Big Blue 1840-1940: Somali Coast (French Somaliland)

A is for Aden and Z is for Zanzabar

Saturday, November 22, 2025

Somali Coast (French Somaliland) - Bud's Big Blue

1894 Somali Coast in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

Somali Coast ("Djibouti", "French Somaliland") was a French protectorate and colony in the Horn of Africa on the Gulf of Tadjourna between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

The land is basically a volcanic desert, and is hot (32 degrees C (90 degrees F) annual temperature) and dry (125 mm (5 in) annual rainfall).

It has been traditionally been occupied by two nomadic groups: the Afars of the north, and the Somali-speaking Issas of the south. Both are Muslim, but have often fought against each other.

The first French settlement was Obock on the north end of the Gulf of Tadjourna, through a treaty with the local Afar Sultans in 1862, but not actually occupied until 1884. These agreements were strengthened between 1883 and 1887.

Obock issued their own stamps between 1892-1894.

So how was "French Somaliland" then formed?

The port of Djibouti on the south side of the Gulf of Tadjourna was established in 1888, and provided a safer haven. The French protectorate- "Cote francaise des Somalis" (French Somaliland) was established in Djibouti in 1894 by Leonce Legarde, and the administrative capital was moved from Obock. The port of Obock was included in the new French Somaliland, and began to use the stamps of the "Somali Coast" in 1902.

The Capital was Djibouti, and the population was 44,000 in 1936.

Stamps were released in 1894 on overprinted/surcharged stamps of Obock.

Initially the stamps were labeled "Djibouti", but the name was changed to French Somali Coast in 1902 ("Cote Francaise Des Somalis"), or "French Somaliland".

With the advent of the (Franco-) Djibouti-Ethiopian Railway (1902 to Dire Dawa, 1906 to Adis Ababa, completed in 1917), the port of Djibouti grew to 15,000 and was the conduit for coffee exports out of southern Ethiopia.

The Colony was invaded by the Italians in 1940, and was occupied by the British in 1942.

The status was changed to a French overseas territory in 1946.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Somali Coast (Djibouti) 1894-1940, 210 major number descriptions. Of those, 88 are CV <$1-$1+, or 42%. Most of the inexpensive stamps were issued after 1915, but there are 24 additional stamps with CV $2-$10 from 1894-1909.

As with any country with expensive overprinted/surcharged stamps, one needs to be aware that counterfeits can exist. I obtained most of my (Jim's) stamps from a specialized Somali Coast collection, but that does not guarantee authenticity.

Big Blue '69, on five pages, has 130 spaces for the stamps of Somali Coast. Coverage is 62%.

The 1940s editions have the same coverage, except the 1938-40 issue coverage is arranged differently, and does not include an extra blank space (In the '69, I put Scott 177 there).

BB's coverage is quite good for the inexpensive stamps: I found only four stamps with CV <$1-$1+ that were not included.

And there is only one CV $10+ stamp required for the pages.

For more on the stamps, as well as the checklist, click on the link below.

Somali Coast (French Somaliland) Blog Post & BB Checklist

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