Play

Djibouti

Capital of DjiboutiDjibouti is a port city on the Horn of Africa, on the Gulf of Tadjoura. Loyada, the crossing point on the country's southern border, is only about 25 km away.

Why it's the capital

The French founded Djibouti in 1888 on an empty stretch of coast. Its harbour was better than the one at Obock, north of the gulf, and it was nearer to the Ethiopian city of Harar, so in 1896 it became the capital of French Somaliland. It stayed the capital at independence in 1977.

Fun facts

  1. The country is named after its capital city, so Djibouti is the name of both the nation and its main city.
  2. The city's nickname is the 'Pearl of the Gulf of Tadjoura'.
  3. The town grew much bigger after the French built the Franco-Ethiopian Railway, which linked its port with Ethiopia.

Finding it on the globe

Find the corner of Africa where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden. Djibouti is a little south of that corner, on the coast just north of Somalia.

Sources: Wikipedia: Djibouti (city), Wikipedia: Djibouti, Wikipedia: Loyada, Wikipedia: Gulf of Tadjoura