什麼是吉布地

正式名稱吉布地共和國（Republic of Djibouti）

舊稱法屬索馬利蘭（French Somaliland, 1885～1967）、法屬阿法爾和伊薩領地（French Territory of the Afars and Issas, 1967～1977）

非洲東部共和國。臨紅海出入口亞丁灣。面積22,999平方公里。人口約461,000（2001）。首都吉布地。一半以上人口是伊薩人及其同源的索馬利人。阿法爾人約佔2/5，其餘包括葉門阿拉伯人和歐洲人（法國人居多）。語言：阿拉伯語和法語（均爲官方語）。宗教︰遜尼派伊斯蘭教。貨幣︰吉布地法郎（DF）。吉布地分爲三個主要地區：海岸平原，中、南部的火山高地，以及北部的高山地帶。其中穆薩山海拔2,028公尺。土地主要是沙漠，熾熱、乾燥且荒蕪，可耕地不足1%。吉布地經濟屬開發中市場經濟，幾乎完全以貿易和服務業爲基礎，以吉布地市爲中心。政府形式是共和國，一院制。國家元首暨政府首腦是總統。

西元前3世紀左右，阿法爾人的祖先阿拉伯人定居在此地。後來索馬利的伊薩人居住在此地。西元825年傳教士將伊斯蘭教傳入該地區。阿拉伯人曾控制此地區貿易直到16世紀。1888年成爲法國保護國法屬索馬利蘭。1946年法屬索馬利蘭成爲法國海外領地，1977年獲得獨立。20世紀晚期，該國政府得面對來自衣索比亞和索馬利亞戰區的難民及來自厄立特里亞的國內衝突。1990年代該國的政治狀況普遍不穩定。

Djibouti

formerly (1885-1967)French Somaliland(1967-77)French Territory of the Afars and IssasRepublic, eastern Africa, on the Gulf of Aden at the entrance to the Red Sea. Area: 8,880 sq mi (22,999 sq km). Population (1997): 622,000. Capital: Djibouti. Over half of the people are Issas and related Somali clans; Afars are nearly two-fifths; the balance includes Yemeni Arabs and Europeans, mostly French. Languages: French, Arabic (both official). Religion: Sunnite Islam. Currency: Djibouti franc. Djibouti is divided into three principal regions: the coastal plain; the volcanic plateaus in the country's south and center; and the mountain ranges in the north, reaching 6,654 ft (2,028 m) at Mount Mousa. The land is primarily desert: hot, dry, and desolate; less than 1% is arable. Djibouti has a developing market economy that is almost entirely based on trade and commercial services, centering around Djibouti city. The country is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the president. Settled around the 3rd century BC by the Arab ancestors of the Afars, it was later populated by Somali Issas. In AD 825, Islam was brought to the area by missionaries. Arabs controlled the trade in this region until the 16th century; it became the French protectorate of French Somaliland in 1888. In 1946 it became a French overseas territory, and in 1977 gained its independence. In the late 20th century, the country has received refugees from the Ethiopian-Somali war, and from civil conflicts in Eritrea. In the 1990s it suffered from political unrest.