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Updates: 

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter II-3 is dated 2011-12-15. For Djibouti, the only change that affects this page is to add the 'h' to the end of Tadjourah.

Finally, Djibouti has completed a census. The results are shown below.

FIPS Publication Change Notice No. 10, affecting FIPS PUB 10-4, was issued on 2006-03-23. It assigns new FIPS codes to the new region and the two old districts that were modified to create it. The status of the divisions is listed as regions rather than cercles.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter number I-7 was published on 2005-09-13. It shows the results of the 2002 change.

A law on decentralization was passed on 2002-07-07. It created five regions, not including the city of Djibouti. The territorial effect of this change was to form a new region, Arta, by taking parts of the old districts of Dikhil and Djibouti. The law also promises to create communes at a later date. Subsequently, a decree issued 2003-04-09 defined the boundaries of the five regions, the city of Djibouti, and six arrondissements which are subdivisions of the city of Djibouti (Arrondissement du Plateau, Premier Arrondissement, ... Cinquième Arrondissement).

Country overview: 

Short name	DJIBOUTI
ISO code	DJ
FIPS code	DJ
Language	French (fr), Arabic (ar)
Time zone	+3
Capital	Djibouti

 

In 1900, French Somaliland was a freshly-minted French colony. It became an overseas territory in 1947. The name was changed to Afars and Issas, after the two major ethnic groups, in 1967. On 1977-06-27, the country became independent, changing its name to the Republic of Djibouti at the same time. There have been moderate border changes during the century.

Other names of country: 

1. Arabic: Jumhouriyya Djibouti (formal)
2. Danish: Djibouti
3. Dutch: Djibouti, Republiek Djibouti (formal)
4. English: Republic of Djibouti (formal), Afars and Issas (obsolete), French Somaliland (obsolete), Jibuti (obsolete), Somali Coast (obsolete)
5. Finnish: Djibouti
6. French: Djibouti m, Côte f Française des Somalis (obsolete), Territoire m Français des Afars et des Issas (obsolete)
7. German: Dschibuti n, Französisch Somali-Küste f (obsolete)
8. Icelandic: Djíbútí
9. Italian: Gibuti
10. Norwegian: Djibouti, Republikken Djibouti (formal)
11. Portuguese: Djibuti, Jibuti, República f de Djibuti m (formal)
12. Russian: Республика Джибути (formal)
13. Spanish: Djibouti, Yibuti, República f de Djibouti f (formal), Somalia f Francesa (obsolete), Territorio m de los Afares y los Issas (obsolete)
14. Swedish: Djibouti
15. Turkish: Cibuti

Origin of name: 

Afar gabod: basketwork tray, which Arabic traders adapted to Gabuti to refer to a cape (promontory) with a similar shape.

Primary subdivisions: 

Djibouti is divided into five régions (regions) and one ville (city).

Region	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)
`Ali Sabieh	DJ.AS	AS	DJ01	86,949	2,200	800
Arta	DJ.AR	AR	DJ08	42,380	1,800	700
Dikhil	DJ.DK	DI	DJ06	88,948	7,200	2,800
Djibouti	DJ.DB	DJ	DJ07	475,322	200	100
Obock	DJ.OB	OB	DJ04	37,856	4,700	1,800
Tadjourah	DJ.TA	TA	DJ05	86,704	7,100	2,700
6 divisions				818,159	23,200	9,000
Region: Except Djibouti, which is a city. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 2009-05-29 census (source [1]). Area: Source [2]. Capitals have the same names as their regions.

Territorial extent: 

The UN LOCODE page  for Djibouti lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names: 

1. Djibouti: after the city, which was named for the cape (Ras Gabuti in Arabic)
2. Tadjourah: from Arabic tidjare: marketplace

Change history: 

1. 1967-07-05: Name of country changed from French Somaliland to French Territory of Afars and Issas (French: Côte Française des Somalis to Territoire Français des Afars et des Issas).
2. ~1981: Obock, formerly a subdistrict of Tadjoura, became a separate district.
3. 2002-07-07: Status of districts changed to regions, except for Djibouti district, which became a city. Arta region created from parts of Dikhil and Djibouti districts (former HASC codes DJ.DI and DJ.DJ, respectively; former FIPS codes DJ02 and DJ03). Spelling of Tadjoura changed to Tadjourah.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. `Ali Sabieh: `Ali Sabîh (variant)
2. Dikhil: Dikkil (variant)
3. Tadjourah: Tadjoura (obsolete)

Sources: 

1. [1] Décret n°2010-0038/PR/MEFPCP portant publication des résultats du 2ème Recensement Général de la Population et de l’Habitat de 2009 , Journal Officiel de la République de Djibouti (dated 2010-03-23, retrieved 2011-04-16).
2. [2] Turner, Barry, ed. The Statesman's Yearbook 2008. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hampshire, 2007.