evidence: When the European nations began to partition Africa among themselves in the late 19th century, France already possessed (from 1862) a coaling station at Obock near the mouth of the Red Sea. By the end of the 1880s, France had expanded its holdings to the area of present Djibouti, which was known as French Somaliland. In 1967 it was renamed the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas. [...] Djibouti’s somewhat acrimonious relationship with neighbouring Eritrea (a former Ethiopian province that had gained independence in 1993) worsened in April 2008 when Eritrea amassed troops along the Ras Doumeira border area of Djibouti; this action resulted in border skirmishes that in June led to the deaths of more than 30 people and injuries to many more. Eritrea’s actions were widely criticized, notably by the African Union, the United Nations Security Council, and the Arab League, and the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Eritrea in 2009. Eritrean troops eventually left Djibouti in June 2010. Eritrea remained under UN sanctions until November 2018, when the Security Council agreed to lift them. This came on the heels of a September 2018 agreement between Djibouti and Eritrea to restore relations and was one of several rapprochements that occurred in 2018 among the various Horn of Africa countries, inspiring hope for a future of greater regional stability.