Browse listings of B&B, Home Exchange, Vacation Rentals (furnished apartments, villas, cottages, condos, farmhouses and other types of accommodations) of Djibouti :
Last Minute Tips Before you Travel to Djibouti
- Time Zone: GMT/UTC +3
- Electricity: 220/240V, 50 Hz (bring an adapter/transformer for your hair drier, laptop, cellullar phone etc.)
- Currency: Djibouti franc (DFr)
- Country Dialing Code: 253
Djibouti
Location
Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia
Capital
Djibouti
Population
476,703 (July 2005 est.)
Regions
5 districts (cercles, singular - cercle); 'Ali Sabih, Dikhil, Djibouti, Obock, Tadjoura
Climate
desert; torrid, dry
Ethnic groups
Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5%
Religions
Muslim 94%, Christian 6%
Languages
French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar
Government type
republic
Background
The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas became Djibouti in 1977. Hassan Gouled APTIDON installed an authoritarian one-party state and proceeded to serve as president until 1999. Unrest among the Afars minority during the 1990s led to a civil war that ended in 2001 following the conclusion of a peace accord between Afar rebels and the Issa-dominated government. Djibouti's first multi-party presidential elections in 1999 resulted in the election of Ismail Omar GUELLEH. Djibouti occupies a very strategic geographic location at the mouth of the Red Sea and serves as an important transshipment location for goods entering and leaving the east African highlands. The present leadership favors close ties to France, which maintains a significant military presence in the country, but has also developed increasingly stronger ties with the United States in recent years. Djibouti currently hosts the only United States military base in sub-Saharan Africa and is a front-line state in the global war on terrorism.
Visitor's Impressions
If you would like to share your experiences of traveling to Djibouti or to other countries, please send us your article and we will gladly post it at this site.
