colony · Horn and East Africa
French Somaliland
Origins
In 1896 France combined Obock and its protectorates over the Sultanate of Tadjoura and the Issa Somali coast into the colony of the Cote francaise des Somalis, with its capital at the new port of Djibouti, founded by Leonce Lagarde. The borders were fixed by agreements with Britain and Ethiopia.
Rule and society
The colony lived on its port and on the Djibouti to Addis Ababa railway, completed in 1917, which carried most of Ethiopia's foreign trade. Its population of Afar and Issa Somali pastoralists, Arab traders and French officials was small. During the Second World War it sided with Vichy until British blockade forced it to join Free France in 1942.
Decline and legacy
In referendums in 1958 and 1967 voters chose to remain French, amid protests and charges of manipulation. In 1967 the colony was renamed the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- French Somaliland was a colony of French Empire1896 CE – 1967 CE
More states of Horn and East Africa →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). French Somaliland. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/french-somaliland
- MLA
- “French Somaliland.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/french-somaliland. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “French Somaliland.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/french-somaliland.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘French Somaliland’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/french-somaliland (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻