Language/Afar/Culture/Djibouti-Timeline

This lesson can still be improved. EDIT IT NOW! & become VIP

Rate this lesson:

5.00

(one vote)

Help - Comments

Historical Timeline for Djibouti - A chronology of key events

Djibouti Timeline[edit | edit source]

Date	Event
1493 BC AD	Egyptian expedition to the country of Punt, the first written testimony on the region of .
1st millennium BC AD	First migrations of the Cushitic peoples.
1st century-9th century	The kingdom of Axum controls the region.
9th century	Implantation of Islam via Arab merchants.
1520	First reconnaissance of the coasts of the Horn of Africa by European sailors.
1710	First commercial agreement between France and the sultans of Tadjourah, with the aim of exporting Ethiopian coffee.
1856	Assassination of the French consul in Aden, in the Musha Islands.
1862	The French settle in Obock and make this small port the capital of the Obock colony and outbuildings.
November 1869	The opening of the Suez Canal makes Bab el-Mandeb a highly strategic area.
1885	Following various treaties, France extends its influence from Doumeira to Somalia.
1888-1892	Obock is no longer the capital. The French settled in Ras Djibouti and created the port of Djibouti, more suitable for international trade.
1896	Léonce Lagarde becomes governor of the French Somali Coast, a new name for the French dependencies in the region.
1898-1917	Construction of the Djibouti - Addis Ababa railway, which makes Djibouti Ethiopia's commercial port.
1926	Sinking of the Fontainebleau and beginning of the extension of the port of Djibouti.
1941-1943	Djibouti comes under Vichy control.
1943	Djibouti joins forces with Free France.
1946	Djibouti receives the status of overseas territory; creation of an elected territorial assembly.
1948	Creation of the Djiboutian franc.
August 24, 1949	Interethnic riots kill around 100 people. Rise of the desire for independence.
1956	Creation of a government council responsible, under the chairmanship of the head of the territory, for the management of local affairs. For the first time, all the representatives of the territory are indigenous.
1967	During a referendum, the population votes, by a small majority, in favor of the continuation of the management of the territory by France. The French Somali Coast becomes the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas. Closure of the Suez Canal following the Six Day War.
May 8, 1977	The population overwhelmingly chooses independence (99%).
June 27, 1977	Proclamation of independence. Hassan Gouled Aptidon becomes President of the Republic (reelected in 1981, 1987, 1993).
1978-1980	A terrible drought hits the region.
1980s	Djibouti appears as an oasis of peace in the middle of a region which is being torn apart.
April 1992	Boycott of the elections by the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD), a rebellion movement against the regime.
April 9, 1999	Ismaël Omar Guelleh, president of the RPP (single party from 1981 to 1992) and nephew of Hassan Gouled Aptidon, becomes President of the Republic.
May 12, 2001	Peace agreement between the government and FRUD.
2002	Installation of an American military base in Djibouti.
January 2003	Legislative elections which see the victory of an alliance led by the RPP. Work begins on the port of Doraleh, which will double the country's port capacities.
April 8, 2005	Re-election of Ismaël Omar Guelleh.
April 5, 2006	A dhow carrying nearly 300 passengers (whereas it was planned for 80 people) and construction equipment turns over when it leaves the port of Djibouti. There are more than 100 dead, all of them Djibouti, the majority of the elderly who cannot swim. A major human disaster for the country.
June 10-13, 2008	After a clash with the Eritrean army which had launched in pursuit of its deserters on Djiboutian territory, twelve Djiboutian soldiers were killed and sixty wounded.
February 2009	Inauguration of the deep water port of Doraleh, managed by Dubai Port World.
April 2010	Constitutional reform allowing President Ismaël Omar Guelleh to run for a third term.
February 2011	Demonstrations against the economic situation and the power falling within the revolutionary context of the Arab world, repressed by the security forces (some deaths and several arrests).
April 8, 2011	Re-election of Ismaël Omar Guelleh with more than 80% of the votes cast.
June 2011	After forty-nine years of presence in Djibouti, the Foreign Legion leaves the country to settle in the United Arab Emirates. Installation of a Japanese base in Djibouti, the first permanent self-defense base abroad.
December 2011	Signature of a defense cooperation treaty between France and Djibouti, which succeeds the defense agreement concluded during Djibouti's independence.
February 2012	Municipal elections and victory for RADD (civil society).
September 2012	Deployment of the European mission EUCAP Nestor to strengthen the fight against piracy in the region.
May 24, 2014	A suicide attack claimed by the terrorist group Al-Shabaab takes place on a landAsse de café in Menelik Square. The balance sheet shows 3 dead (including the two terrorists) and around twenty wounded.
December 21, 2015	Clash between the army and civilians during a traditional ceremony in Buldhoqo, on the outskirts of Djibouti-Ville. If the versions between the power in place and the opposition diverge, at least 7 deaths have been recorded.
March 18, 2016	Four Djiboutian soldiers are released by Eritrea. They were taken prisoner in June 2008 during clashes at the border for control of the territory of Ras Doumeira, which Eritrea claims.
April 8, 2016	Ismaïl Omar Guelleh was re-elected president in the first round of the presidential election with 86.68% of the vote. On May 8, he was officially invested for a 4th term.
May 24, 2017	Inauguration of the new multipurpose port of Doraleh. It will be followed by the opening of new facilities in Tadjourah, the main town in northern Djibouti, and in Goubet.
July 12, 2017	Installation of a Chinese military base in Djibouti, the first on the African continent.
August 2, 2017	Death of the opponent Mohamed Ahmed aka "Jabha", member of the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD), detained since May 2010.
January 1, 2018	Official commissioning of the new electrified railway line linking Djibouti to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, after several years of work.
February 23, 2018	Legislative elections. The UMP, the party in power, obtains 88% of the votes. It remains dominant in the Assembly, with 57 seats of deputies. The UDJ-PDD coalition obtains 7 seats and the CDU only one.
March 11, 2019	Visit of Emmanuel Macron to Djibouti. First presidential tour in the Horn of Africa. He is the second French president, after Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010, to go there for twenty years.