The

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti 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 ...

–

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

border was formed during the 19th century via the formation of French Somaliland corresponding to the

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that histori ...

in 1897. In 1950s, the frontier received significant demarcation from joint French–Ethiopian boundary commission. The modern Djibouti was bounded by 375 kilometers from tripoint of Eritrea on the mountain of

Mousa Ali Mousa Ali ( ar, موسى علي) is a stratovolcano located on the tri-point of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. The volcano is the highest point in Djibouti. The volcano's summit is truncated by a caldera, which contains rhyolitic lava domes an ...

to the tripoint with

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

, thus has favorable relations with Ethiopia. The border is essential for trading system for both countries where 97% import and export conducted and the Ethio-Djibouti corridor dominated the trading system of

IGAD The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is an eight-country trade bloc in Africa. It includes governments from the Horn of Africa, Nile Valley and the African Great Lakes. It is headquartered in Djibouti. Member states ;Horn of ...

region with other routes such as Port Sudan, Berbera and Mombasa being of limited importance.

Overview

The

–

border stretches 375 kilometers from tripoint of Eritrea on the mountain of

to the tripoint with Somalia. It is primarily based on the formation of French Somaliland and the

in 1897. In the early 1950, the frontier received substantive demarcation by a joint of French–Ethiopian boundary commission. The modern Djibouti and Ethiopia's boundary shares no disputed territories, and thus have a good relation. There is substantial cross-border trading involving long-standing economic, commercial and cultural relations. This strengthens the two countries' bilateral relations and achieves legal trade flow in accordance with international trade law. Following the first joint border trade committee meeting on 27–30 April 2022, there was a small-scale border trade between the borders, driven by the need to identify and resolve challenges facing implementation of the Djibouti–Ethiopia Border Trade Protocol signed in 2015. The Ethio–Djibouti corridor is important because it played a major role in trade facilitation in the IGAD region, accounting 95% of exports and imports, with other routes (e.g.,

Port Sudan Port Sudan ( ar, بور سودان, Būr Sūdān) is a port city in eastern Sudan, and the capital of the state of Red Sea. , it has 489,725 residents. Located on the Red Sea, Port Sudan is recognized as Sudan's main seaport and the source of 90% ...

Berbera Berbera (; so, Barbara, ar, بربرة) is the capital of the Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of the British Somaliland protectorate before Hargeisa. It ...

and

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

) being of limited importance. On 20 September 2020, the new entry point of the corridor was opened near the town Balho at the Northern border to Djibouti. Aside from the border posts in Galafi at the Western border to the Djibouti and

Dewele Dewele (French ''Douanlé'' or ''Daouenlé'') is a town in Ethiopia, near to the Ethiopia and Djibouti border. Located in the Shinile Zone in the Somali Region the town has a longitude and latitude of with an elevation of 898 meters above sea le ...

in the southwest, it is the third official entry point between the two countries. In August 2022,

COMESA The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a regional economic community in Africa with twenty-one member states stretching from Tunisia to Eswatini. COMESA was formed in December 1994, replacing a Preferential Trade Area whi ...

announced to fund the Ethio-Djibouti corridor with 3.2 million euros.

References

{{Reflist Djibouti–Ethiopia border Djibouti–Ethiopia relations International borders