (roads, schools, clinics, telecommunications, industry, and geothermal power).

REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

The local, emmerging market offers great opportunities. Entrepreneurs in Dubai, followed by other Gulf neighbours, came to scout the Port of Djibouti (June 2000), and discovered the country’s full maritime and commercial potential: Djibouti provides a strategic platform at the centre of a regional and international corridor. It is the preferred maritime market of the vast Ethiopia and the gateway to the huge Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Created in 1993, Comesa includes nineteen countries, which will begin their customs union in 2009 and become a single market in 2025.

Djibouti is part of two other regional organizations: the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), of which it hosts the headquarters and which has six other members, and the community of Sahel-Saharan States (Cen-Sad). It is also a member of the African Union (AU), the Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Djibouti maintains beneficial operations with the European Union and its member countries, and with the USA, China, Japan and all other interested countries, such as Iceland, India and Malaysia.