Of all the Somali territories only French Somaliland, with its rival Somali and 'Afar population, had experienced no major change of government and remained generally aloof from the momentous tide of events which characterize the decade in the area as a whole. … But apart from the urbanized population of Jibuti, which had swelled rapidly to a town of 20,000 inhabitants, the traditional pastoral life of the interior remained virtually unaffected.

I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Som…, loc. 369