The RN-1 National Highway is a national highway in

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

. It has a length of across the regions of

, Arta and Dikhil. It is part of the Ndjamena–Djibouti Highway and is the most important road link in the country. In recent years, the road has been undergoing major reconstruction works in several parts. The highway is heavily traveled by Ethiopian trucks.

Route

The RN-1 leads to the Djiboutian-Ethiopian border at

Galafi Galafi (), also known as Gâlâfi, is a village in western Djibouti. Galafi is the official border crossing from Djibouti into Ethiopia. Situated on the border with Ethiopia, it is in the north west of Dikhil. It lies on the National Highway 1. ...

border crossing. From

Djibouti City Djibouti (also called Djibouti City and Jibuti in early Western texts) is the capital city of the Djibouti, Republic of Djibouti. It is located in the coastal Djibouti Region on the Gulf of Tadjoura. Djibouti has a population of around 780,000 ...

that travels through three regions of Djibouti from the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...

on the east to the

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

to the west, it passes through Weʽa, Omar Jagaa, Mouloud, Dagguirou, Dikhil, Gorabous and

Yoboki Yoboki () is a town located in the western Dikhil Region of Djibouti. It is situated approximately west of the nation's capital city of Djibouti (city), Djibouti, and roughly northwest of Dikhil, the regional capital. History Yoboki was establis ...

History

It was on June 28, 1974, the date of an agreement between

French Territory of the Afars and the Issas The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (FTAI; ) was the name given to present-day Djibouti between 1967 and 1977, while it was still an Overseas territory (France), overseas territory of France. The area was formerly known as French Soma ...

and Ethiopia, that the construction of a road between Dikhil and Galafi was decided with an extension of 30 km to the Ethiopian A1 road (connecting

Assab Assab or Aseb (, ) is a port city in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea. It is situated on the west coast of the Red Sea. Languages spoken in Assab are predominantly Afar language, Afar, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, and Arabic. After the Ita ...

and

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

). The works were financed by

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and carried out between 1975 and 1976 by the COLAS Road Company (130 km including 30 in Ethiopia). However, it was not until the fall of the Ethiopian military regime in 1991 that the border was opened at the Galafi border post.

References

Roads in Djibouti {{Africa-road-stub