French Territory of the Afars and the Issas

The French Territory of Afars and Issas (French: Territoire français des Afars et des Issas) was the name given to present-day Djibouti between 1967 and 1977, while it was still a colony of France. The area was formerly known as French Somaliland (Côte française des Somalis).

History

From 1862 until 1894, the land to the north of the Gulf of Tadjoura was called Obock and ruled by Somali and Afar Sultans, local authorities with whom France signed various treaties between 1883 and 1887 to gain a foothold in the region. In 1894, Léonce Lagarde established a permanent French administration in the city of Djibouti and named the region Côte française des Somalis (French Somaliland), a name which continued until 1967.

In 1958, on the eve of neighboring Somalia's independence in 1960, a referendum was held in the territory to decide whether or not to join the Somali Republic or to remain with France. The referendum turned out in favour of a continued association with France, partly due to a combined yes vote by the sizable Afar ethnic group and resident Europeans. There were also allegations of widespread vote rigging. The majority of those who had voted no were Somalis who were strongly in favour of joining a united Somalia, as had been proposed by Mahmoud Harbi, Vice President of the Government Council. In October 1960, he and several of his associates died in a plane crash under mysterious circumstances on a return trip from China to Somalia.