Djibouti (city)

Djibouti (French Djibouti; Arabic جيبوتي, DMG Ǧībūtī) is the capital of the African state of the same name, Djibouti. The port city is located at the entrance to the Gulf of Tadjoura, a part of the Gulf of Aden, south of the strait of Bab al-Mandab.

The city was founded by the French in 1888. In 1892 it replaced Obock as the capital of French Somaliland. The original district of Djibouti had an area of 630 km². The administrative reform of 7 July 2002 established a new region, Arta. The capital district ceded territory to Arta and shrank in area from 600 to 200 km², but includes Musha Island and the entire archipelago.

Djibouti is the terminus of the railway line from Addis Ababa and a free port for Ethiopia, which has no access of its own to the sea.

As a result of a marked rural exodus, a large part of Djibouti's population lives in the capital. About half of the city's inhabitants live in slums like Arhiba, where unemployment rates are high and malnutrition is widespread.

The Ambouli River, which only carries water seasonally, flows through the city, separating the older parts of the city from the Balbala district. The international airport of Djibouti is the Djibouti-Ambouli Airport.

The Bundeswehr has stationed a liaison and support group in Djibouti, primarily with naval and military police forces, to support Germany's part in EU NAVFOR Somalia ("Operation Atalanta") and formerly Operation Enduring Freedom. At times, maritime reconnaissance aircraft are also deployed from the Djibouti airport.

A bomb attack in Djibouti on 18 March 1987 killed 13 people, including scientists from the research vessel Meteor.

In a 2018 ranking of cities by quality of life, Djibouti ranked 190th among 231 cities surveyed worldwide.

Extension of the urban area of Djibouti before and after the administrative reform of 7 July 2002 (establishment of the Arta region)

City breakdown

The city consists of three communes, which are further divided into six arrondissements. The arrondissements in turn consist of quartiers.

• Ras-Dika
• Sixth arrondissement (Arrondissement du Plateau or Plateau-Marabout-Héron) (Plateau, Marabout, Héron, Serpent, Paid)
• Boulaos
• First arrondissement (quartiers 1, 2, 3 and 4)
• Second arrondissement (quartiers 5, 6, 7, 7 bis, Arhiba and Stade)
• Third arrondissement (Ambouli)
• Hayableh
• Fourth arrondissement (quartiers PK20, Balbala 04 and PK12)
• Fifth arrondissement (quartiers Balabala 05, Hablayeh and Doraleh)

The third commune, located to the west, appears in a more recent (2013) publication under the name Balbala. Balbala was formerly a refugee camp.

The sixth arrondissement (Arrondissement du Plateau), which was created in 2003 and coincides with the commune of Ras-Dika, also includes the Îles Moucha.

Climate