Tadjoura (; ; ) is one of the oldest towns 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 ...

and the capital of the

Tadjourah Region The Tadjourah Region , ) is a region in north-central Djibouti, the largest of its six regions. With its capital at Tadjourah, it has an area of . It lies along the Gulf of Tadjoura, and the coastal city of Tadjoura. The region has active salt ...

. The town rose to prominence in the early 19th century as an alternative port to nearby

Zeila Zeila (, ), also known as Zaila or Zayla, is a historical port town in the western Awdal region of Somaliland. In the Middle Ages, the Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela identified Zeila with the Biblical location of Havilah. Most modern schola ...

. Lying on the

Gulf of Tadjoura The Gulf of Tadjoura (; ) is a gulf or basin of the Indian Ocean in the Horn of Africa. It lies south of the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, or the entrance to the Red Sea, at . The gulf has many fishing grounds, extensive coral reefs, and abundant ...

, it is home to a population of around 19,000 inhabitants. It is the third-largest city in the country after

and

Ali Sabieh Ali Sabieh (, ) is the second largest city in Djibouti. It is situated about Southwest of Djibouti City and north of the border with Ethiopia. It sprawls on a wide basin surrounded by granitic mountains on all sides. Ali Sabieh's mild climate m ...

. Tadjoura has an

airstrip An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

and is linked by

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

with Djibouti City. It is also known for its

whitewash Whitewash, calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, asbestis or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime ( calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk (calcium carbonate, CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes ...

ed buildings and nearby beaches, along with its

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

Etymology

The Afar name ''Tagórri'' derives from the noun ''tágor'' or ''tógor'', (pl. ''tágar'' meaning "outre à puiser" ("goatskin flask for drawing water"). The name ''Tagórri'' is specifically derived from *''tagór-li'', which means "qui a des outre à puiser" ("that which has goatskin flasks to draw water"), in effect meaning "abondante en eau" ("abundant with water").

History

The emergence of Tadjoura occurred following the rise of the Adoimara or "white house" of the

Afar people The Afar (), also known as the Danakil, Adali and Odali, are a Cushitic peoples, Cushitic ethnic group inhabiting the Horn of Africa. They primarily live in the Afar Region of Ethiopia and in northern Djibouti, as well as the entire southern co ...

who inhabited the southern part of the Danakil country and were allied to the rulers of

Shewa Shewa (; ; Somali: Shawa; , ), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa, is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is located at it ...

. In 1810 they defeated their rivals, the Asa-yamara or "red house" of the Afar, which opened the way for the development of the port and the Ethiopian interior. Tadjoura then became the seat of an Afar sultan known as the ''Dardar'', who "claimed authority over all of the northern Adoimara Afar to the borders of Showa. However, although it was true that some sub-clans of the Adoimara roamed as far as the borders of Ifat, even the staunchest supporters of the Sultan agreed that his actual authority did not stretch beyond Lake Assal, a short distance from Tadjoura." Richard Pankhurst notes that it differed from neighboring ports by handling almost entirely the trade of Shewa and

Aussa Aussa or Awsa can refer to * the Sultanate of Aussa * Asaita, a city also called Aussa See also *American Woman Suffrage Association The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) was a single-issue national organization formed in 1869 to work ...

, "rather than that of

Harar Harar (; Harari language, Harari: ሀረር / ; ; ; ), known historically by the indigenous as Harar-Gey or simply Gey (Harari: ጌይ, ݘٛىيْ, ''Gēy'', ), is a List of cities with defensive walls, walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is al ...

or the

Ogaden Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled ''Ogadēn''; , ) is one of the historical names used for the modern Somali Region. It is also natively referred to as Soomaali Galbeed (). The region forms the eastern portion of Ethiopia and borders Somalia ...

." He quotes

William Cornwallis Harris Major Sir William Cornwallis Harris (baptised 2 April 1807 – died 9 October 1848) was an English military engineer, artist and hunter. Life and career Early life The son of James Harris of Wittersham, Kent, he entered Addiscombe Milita ...

' description of an annual bazaar that started each September, when "for two months the beach is piled with

merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...

, and the suburbs are crowded with

camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...

s and

donkey The donkey or ass is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a separate species, ''Equus asinus''. It was domes ...

s." Pankhurst also cites C.T. Beke that the trade with the inhabitants of the Afar Depression was handled entirely by women, "who loaded the camels, bought and sold while the men kept away altogether 'to avoid bloodshed, this country being the scene of constant feuds among the different tribes.'"Richard K.P. Pankhurst, ''Economic History of Ethiopia'' (Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie University Press, 1968), pp. 429. While Abir observes that the port is not mentioned in all of the material about the Red Sea in the eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries, by the mid-19th century Tadjoura was thriving, "while all the other so-called Afar sultanates along the coast were described ... as small decaying villages of no political or commercial importance." Tadjoura owed this success to possessing a major

slave market A slave market is a place where slaves are bought and sold. These markets are a key phenomenon in the history of slavery. Asia Central Asia Since antiquity, cities along the Silk road of Central Asia, had been centers of slave trade. In ...

; Pankhurst suggests that a rough estimate of 6,000

people The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

a year left Ethiopia through Tadjoura and

. The other important commodity sold in Tadjoura in the 19th century was

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

, brought by

caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Caravan (trail ...

s from

Aliyu Amba Aliyu Amba (Amharic: ዐልዩ ዐምባ) is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1805 meters above sea level. It was historically part o ...

. Other goods exported included

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

durra ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the grass genus ''Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain is used as food by humans, ...

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds. Two living species are recognised, the common ostrich, native to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, w ...

feathers, senna,

madder ''Rubia'' is the type genus of the Rubiaceae family of flowering plants, which also contains ''Coffea'' (coffee). It contains around 80 species of perennial scrambling or climbing herbs and subshrubs native to the Old World. The genus and it ...

, and

civetone Civetone is a macrocyclic ketone and the main odorous constituent of civet oil. It is a pheromone sourced from the African civet. It has a strong musky odor that becomes pleasant at extreme dilutions. Civetone is closely related to muscone, the ...

. The value of trade in 1880-1 was estimated at the time as 29,656

rupee Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currency, currencies of Indian rupee, India, Mauritian rupee, Mauritius, Nepalese rupee, Nepal, Pakistani rupee, Pakistan, Seychellois rupee, Seychelles, and Sri Lankan rupee, Sri Lanka, and of former cu ...

s in exports and 18,513 rupees in imports.

French Somaliland

The French interest in the coast of the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

near Tadjoura began with Rochet d'Hericourt's exploration into

Shoa SHOA or Servicio Hidrográfico y Oceanográfico de la Armada de Chile (Spanish for Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy) is an agency of the Chilean Navy managing situations dealing with hydrography and oceanography, includin ...

(1839–42). Further exploration by

Henri Lambert Henri Lambert (1862–1934) was a Belgian engineer and glass works owner at Charleroi near Brussels. His glass works was the largest in the world in that time. He was one of the first occupied with social economy. He spoke Walloon with his bl ...

, French Consular Agent at

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

, and Captain

Fleuriot de Langle Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle (1 August 1744, château de Kerlouët at Quemper-Guézennec, Côtes-d'Armor – 11 December 1787, Maouna, Samoa) was a French vicomte, académicien de marine, naval commander and explorer. He was second in com ...

led to a treaty of friendship and assistance between France and the sultans of Raheita, Tadjoura, and Gobaad. A skillful Somali merchant Haji

Sharmarke Ali Saleh Sharmarke Ali Saleh (; c. 1775 – May 25, 1861) was a leading 19th century Somali statesman, captain, and merchant. He was given the nickname "African Rothschild" due to his immense wealth. He was one of the richest men living on the African con ...

also collected a tribute of 1,200-1,600

thaler A thaler or taler ( ; , previously spelled ) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter o ...

s annually from the inhabitants of Tadjourah, equivalent to a massive sum in modern currency and was ousted after French resident Lambert's murder. Growing French interest in the area took place against a backdrop of British activity in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and the opening of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

in 1869. Between 1883 and 1887,

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 ...

signed various treaties with the then ruling Somali and Afar

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

s, which allowed it to expand the

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

to include the

.Raph Uwechue, ''Africa year book and who's who'', (Africa Journal Ltd.: 1977), p. 209.

Léonce Lagarde Léonce Lagarde, Count de Rouffeyroux, Duke of Enttoto (1860 – 15 February 1936) was a French colonial governor of French Somaliland and ambassador. Biography In 1882, Lagarde was named secretary to the governor of Cochinchina. One year later ...

was subsequently installed as the protectorate's governor. In 1894, he established a permanent French administration in the city of Djibouti and named the region ''Côte française des Somalis'' (

French Somaliland French Somaliland (; ; ) was a French colony in the Horn of Africa. It existed between 1884 and 1967, at which became the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas. The Republic of Djibouti is its legal successor state. History French Somalil ...

). The

slave trade Slave trade may refer to: * History of slavery - overview of slavery It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas: * Al-Andalus slave trade * Atlantic slave trade ** Brazilian slave trade ** Bristol slave trade ** Danish sl ...

was abolished by decree on 26 October 1889; however, Noel-Buxton reported that Tajoura still remained a center of the slave trade, but "limited to small though frequent shipments." While during the 1880s the port served as a distribution point for rifles and ammunition to Shewa and Ethiopia (during this period,

Arthur Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he s ...

lived in the city), Tajoura's importance inevitably declined with the construction of the

Ethio-Djibouti Railways The Ethio-Djibouti Railway (, C.D.E.; ) is a metre gauge railway in the Horn of Africa that once connected Addis Ababa to the port city of Djibouti. The operating company was also known as the Ethio-Djibouti Railways. The railway was built in ...

, which connected

with the

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning the 'land behind' a city, a port, or similar. Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated wi ...

s. The

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

began to carry traffic on 22 July 1901, was extended to

Dire Dawa Dire Dawa (; , meaning"where the Dir (clan), Dir hit his spear into the ground" or "The true Dir", , Harari language, Harari: ድሬዳዋ, lit. "Plain of Medicine"; ) is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Somali Region and Oromia, Oromo borde ...

17 months later, and finally to

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 ...

on 3 December 1929.Pankhurst, pp. 304-334.

Djibouti

The Djibouti

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

established various large-scale

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

works programmes to renovate the city. The Tadjoura port was modernized in 2000, at a cost of US $1.64 million. The work was described as part of the government's effort to help the

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

development of the districts of Tadjourah,

Obock Obock (also Obok, , ) is a small port town in Djibouti. It is located on the Northern shore of the Gulf of Tadjoura, where it opens out into the Gulf of Aden. The town is home to an airstrip and has ferries to Djibouti City. The French form Ob ...

and

Dikhil Dikhil () is a town in the western Dikhil Region of Djibouti. Lying east of Lake Abbe, It is situated about southwest of Djibouti City and north of the border with Ethiopia. It serves as the administrative centre of the Dikhil Region, and ...

. The new Port of Tadjoura has been built to mainly focus on general

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

, such as

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

sesame Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for ...

frankincense Frankincense, also known as olibanum (), is an Aroma compound, aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus ''Boswellia'' in the family (biology), family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French ('high-quality in ...

fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...

s and

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

, at the cost of US $90 million. Initially the port has been developed in the aim to transport mainly

potash Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.

from

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 ...

Afar Region The Afar Region (; ; ), formerly known as Region 2, is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in northeastern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Afar people. Its capital is the planned city of Semera, which lies on the paved Awash, Ethiopia, Awash� ...

, while the mining is not yet developed. Besides that the port has a potential to provide for northern

and to its closest outlet for Ethiopia's Afar and

Tigray The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...

regions. Compared with the traditional route from ports in Djibouti via

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. ...

, the new road (RN-11) from Tadjoura to

Balho Balho () is a town located in the Tadjourah Region, Tadjourah Regions of Djibouti, region of Djibouti. It is situated on the National Highway 11 (Djibouti), RN-11 highway. It is situated about 32 kilometres (20 miles) west of Dorra and 6 km (4 mi) ...

shortens the driving hour significantly.

Climate

Featuring an arid climate, the town sees on average 186 mm (7.31 in) of

rainfall Rain is a form of precipitation where water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. ...

per year. Average

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

s range from in winter to in summer.

Transportation

Sea transport

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 ...

to Tadjoura, it takes a two and a half hour ferry ride.

Land transport

The distance between Djibouti City is 130 km.

Air transport

For air transportation, Tajdoura is served by the Tadjoura Airport.

It takes 30 minutes to travel from Djibouti City to Tadjoura.

Sultans

The following is a list of

Sultans Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

of Tadjoura:Worldstatesmen - DJibouti
/ref> *1620 Burhan bin Muhammad *1630 Dini bin Muhammad *1655 Kamil bin Burhan *1655 Hamad bin Dini (or Muhammad bin Dini) *1680 Musa bin Kamil *1680 Dini bin Hamad (or Nasser bin Hamad) *1705 Hamad bin Musa *1705 Muhammad bin Dini *1740 Muhammad bin Hamad *1770 Hamad bin Naser *1770 Hummad bin Muhammad *1800-1820 Mandaytu bin Hamad *1821-1859 Ad'allom Muhammad bin Hummad *1860-9 Mar 1862 Muhammad bin Mandaytu *1863-1879 Hummad bin Ad'allom Muhammad *1880-24 Aug 1912 Hummad bin Muhammad *2 Dec 1913-6 Aug 1927 Muhammad bin Arbahim *Dec 1928-21 Apr 1962 Hummad bin Muhammad bin Arbahim *18 May 1964 – 1984 Habib bin Hummad bin Muhammad *1985 - 17 May 2019 Abd'ul Kadir bin Hummad bin Muhammad bin Arbahim

Notable people

Dileita Mohamed Dileita Dileita Mohamed Dileita (, ; born 12 March 1959''Profiles of People in Power: The World's Government Leaders'' (2003), page 142–143.iTouchMap
{{Authority control Populated places in Djibouti . Gulf of Aden Ports and harbours of Djibouti Former national capitals Former sultanates in the medieval Horn of Africa Monarchies of Africa