History History

Some nomads settle around the lakes and practice fishing and cattle breeding.

Egyptian expedition to the country of Punt, first written account of the Djibouti region.

This is the name given to the various peoples who settled in the Horn of Africa by successive migrations and who, little by little, according to various influences, gave rise to the Afars and the Somalis, the two peoples constituting Djibouti today.

The present territory of Djibouti is part of the Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum. This vast kingdom, which lasted for seven centuries, prospered thanks to the trade in incense and various Ethiopian riches. In 578, Aksum was conquered by the Persians. In the 10th century, the end of the kingdom was precipitated (according to legend) by the passage of the armies of the mysterious Queen Gudit, who came from the south.

Little by little, the influence of the kingdom of Aksum diminished and Christianity, which had appeared here since the 4th century, was now competing with Islam. Merchants from southern Arabia settled on the coasts of the region and contributed to the spread of the new religion from 825 onwards.

One of the first to seriously recognize the coastline of the Horn of Africa was the Spanish missionary Francis Xavier who, in 1520, set out for India.

It is the Ethiopian coffee that the French covet. Louis XIV and the whole court of the Sun King made it the fashionable drink. Tadjourah became THE great port of Ethiopian coffee, transported by huge caravans of dromedaries from Bate. Tadjourah prospered, especially since coffee was not the only commodity to transit there. Weapons for Ethiopia and slaves for Arabia were also part of the trade and the French did not remain indifferent to these last two trades.

Assassination of the French consul, Henri Lambert, in the Musha Islands, on his ship Natchery, probably "at the request" of the British.

This small port became the capital of the colony of Obock and its dependencies.

It marked a turning point in the world economy and made Bab el-Mandeb (the strait that separates Djibouti and Yemen) a highly strategic area. The Red Sea became a route of primary importance. France engages in a struggle for influence with the British.

Following various treaties, France acquired the Gulf of Tadjourah and extended its influence from Doumeira to Somalia. On March 26, 1885, France and the chiefs of the current region of Djibouti-City signed a treaty of protectorate and "eternal friendship".

They created the port of Djibouti, more appropriate for international trade. As early as 1888, they saw in this small almost deserted cape a highly strategic place, a future bridgehead for their African and Asian interests.

Léonce Lagarde becomes the first governor of the French Somali Coast (or French Somalia), the new name of the French dependencies in the region.

Djibouti became the commercial port of Ethiopia, which led to the construction of the famous railway line between Djibouti and Addis Ababa. France dreamed of continuing this route to Dakar. Work began in 1898, involving a large number of workers and some famous architects, including Gustave Eiffel. But the construction site encountered many obstacles. The construction of the railroad was even stopped for six consecutive years and the track stopped for a while at Dire Dawa, a new town born with the railway. The 800 km of track finally reached Addis Ababa in 1917.

Djibouti was granted the status of an overseas territory. At the same time, in 1948, the Djibouti franc was created.

Inter-ethnic riots kill about 100 people. Rise of the desire for independence.

Creation of a Council of Government under the chairmanship of the territorial chief to manage local affairs. For the first time, all representatives of the territory are indigenous people.

Hassan Gouled Aptidon advocated maintaining the status of TOM and won.

During a new referendum, the population pronounces, with a small majority, for the continuation of the management of the territory by France. The colony takes the name of "French Territory of Afars and Issas".

A military bus carrying 31 students from French families based in Djibouti is taken hostage by pro-independence militants of the Front de libération de la Côte des Somalis (FLCS). This hostage situation is recounted in 2019 in the French-Belgian film L'Intervention, by Fred Grivois. That same year, after 43 years of silence, the families of the victims demanded reparation.

The referendum of 8 May 1977 initiated the process: the "yes" vote for independence won (98.8%). Djibouti remained the very last French territory in Africa, the last colony of the continent. The Republic of Djibouti was born and Hassan Gouled Aptidon became its first president. He remained in office until 1999.

The drought of 1978-1980 hit the country hard. And almost all the neighbouring countries went to war. Djibouti then appeared as an oasis of peace in the middle of a region that was being torn apart, a neutral place whose leaders acted as mediators in the conflicts of its neighbours. Sudanese, Somali, Eritrean and Yemeni refugees flocked there. France's official mission was to protect Djibouti. The real reason was to keep a foothold in this highly strategic zone. The two great world powers (the United States and Russia) were also strengthening their presence in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The so-called "Cold War" fanned the flames in the Horn of Africa.

Internal tensions are rekindled, then civil war breaks out in Djibouti. The conflict pits the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD), led by former Prime Minister Ahmed Dini, against the regime of Hassan Gouled Aptidon, accused of favouring the Issas to the detriment of the Afars.

The Republic of Djibouti, which had been under a one-party regime since independence, opened the way to a multi-party system, albeit limited to four parties: the RPP (Rassemblement Populaire pour le Progrès), the PRD (Parti du Renouveau Démocratique), the PND (Parti National Démocratique) and the FRUD (Front pour la Restauration de l'Unité et la Démocratie). The latter boycotted the election. The "yes" vote won with 96.63% of the votes cast. In 1994, an agreement was signed with the FRUD, but it did not finally put an end to the conflict. Ahmed Dini and his men continued the struggle.

Although Eritrea freed itself from Ethiopian tutelage in the early 1990s, the two countries went to war again in 1998, following a border dispute. The war ended, but tensions remained. It was not until 2018 that relations between the two countries normalized. On July 9, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed conclude a peace agreement. Abiy Ahmed is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019.

Ismaël Omar Guelleh, president of the RPP (single party from 1981 to 1992) and nephew of Hassan Gouled Aptidon, became president of the Republic.

Peace agreement between the government and the FRUD

After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, the Americans went to war against terrorism. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is at the top of the list of areas to be controlled. The place is highly strategic, between the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa. Somalia, and the anarchy that reigns there, is of particular concern. The Americans decided to set up a military base in Djibouti and to establish themselves permanently. The warships of many nations succeeded one another in the port (French, Americans, English, Germans, Italians, Spaniards...), in order to carry out a draconian control of the strait. Djibouti played the card of a multipolar positioning and became, over the decades and in times of peace, the country in the world that hosts the most foreign military bases (France, United States, Germany, Japan, Italy, China ...).

Legislative elections saw the victory of an alliance led by the RPP. Work begins on the port of Doraleh, which will double the country's port capacity.

Re-election of Ismaël Omar Guelleh.

Abourma, one of the most important rock art sites in the Horn of Africa, was visited for the first time by French archaeologists in 2005. Ancient representations of wild animals and cultural practices, dated between -5000 and 0 B.C., are engraved in volcanic rock over a distance of around three kilometers.

After a clash with the Eritrean army, which had set out in pursuit of its deserters on Djiboutian territory, 12 Djiboutian soldiers were killed and 60 wounded.

The European Union decided to launch a maritime military mission called "Atalanta" dedicated to the fight against piracy. Djibouti is the ideal location for the headquarters of this force. If the Gulf of Tadjourah is now protected from pirates, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is more risky. But the area now seems secure and, since March 2016, it is once again possible to sail to the Seven Brothers archipelago and (re)discover its incredible underwater world.

Constitutional reform allowing President Ismaël Omar Guelleh to run for a third term.

In February, demonstrations against the economic situation and the government were suppressed by the security forces. Ismaël Omar Guelleh was re-elected on 8 April with more than 80% of the votes cast.

Signature of a defence cooperation treaty between France and Djibouti, which succeeds the defence agreement concluded at the time of Djibouti's independence. Deployment of the European mission EUCAP Nestor to reinforce the fight against piracy in the region.

Claimed by the terrorist group Al-Shabaab, a suicide attack took place on a café terrace in Menelik Square. The toll was 3 dead (including the two terrorists) and about twenty injured.

Four Djibouti soldiers were released by Eritrea. They had been taken prisoner in June 2008 during border clashes for control of the territory of Ras Doumeira, which Eritrea claims.

Not surprisingly, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh was re-elected president in the first round of the presidential election with 86.68% of the vote. On 8 May, he was officially inaugurated for a fourth term.

Inauguration of the new multipurpose deepwater port at Doraleh. This will be followed by the opening of new facilities in Tadjourah, the main city in the north of Djibouti, and in Goubet.

Installation of a Chinese military base in Djibouti, the first on the African continent. In 2024, China will have a military base and a port to secure its economic interests in the region.

Death of the opponent Mohamed Ahmed, known as "Jabha", member of the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD), detained since May 2010.

Official opening of the new electrified railway line linking Djibouti to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, after several years of work.

The UMP, the party in power, obtained 88% of the vote. It remains dominant in the Assembly, with 57 seats.

Djibouti inaugurates the future largest free zone in Africa.

First presidential tour in the Horn of Africa. He is the second French president, after Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010, to visit the country in twenty years.

With the ambition, for the last ten years, to become a crossroads of international maritime trade, Djibouti is launching the construction of a shipyard. "The country needed to equip itself with such infrastructure, which does not exist anywhere else in the region," said President Ismaël Omar Guelleh. The project should cost 200 million dollars and the work should last at least 2 years. The other African shipyard is in Côte d'Ivoire.

Ismaël Omar Guelleh, head of the country since 1999, was re-elected in the first round with 98.58% of the vote.

Since late 2020, the countries of the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan) have been experiencing their worst drought in 40 years. With five rainy seasons in short supply, this historic drought, with its dramatic consequences, is due to global warming, according to a scientific study (WWA).

Twenty migrants die in a shipwreck off Djibouti, and at least as many are missing. A few days earlier, another shipwreck claimed 38 lives. Djibouti is on one of the "most dangerous migration routes in the world", according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). 79% of the 100,000 or so migrants arriving in Yemen from Djibouti's shores in 2023 are Ethiopians. In 2023, almost 700 people (including women and children) perished along this "eastern route". In addition to shipwrecks, migrants face "famine, health risks, traffickers and other criminals".

France and Djibouti renew their defense partnership. The Defense Cooperation Treaty (TCMD), signed on December 21, 2011, has been renewed.