Djibouti
Djibouti (/dʒɪˈbuːti/ (About this soundlisten) jih-BOO-tee;
Afar: Yibuuti, Arabic: جيبوتي Jībūtī, French: Djibouti,
Somali: Jabuuti), officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a
country located in the Horn of Africa in East Africa. It is
bordered by Somalia in the south, Ethiopia in the south and
west, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of
Aden in the east. Across the Gulf of Aden lies Yemen. The
country has a total area of 23,200 km2 (8,958 sq mi).[1] The
Republic of Djibouti is predominantly inhabited by two
ethnic groups, the Somali and the Afar people, with the
former comprising the majority of the population.
In antiquity, the territory together with Somalia was part
of the Land of Punt. Nearby Zeila, now in Somalia, was the
seat of the medieval Adal and Ifat Sultanates. In the late
19th century, the colony of French Somaliland was
established following treaties signed by the ruling Somali
and Afar sultans with the French and its railroad to Dire
Dawa (and later Addis Ababa) allowed it to quickly supersede
Zeila as the port for southern Ethiopia and the Ogaden. It
was subsequently renamed to the French Territory of the
Afars and the Issas in 1967. A decade later, the Djiboutian
people voted for independence. This officially marked the
establishment of the Republic of Djibouti, named after its
capital city. The sovereign state joined the United Nations
the same year, on 20 September 1977. In the early 1990s,
tensions over government representation led to armed
conflict, which ended in a power-sharing agreement in 2000
between the ruling party and the opposition.
Djibouti is a multi-ethnic nation with a population of over
921,804 inhabitants (the smallest in mainland Africa).
French and Arabic are the country's two official languages.
About 94% of residents adhere to Islam,[1] which is the
official religion and has been predominant in the region for
more than a thousand years. The (Issa clan) and Afar make up
the two largest ethnic groups. Both speak the Cushitic
branch of the Afroasiatic languages.
Djibouti is strategically located near some of the world's
busiest shipping lanes, controlling access to the Red Sea
and Indian Ocean. It serves as a key refuelling and
transshipment center, and is the principal maritime port for
imports from and exports to neighboring Ethiopia. A
burgeoning commercial hub, the nation is the site of various
foreign military bases, including Camp Lemonnier. The
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) regional
body also has its headquarters in Djibouti City.
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