| 1839-1842 | 1892 | 1896 | 1897-1917 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A French man called Rochet d'Hericourt lead an expedition to the African shores of the Red Sea, which was when the French first started to become interested. | Then, their administrative capital was moved from the previous capital Obock to Djibouti. | The area was renamed French Somaliland. | The Franco-Ethiopian Railway began construction in Djibouti and was completed in 1917, linking both Djibouti and Ethiopia. This heavily encouraged trade. |
Image: The very first train on the Franco-Ethiopian railway; No. 1 "Lion". Date cited as 1899. Thanks to this page for the image.
Since the area was naturally good, both as a harbor and for easy access to Ethiopian Highlands.
This ended up attracting lots of people in the late 1890's, including East African trade caravans and Somali settlers hailing from South Africa.
This led to many inhabiting the country.
The place was ruled over by conflicting French and Italian forces throughout the 1930s.
It was being ruled by French government at the time of its recapture in December of 1942. It was taken back by Allied soldiers, along with some free French forces.
In September of 1958, the Djiboutian people decided to join the French as an overseas territory.
Then, on September 21, 1966 the governors decided to hold a vote, to find out if the people still wanted to stay under French rule, or become their own independent country.
Results from March 1967 indicated that 60% still wanted to be ruled by the French, so that's how it stayed.
A few months later in July 1967, a French representative from Paris officially changed the name of the place to the French Territory of Afars and Issas.
Starting in 1975, the French government started to recieve a heavier amount of requests for independence.
They decide to have the vote for independence again in May 1977, and the Republic of Djibouti was officially established on June 27, 1977. The first president was Hassan Gouled Aptidon.