From 1862 until 1894, the land to the north of the Gulf of Tadjoura was called Obock and ruled by Somali and Afar Sultans, local authorities with whom France signed various treaties between 1883 and 1887 to gain a foothold in the region.

The referendum turned out in favour of a continued association with France, partly due to a combined yes vote by the sizable Afar ethnic group and resident Europeans.

[5] The majority of those who had voted no were Somalis who were strongly in favour of joining a united Somalia, as had been proposed by Mahmoud Harbi, Vice President of the Government Council.

In August of the same year, an official visit to the territory by then French President, General Charles de Gaulle, was also met with demonstrations and rioting.

[3] However, the referendum was again marred by reports of vote rigging on the part of the French authorities,[8] with some 10,000 Somalis deported under the pretext that they did not have valid identity cards.

The prohibitive cost of maintaining the colony, France's last outpost on the continent, was another factor that compelled observers to doubt that the French would attempt to hold on to the territory.