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With a population of 988,002 (2020), Djibouti differs in many ways
from other African nations. It has had contact with the Arabian
peninsula for more than a thousand years and even one of its
national languages is Arabic. Djibouti was ruled in
the nineteenth century by a Sultan, but by 1862 the French had
started purchasing land there and eventually expanded the area into a
colony known as French Somalialand, broadly reflecting Djibouti's
current boundaries. The colony gained its independence from France
in 1977, and was renamed the Republic of Djibouti, however was
essentially two countries in one representing the Afars and the
Issas. Djibouti itself is a predominately Muslim country with each and every town and village
having its own Mosque.
Following independence, the country's first president Hassan Gouled Aptiodon, installed a Issas led one-party
state and he continued to rule until his retirement in 1999 when his nephew, Ismail Omar Guelleh, was installed in office. Afar
unrest was prevalent during the 1990s and has been described as civil war,
however a peace treaty was signed in 2000 and since then there have been
multi-party elections, even if the incumbent president, Aptiodon's nephew Ismail Omar Guelleh, was re-elected for his fifth five-year term in 2021 with 97.30% of the vote! Despite its location next to the sea, Djibouti is little visited by tourists, except for the French with their colonial ties, however it is used a
military base for eight overseas nations, bringing important revenue into the country,
where unemployment is estimated to be between 40-50% of the working population. For example, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Support Base has recently been completed in Djibouti having been built at a cost of US$590 million.
Such external revenue is required as Djibouti has few natural resources and insufficient
rainfall and arable land (most of the country is a stony desert) to feed itself,
having to import most foodstuffs. Bases are built there mainly because of Djibouti's strategic location not least its control, with Yemen, of the Strait of Bab-el-Mandab, through which 10% of total world trade passes, represented by nearly 19,000 ships in 2020. For more about Djibouti, check out our country profile pages below including our Djibouti profile news which is updated daily.
Djibouti Profile: Volunteer in Djibouti
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Djibouti Profile: Djibouti History
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Djibouti Profile: Djibouti Independence
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Djibouti Profile: Life in Djibouti
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Djibouti Profile: Colonial Djibouti
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Djibouti Profile: Djibouti Sea Life
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Djibouti Profile: Djibouti Nomads
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Djibouti Profile: Djibouti Airport
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Djibouti Profile: Djibouti Map
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Djibouti Profile: Child Sponsor Djibouti
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Djibouti Profile: Djibouti News
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