Djibouti

Djibouti is a small country in Africa.

It is next to the sea. It is very hot and dry. The capital city is also called Djibouti.

Djibouti is a small country in the Horn of Africa. It lies on the Bab el Mandeb Strait, where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden, and its port serves ships from the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

The land is hot, dry and rocky, with mountains in the north and desert plains in the west and south. Djibouti has no rivers that flow all year. About 1.2 million people lived there in 2025, and about two out of three live in or near the capital, Djibouti city, which has a big port.

Djibouti occupies the northeast coast of the Horn of Africa on the Bab el Mandeb Strait, between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, bounded by Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. Britannica describes its small size as belying its geopolitical importance: it hosts military bases of several countries, and the capital's modern deepwater port serves Indian Ocean and Red Sea traffic and is the railhead of the line to Addis Ababa.

Nearly four-fifths of people are urban, making it the most urbanized country in sub-Saharan Africa, and about two-thirds live in or near the capital. The World Bank counted 1,184,076 people in 2025. With little farmland, the economy depends on services, about four-fifths of output. Ismail Omar Guelleh has been president since 1999.

Djibouti city is the biggest city.

It is built on old coral reefs by the sea. Big ships come to its port. Trains travel from there to Ethiopia.

The capital, Djibouti city, is built on coral reefs that stick out into the sea. Its modern deepwater port serves ships from the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and a railway runs from the city to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Its busy central market sells brightly colored cloth wraps called futa.

Other towns include Obock, Tadjoura, Ali Sabieh, Arta and Dikhil. In the north, Day Forest National Park protects one of the coolest places in the country, high in the mountains.

Djibouti city is built on coral reefs jutting into the southern entrance of the Gulf of Tadjoura; Britannica describes the retail center around the Hamoudi Mosque and the former caravan terminus at Harbi Square, and Balbala, a settlement beyond the old colonial boundary that was incorporated into the city in 1987. Other towns, Obock, Tadjoura, Ali Sabieh, Arta and Dikhil, are small trading centers that swell when camel caravans and herders camp nearby.

The port serves Indian Ocean and Red Sea shipping and is the railhead for Ethiopia's capital. In the northern mountains, Day Forest National Park shelters trees such as jujube, fig, olive and juniper, and temperatures in the low to mid-10s °C have been recorded there. Besides Lake Assal, the other major inland lake is Lake Abbe, on the Ethiopian border.

The ground in Djibouti is slowly pulling apart.

There are old volcanoes and dark lava rock. Lake Assal is very, very salty. It is the lowest place in all of Africa.

Djibouti sits where three giant cracks in Earth's crust meet: the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the East African Rift. Small earthquakes are common, and much of the land is covered in dark basalt from old volcanoes. In 1978 the Ardoukoba volcano erupted, and the ground split more than a meter wider.

Lake Assal, a very salty lake, lies 155 meters below sea level, the lowest point in Africa. The highest peak, Mount Moussa, is 2,028 meters tall. Very little rain falls: about 130 millimeters a year on the coast.

Britannica calls Djibouti a geologic treasure trove: it lies at the triple juncture of the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and East African rift systems, with frequent slight tremors, widespread basalt and geothermal activity. The November 1978 eruption of Ardoukoba drew volcanologists worldwide, and the accompanying seismic activity widened the gap between the African and Arabian plates by more than a meter. Lake Assal, a saline lake 155 m below sea level, is Africa's lowest point; Mount Moussa (Moussa Ali), 2,028 m, is the highest.

There are no permanent surface rivers, though some underground rivers exist. A cool season from October to April brings temperatures from the low 20s to low 30s °C; in the hot season, May to September, the khamsin wind pushes highs into the mid-40s °C. Rain falls on about 26 days a year, mostly January to March, about 130 mm on the coast and 380 mm in the north and mountains, sometimes as flash floods.

Gazelles and antelopes live in Djibouti.

Hyenas and warthogs live there too. Lots of birds fly over the land. Many kinds of fish swim around the coral reefs.

Even in its harsh landscape, Djibouti has plenty of wildlife. Many kinds of birds live there, along with antelopes and gazelles, hyenas, monkeys, squirrels and warthogs. In the northern mountains, Day Forest National Park shelters trees such as fig, olive and juniper.

The sea is even richer. Djibouti's coral reefs and coastline are full of marine life, and divers come from around the world to explore them. Tuna, barracuda and grouper swim in its waters.

Britannica describes a wide variety of birds, numerous antelopes and gazelles, smaller numbers of carnivores and scavengers such as hyenas, and monkeys, squirrels and warthogs. In the north, Day Forest National Park holds a remnant of mountain forest; south and southwest of the Gulf of Tadjoura the vegetation of acacia and doum palm resembles other arid parts of Africa. Forests cover less than 1 percent of the land, long used for grazing and firewood.

The most spectacular wildlife is in the sea: the coast and coral reefs hold an extremely rich diversity of marine life, which has made Djibouti a destination for international scuba divers. Offshore waters hold tuna, barracuda and grouper, although Britannica notes that fishing has developed slowly, partly because many people in the region traditionally do not eat fish.

About 1.2 million people live in Djibouti.

Many people speak Somali or Afar. French and Arabic are the official languages. Running is a favorite sport.

The two largest groups in Djibouti are the Somali and the Afar, and both speak languages of the same family. French and Arabic are the official languages, but Somali is the most widely spoken, and many people speak several languages. Most people are Muslim.

In the countryside, some families are herders who keep sheep and goats and use camels to carry loads. A meal might include roast lamb with a yogurt sauce, lentil stew, flatbread and cucumber salad. Running is the most popular sport, and in 1988 Ahmed Salah won Djibouti's first Olympic medal, in the marathon.

Somali and Afar, related but not mutually intelligible Eastern Cushitic languages, mark the two largest groups. The Afar live mainly west and north of the Gulf of Tadjoura, and across the border in Ethiopia; the Somali are concentrated in the capital and the southeast, and more than half belong to the Issa. A long-established Yemeni Arab community lives in the capital. French and Arabic are official; French is the language of school instruction, with Arabic also taught. More than nine-tenths of people are Sunni Muslims.

Nearly one-third of people are under 15. In rural areas nomadic herding remains a way of life, with sheep and goats for milk, meat and skins and camels for caravans. Djibouti's cuisine mixes African and French influences; the city souk is famed for spicy oven-baked fish, and futa, multicolored sarong-like garments, are a well-known textile. Ahmed Salah won the first world marathon championship in 1985 and Olympic bronze in 1988, and pétanque is played nightly under city streetlights.