Djibouti

Small Red-Sea republic independent from France in 1977; part of the Horn's early-Islamic world through the port of Zeila and the Adal sultanate, it is more than nine-tenths Muslim, almost all Sunni.

☾ The Coming of Islam

The Red-Sea coast and the Adal sultanate

The Horn's coast, including modern Djibouti, was among the earliest regions reached by Islam through the Red-Sea port of Zeila and the trading networks that later formed the Muslim Adal sultanate, long a rival of Christian Ethiopia.

☾ Religious Composition

An almost wholly Sunni-Muslim population

More than nine-tenths of Djiboutians are Muslim, almost all Sunni, with small Christian communities; Islam pervades the country's Somali and Afar cultures.

Demographic shares are approximate.

At a glance