Independence Day is a national holiday in Djibouti, celebrated annually on June 27. It commemorates the territory's independence from France. On May 8, 1977, an independence referendum was held in the French colony of the Afars and Issas, alongside elections for a Constituent Assembly. Unlike the rigged plebiscites of 1958 and 1967, the territory gained independence as Djibouti on June 27, 1977.