Djibouti (city)

Djibouti is the capital of the African country of Djibouti, as well as the largest city in that state (its population in 2018 was 562 000 inhabitants).

Geography

Djibouti is a peninsula that separates the Gulf of Aden from the Gulf of Tadjoura. It has 630 square kilometers of surface.

The center of the city was planned in such a way that two very different areas were established, the European and the African. Currently this division does not exist. To the north of the city is the port, used for international trade, as well as for fishing and as the departure point for ferries that connect the town with Obock and Tadjoura.

History

This port city was founded in 1888 by French colonists. In 1891, just three years after its creation, it replaced the city of Tadjoura as the country's capital.

Demographics

Djibouti is a multi-ethnic city. It has a population of around 603,900 (Djiboutian) residents as of 2018, making it by far the largest settlement in the country. The largest ethnic group are the Somalis and the second largest are the Afars, both Cushitic-speaking Kushite peoples. The urban landscape of the city is made up of many communities. Djibouti's ethnic makeup changed in the 1990s, when significant numbers of Ethiopian and Somali immigrants arrived in the city, and Djibouti was dubbed the "French Hong Kong on the Red Sea" due to its cosmopolitan urbanism.[24]

Most local residents speak Somali (303,100 speakers) or Afar (101,200 speakers) as their first language, which are the mother tongues of the Somali and Afar ethnic groups, respectively. Both languages belong to the larger Afroasiatic family. There are two official languages in Djibouti: Arabic (Afroasiatic) and French (Indo-European).

Arabic is of social, cultural and religious importance. In formal settings, it consists of Modern Standard Arabic. Colloquially, some 40,000 local residents speak the Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic dialect, also known as South Yemen Arabic due to Yemeni immigrants. French was inherited from the colonial period and is the primary language of instruction. Some 14,200 Djiboutians speak it as their first language. Immigrant languages include Omani Arabic (38,900 speakers) and Amharic (1,400 speakers).

Djibouti's population is predominantly Muslim. Islam is observed by 94% of the nation's population (about 740,000 as of 2012), while the remaining 6% of residents are Christian adherents.[2] The Diocese of Djibouti serves the small local Catholic population, estimated to be around 7,000 people in 2006.

Religion

Among places of worship, Muslim mosques predominate.ref>J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, ‘‘Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices’’, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 899</ref> There are also Christian churches and temples: Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Roman Catholic Diocese of Djibouti (Catholic Church), Protestant Churches and Evangelical Churches.

Architecture

Places of interest in the city of Djibouti are the beaches located on the eastern coast, the central market, the national stadium, the presidential palace and the Hamoudi mosque.

Transportation

In addition to the air connection with other countries through the Djibouti-Amboulii International Airport, the city has a railway line that connects it to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. Said country does not have its own maritime port, so it uses the port of Djibouti as a starting point for the export of several of its own products, such as sugar, for example.