Djibouti , [ a ] officially the Republic of Djibouti , [ b ] is a country in the Horn of Africa , bordered by Somalia [ c ] to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area of 23, km 2 8, sq mi. In antiquity, the territory, together with Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somaliland, was part of the Land of Punt. In the late 19th century, the colony of French Somaliland was established after the ruling Dir Somali and Afar sultans signed treaties with the French, [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] 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.
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 new state joined the United Nations in its first year. Djibouti is a multi-ethnic nation with a population of 1,, at the census held on 20 May [ 6 ] the smallest in mainland Africa.
French and Arabic are its two official languages; Afar and Somali are national languages. The Somalis and Afar make up the two largest ethnic groups, with the former comprising the majority of the population. Both speak a language of the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. Djibouti is 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 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. Djibouti is officially known as the Republic of Djibouti. In local languages it is known as Gabuuti in Afar and Jabuuti in Somali. The country is named for its capital, the City of Djibouti. The etymology of the name is disputed. There are several theories and legends about its origin, varying based on ethnicity. One theory derives it from the Afar word gabouti , meaning "plate", possibly referring to the area's geographical features.
Under French administration, from until , the land to the north of the Gulf of Tadjoura was called " Obock ". The Bab-el-Mandeb region has often been considered a primary crossing point for early hominins following a southern coastal route from East Africa to South and Southeast Asia. The Djibouti area has been inhabited since the Neolithic. According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic -speaking populations arrived in the region during this period from the family's proposed urheimat "original homeland" in the Nile Valley , [ 24 ] or the Near East.
