🇩🇯Djibouti

Djibouti lies between 10°55′ and 12°43′N as a small Horn of Africa nation at the strategic Bab-el-Mandeb strait linking the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. Spanning only 23,200 km², it showcases staggering geomorphology—the volcanic Afar Triangle, the salt pan of Lake Assal at 155 m below sea level (the lowest point in Africa and one of the world's saltiest lakes), Lake Abbé's surreal limestone chimneys, and the Goda Mountains rising to Mousa Ali at 2,028 m on the Eritrean border. The climate is overwhelmingly hot arid (BWh), making Djibouti one of the hottest and driest countries on Earth, with a small hot semi-arid (BSh) fringe persisting in the higher Goda highlands.

Djibouti City averages 26°C in January and 36°C in July with only 130 mm of rainfall distributed across rare November–March showers. Daily maxima during the khamsin-driven summer months of June through August routinely exceed 42°C and have approached 50°C. The Goda highlands are slightly cooler and receive 200–400 mm. Relative humidity is high along the Gulf of Aden coast yet remarkably low inland during summer.

The country sits in a key zone of the East African monsoon transition, with ITCZ migration controlling the brief wet season. Recurrent multi-year droughts—notably the 2008–2011 and 2015–2017 Horn of Africa droughts—have triggered livestock losses and food insecurity. The 2004 flash floods damaged the capital, while sea-level rise threatens the Lake Assal–Tadjourah corridor and port infrastructure.

Our archive covers 1 Djiboutian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The warmest July averages occur in Djibouti, around 37.9°C, while Djibouti records the coldest January nights near 22.9°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.2°C.