Djibouti (city)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The city of Djibouti (Arabic: جيبوتي‎, French: Ville de Djibouti) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Djibouti. Lying on a peninsula that divides the Gulf of Aden from the Gulf of Tadjoura, this city has a latitude and longitude of 11°36′N 43°10′E.

Djibouti has the same status as the country's five regions. The metropolitan territory borders Arta Region to the south and west, and the Gulf of Tadjourah/Gulf of Aden to the north. Djibouti is home to a population of around 400,000 people, its planned centre having been divided into the former European and African quarters.

The Djibouti-Addis Ababa Railway runs from the city to Addis Ababa, while it is also home to the Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport. Northwest of the city centre lies the port, used for international trade, fishing and by ferries to Obock and Tadjoura.

Founded as a seaport in 1888, Djibouti became the capital of French Somaliland in 1891, replacing Tadjourah. It has remained the capital for the succeeding colonial government of French Territory of the Afars and the Issas, as well as for the independent country of Djibouti.

One travel writer describes Djibouti as having an identity problem, "it is the sedentary capital of a nomadic people, an African city designed like a European settlement and a kind of French Hong Kong in the Red Sea."^[1] Features of Djibouti City include beaches along its eastern shore and the large Central Market, the national stadium Stade du Ville, the Presidential Palace and Hamouli Mosque.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Africa on a Shoestring (London: Lonely Planet, 2004), p. 698.

[edit] External links

• Satellite picture by Google Maps