French Somaliland | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1884–1967 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||
| Anthem: La Marseillaise | |||||||||
 French Somaliland in 1922 | |||||||||
| Status | Colony of France (1884–1946) Overseas territory of France (1946–1967) | ||||||||
| Capital | Djibouti | ||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||
| Religion | |||||||||
| Demonyms | Somali French Somali | ||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||
• 1896–1899 | Léonce Lagarde | ||||||||
• 1965–1967 | Louis Saget | ||||||||
| Historical era | New Imperialism | ||||||||
• Established | May 20, 1884 | ||||||||
| June 18, 1940 | |||||||||
| December 28, 1942 | |||||||||
• Status changed to overseas territory | October 27, 1946 | ||||||||
• Renamed | July 5, 1967 | ||||||||
| Currency | French franc (1883–1949) French Somaliland franc (1949–1967) | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Djibouti | ||||||||
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French Somaliland (French:Côte française des Somalis,lit. 'French Coast of the Somalis',CFS;Somali:Xeebta Soomaaliyeed ee Faransiiska;Arabic:ساحل الصوماليين الفرنسي وتوابعه) was aFrench colony in theHorn of Africa. It existed between 1884 and 1967, at which point it became theFrench Territory of the Afars and the Issas. TheRepublic of Djibouti is its legalsuccessor state.[1]
French Somaliland was formally established in 1896 when the ruler and elders of theIssa clan signed treaties with the French.[2] On March 25, 1885, the French signed a treaty with theGadabuursi, effectively making them a protectorate of France.[3] On March 26, 1885, the French signed another treaty with the Issa making the latter a protectorate under the French. No money changed hands and the Somalis did not sign away any of their land rights; the agreement was meant to protect their land from outsiders with the help of the French. However, after the French sailors of the Le Pingouin vessel were mysteriously killed in Ambado in 1886, the French first blamed the British, then the Somalis, using the incident to lay claim to the entire southern territory.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
The construction of theImperial Ethiopian Railway west intoEthiopia turned theport of Djibouti into aboomtown of 15,000[10] at a time whenHarar was the only city in Ethiopia with a greater population.[11] Although the city's population fell after the completion of the line toDire Dawa and the bankruptcy (and subsequent government bail-out) of the original company, the rail link allowed Djibouti to quickly overtake the caravan-based trade out ofZeila[12] (then inBritish Somaliland) and become the premier port forcoffee and other goods leaving southern Ethiopia and theOgaden throughHarar. Before the French aligned with theIssa, theGadabuursi held the position of the first Senator of the country, and is the first Somali head of state to lead the territory compromisingDjibouti today.Djama Ali Moussa, a former sailor, pursued his political aspirations and managed to become the first Somali democratically elected head of state in French Somaliland.[13][14]
The railway continued operating after theItalian conquest of Ethiopia, but followingthe tumult of the Second World War, the area became a Frenchoverseas territory in 1946. In 1967, French Somaliland was renamed theFrench Territory of the Afars and the Issas and, in 1977, became the independent country ofDjibouti.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)French Somaliland
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