Definition:
A small port in what is now Djibouti, on the Gulf of Tadjoura and the Gulf of Aden. The Afar port of Obock was the first French colony on the Horn of Africa, established on 11 March 1862. It was set up as a coaling station for steam ships, and became particularly important after the opening of the Suez Canal. The significance of Obock fell with the completion of the Compagnie de Chemin de Fer Franco-Ethiopien de Jibuti à Addis Abeba (CFE, Franco-Ethiopian Railway Company) in 1917, which gave prominence to the nearby port of Djibouti.
