Loyada

Etymology

The name of the town derives from Afar Lē-ʿádu or Lē-ʿadó, which means "white watering-place" and in Somali became Loowyaʿádde, "with white calves", by cacography. The French colonial authorities wrote it "Loyada"; the standard Somali spelling is "Lawya caddo".

History and politics

Between Djibouti City and Loyada are a number of anthropomorphic and phallic stelae. The structures are associated with graves of rectangular shape flanked by vertical slabs. The Djibouti-Loyada stelae are of uncertain age, and some of them are adorned with a T-shaped symbol. During the Middle Ages, the Djibouti area including Loyada was part of the Adal and Ifat Sultanates.

In 1888, the colonial powers drew the border between British Somaliland and French Djibouti from Loyada south to Jaldessa. On 3 February 1976, insurgents of the Somali-backed FLCS hijacked a bus carrying 30 French children in Djibouti City and drove it to Loyada. France sent legionnaires and gendarmes and the hostages were rescued the following day under covering fire from Somali border troops, but two children were killed and five wounded.

In the early 1990s, like much of Djibouti, the area was subject to conflict. Rebels took the town and were driven out by government forces, but on 5 May 1990 the Somali National Movement (SNM) attacked Loyada and killed a number of Somali National Army (SNA) people. The event, took place while negotiations between the Djibouti and Somali governments was taking place, and the Somali government protested to the Djibouti Ministry of Foreign Affairs, blaming the Djibouti government for the incident.

The town is currently the only official border crossing between Djibouti and Somalia (Awdal, part of the unrecognised state of Somaliland). Beginning late in 1999, Djibouti and Somaliland closed the border crossing several times for political reasons. In 2002, after Dahir Riyale Kahin became president of Somaliland, they agreed to reopen it. The UNHCR has established a centre for the assistance of Somali refugees at Loyada.

Climate

The average annual temperature in Loyada is 30 °C. About 103 mm of precipitation falls annually. The warmest month of the year is July with an average temperature of 36 °C. In January, the average temperature is 25.5 °C. It is the lowest average temperature of the whole year. The largest cities most proximate to Loyada are Djibouti City (21 km), Zeila (36 km) and Berbera (289 km).

Demographics

As of 2012, the population of Loyada has been estimated to be 1,646. The town's inhabitants belong to various mainly Afro-Asiatic-speaking ethnic groups, with the Issa Somali predominant.