country’s oppressive tropical desert heat. Somaliland. Along the coast, temperatures often range The French took an opportunity in above 100 F. (55.6 C.) between May and 1897 to develop a railroad connection from October. Annual precipitation over the the port city of Djibouti to Addis Ababa, entire country seldom is greater than five the capital city of Ethiopia. This highly to seven inches (13 to18 cm.). successful venture made Djibouti Djibouti’s population primarily in- Ethiopia’s official port for foreign trade. cludes two ethnic groups, the Issa (60 Following World War II, the Issas percent) and the Afar (35 percent), plus demanded independence. The French about 700,000 non-natives. These include were able to control the growing demands Yemini traders, war refugees from both by adding Djibouti to the French Com- Somalia and Ethiopia, European munity, an economic and cultural asso- DJIBOUTI: NORTH businesspeople, and a few French sol- ciation between France and its territories. diers. In 1967, the colony voted to rename itself AFRICA’S Djibouti’s majority Issa is a Somali the French Territory of the Afars and Issas. clan, which is part of a larger cultural In 1977, however, the territory voted over- MICROSTATE group occupying Africa’s Horn, includ- whelmingly for independence, becoming In a hot and desolate corner of Africa’s ing the present-day country of Somalia. the country of Djibouti. Horn, the tiny independent country of The Afar culture is from the Djibouti high- With few resources, Djibouti is ex- Djibouti (jih-BOO-tee) is found. Hardly lands to the north. Both cultures were tremely poor. Those 250,000 people who known outside of the region, Djibouti’s traditionally composed primarily of no- live in cities are particularly disadvan- geographic position provides a rail and madic herders. taged, with as many as 90 percent unem- port connection to one of the world’s busi- Although Somali and Afar are the ployed or underemployed. Livestock est shipping routes, which is it critical to languages commonly spoken, Arabic and grazing remains the chief activities of ru- landlocked Ethiopia’s foreign trade. French are the official languages of trade ral citizens. In fact, Djibouti’s only economic ad- and record keeping. The population is 94 Djibouti’s economy is almost entirely vantage is its geographic lo- based upon serving as cation. A recent article in Saudi Ethiopia’s intermediary in in- Aramco World (Mar.-April, Djibouti, The Middle Man ternational trade. With only 2001) provides insights into 66 miles (106 km.) of railroad Djibouti’s interesting culture and 100 miles (161 km.) of Red Sea paved roads, the Djibouti and struggling economy. E R must rely upon its port city Djibouti is located in Af- IT R YEMEN and capital of Djibouti as its rica just south of the Bab el- E Mandeb, the strait and A economic engine. B a From time to time, chokepoint at the southeast b Aden e l Djibouti is a source of conflict be- end of the Red Sea. Situated -M on the Gulf of Aden, the coun- an tween Somalia and Ethiopia, as deb try contains only 8,490 square Gulf of Aden they vie for dominance in the re- DJIBOUTI gion. Mortal enemies, these two miles (21,989 sq. km.) and is Lake Gulf of Tadjoura bordered by Somalia on the countries have fought numerous Assal Djibouti southeast, Ethiopia on the territorial battles over the Ogaden west, and Eritrea on the north- desert region to the south. west. It is unlikely that Djibouti will ETHIOPIA Tropical desert makes life ever rise to economic prominence extremely difficult for most of SOMALIA in the region. With no mineral wealth other than salt from Lake Djibouti’s population of Addis 0 150 mi 451,442. Over half of the coun- Ababa Assal, an extremely uncomfort- try lies near or below sea level, 0 150 km able climate and a dependence on the whims of Ethiopia’s economy, surrounding the Gulf of Geography in the News 05/11/01 ©2001 maps.com Tadjoura, which provides a Djibouti’s geographic location somewhat sheltered harbor. percent Muslim and six percent Chris- alone is not enough to propel it into mod- Djibouti’s landscape is a barren, stony tian. ern prosperity. It remains one of the desert. Directly to the east of the Gulf of France bought the Afar port of Obock world’s poorest microstates, languishing Tadjoura lies Lake Assal, both of which on the north side of the Gulf of Tadjoura in the aftermath of Africa’s colonial expe- occupy a rift valley. This valley is part of in 1862 from local sultans to use as a rience. East Africa’s rift valley complex. Lake coaling station for French ships. In 1888, And that is Geography in the News. Assal is a salt lake that is Africa’s lowest the French occupied the uninhabited place May 11, 2001. #571. that today is the location of the capital city point at 509 feet (155 m.) below sea level. (The author is a Professor of Geography of Djibouti near the mouth of the Gulf of Highlands north and south of the at Appalachian State University in Boone, Tajoura. Uniting their small possessions valley provide the only respite from the NC.) into a larger territory, they called it French

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