Loyada
Loyada is a small town in Djibouti. Located in the Arta Region, it is the only official border crossing from Djibouti into Somaliland. It is situated on the west coast of Gulf of Aden, from the capital, Djibouti City.
Etymology
The name of the town derives from Afar Lē-ʿádu or Lē-ʿadó, which means "white watering-place" and in Somali became Loowyaʿádde, "with white calves", by cacography. The French colonial authorities wrote it "Loyada"; the standard Somali spelling is "Lawya caddo".History and politics
| Historical affiliations |
| Kingdom of Adal Late 9th c. – 13th c. |
| Ifat Sultanate 1285–1415 |
| Adal Sultanate 1415–1577 |
| Egypt Eyalet 1554–1882 |
 French Somaliland 1883–1967 |
| French Territory of the Afars and the Issas 1967–1977 |
 Djibouti 1977–present |
During antiquity Loyada was part of the city-states that in engaged in a lucrative trade network connecting the merchants with Phoenicia, Ptolemaic Egypt, Greece, Parthian Persia, Saba, Nabataea, and the Roman Empire.
Between Djibouti City and Loyada are a number of anthropomorphic and phallic stelae. The structures are associated with graves of rectangular shape flanked by vertical slabs. The Djibouti-Loyada stelae are of uncertain age, and some of them are adorned with a T-shaped symbol. During the Middle Ages, the Djibouti area including Loyada was part of the Adal and Ifat Sultanates.
In 1888, the colonial powers drew the border between British Somaliland and French Djibouti from Loyada south to Jaldessa. On 3 February 1976, insurgents of the Somali-backed FLCS hijacked a bus carrying 31 French children in Djibouti City and drove it to Loyada. France sent legionnaires and gendarmes from the GIGN and the hostages were rescued the following day under covering fire from Somali border troops, but two children were killed and five wounded.
In the early 1990s, like much of Djibouti, the area was subject to conflict. Rebels took the town and were driven out by government forces, but on 5 May 1990 the Somali National Movement attacked Loyada and killed a number of Somali National Army people. The event, took place while negotiations between the Djibouti and Somali governments was taking place, and the Somali government protested to the Djibouti Ministry of Foreign Affairs, blaming the Djibouti government for the incident.
The town is currently the only official border crossing between Djibouti and Somalia. Beginning late in 1999, Djibouti and Somaliland closed the border crossing several times for political reasons. In 2002, after Dahir Riyale Kahin became president of Somaliland, they agreed to reopen it. The UNHCR has established a centre for the assistance of Somali refugees at Loyada.