French Somaliland

French Somaliland
Côte Française des Somalis Dhulka Soomaaliyeed ee Faransiiska
Colony (1896-1946) Overseas territory (1946-1967)
1896–1967
Flag
Anthem La Marseillaise  •  Djibouti (instrumental only)
French Somaliland in 1922
Capital		Djibouti
Languages		French, Somali, Afar, Arabic
Religion		Christianity, Islam
Demonym		Somali French Somali
Government		Dependent territory
Governor
•	1896–1899	Léonce Lagarde
•	1966–1967	Louis Saget
Historical era		New Imperialism
•	Established	May 20, 1896
•	Italian invasion	June 18, 1940
•	British occupation	December 28, 1942
•	Status changed to overseas territory	October 27, 1946
•	Renamed	July 5, 1967
Area
•	1963	23,200 km² (8,958 sq mi)
Population
•	1963 est.	165,000
Density		7.1 /km²  (18.4 /sq mi)
Currency		French franc (1896–1949) French Somaliland franc (1949–1967)
Succeeded by French Territory of the Afars and the Issas
Today part of		Djibouti

French Somaliland (French: Côte française des Somalis, lit. "French Coast of Somalis"; Somali: Dhulka Soomaaliyeed ee Faransiiska) was a French colony in the Horn of Africa. It existed between 1883 and 1967.

History

It was established between 1883 and 1887, after the ruling Somali and Afar sultans signed the land away in various treaties with the French.^[1][2][3]

Map of French Somaliland, modern-day Djibouti, showing the French possession of a small peninsula in the Aden territory

On the other side of the Bab el Mandeb strait, the French held a small peninsula in the Aden territory.

The construction of the Imperial Ethiopian Railway west into Ethiopia turned the port of Djibouti into a boomtown of 15,000^[4] at a time when Harar was the only city in Ethiopia to exceed that.^[5]

Although the population fell after the completion of the line to Dire Dawa and the original company failed and required a government bail-out, the rail link allowed the territory to quickly supersede the caravan-based trade carried on at Zeila^[6] (then in the British area of Somaliland) and become the premier port for coffee and other goods leaving southern Ethiopia and the Ogaden through Harar.

The railway continued to operate following the Italian conquest of Ethiopia but, following the tumult of the Second World War, the area became an overseas territory of France in 1946. In 1967, French Somaliland was renamed the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas and, in 1977, it became the independent country of Djibouti.

See also

• List of colonial heads of French Somaliland
• List of French possessions and colonies
• French colonial empire

References

1. Hugh Chisholm (ed.) The Encyclopædia Britannica 11th ed., Vol. 25, p. 383. 1911.
2. Raph Uwechue, Africa year book and who's who, (Africa Journal Ltd.: 1977), p. 209 ISBN 0903274051.
3. A Political Chronology of Africa, (Taylor & Francis: 2001), p. 132 ISBN 1857431162.
4. "Jibuti" [i.e., Djibouti] in the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th ed., Vol. 15. 1911.
5. "Abyssinia" [i.e., Ethiopia] in the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th ed, Vol. 1. 1911.
6. "Zaila" [i.e., Zeila] in the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th ed., Vol. 28. 1911.

Bibliography

• Imbert-Vier, Simon (2008). Frontières et limites à Djibouti durant la période coloniale (1884–1977) (PhD thesis). Université de Provence–Aix-Marseille I.

Coordinates: 11°36′N 43°10′E / 11.600°N 43.167°E