The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas became Djibouti in 1977. Hassan Gouled APTIDON installed an authoritarian one-party state and proceeded to serve as president until 1999. Unrest among the Afars minority during the 1990s led to a civil war that ended in 2001 following the conclusion of a peace accord between Afar rebels and the Issa-dominated government. In 1999, Djibouti's first multi-party presidential elections resulted in the election of Ismail Omar GUELLEH; he was re-elected to a second and final term in 2005. Djibouti occupies a strategic geographic location at the mouth of the Red Sea and serves as an important transshipment location for goods entering and leaving the east African highlands. The present leadership favors close ties to France, which maintains a significant military presence in the country, but is also developing stronger ties with the US. Djibouti hosts the only US military base in sub-Saharan Africa and is a front-line state in the global war on terrorism.

Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia

11 30 N, 43 00 E

Africa

total: 23,000 sq km
land: 22,980 sq km
water: 20 sq km

slightly smaller than Massachusetts

total: 516 km
border countries: Eritrea 109 km, Ethiopia 349 km, Somalia 58 km

314 km

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

desert; torrid, dry

coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains

lowest point: Lac Assal -155 m
highest point: Moussa Ali 2,028 m

geothermal areas, gold, clay, granite, limestone, marble, salt, diatomite, gypsum, pumice, petroleum

arable land: 0.04%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 99.96% (2005)

10 sq km (2003)

earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods

inadequate supplies of potable water; limited arable land; desertification; endangered species

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

strategic location near world's busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; terminus of rail traffic into Ethiopia; mostly wasteland; Lac Assal (Lake Assal) is the lowest point in Africa

486,530 (July 2006 est.)

0-14 years: 43.3% (male 105,760/female 105,068)
15-64 years: 53.3% (male 135,119/female 124,367)
65 years and over: 3.3% (male 8,183/female 8,033) (2006 est.)

total: 18.2 years
male: 18.7 years
female: 17.7 years (2006 est.)

2.02% (2006 est.)

39.53 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

19.31 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.09 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.02 male(s)/female
total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

total: 102.44 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 110.07 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 94.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

total population: 43.17 years
male: 41.86 years
female: 44.52 years (2006 est.)

5.31 children born/woman (2006 est.)

2.9% (2003 est.)

9,100 (2003 est.)

690 (2003 est.)

degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria (2005)

noun: Djiboutian(s)
adjective: Djiboutian

Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5%

Muslim 94%, Christian 6%

French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 67.9%
male: 78%
female: 58.4% (2003 est.)

conventional long form: Republic of Djibouti
conventional short form: Djibouti
former: French Territory of the Afars and Issas, French Somaliland

republic

Djibouti

5 districts (cercles, singular - cercle); 'Ali Sabih, Dikhil, Djibouti, Obock, Tadjoura

27 June 1977 (from France)

Independence Day, 27 June (1977)

multiparty constitution approved by referendum 4 September 1992

based on French civil law system, traditional practices, and Islamic law

18 years of age; universal adult

chief of state: President Ismail Omar GUELLEH (since 8 May 1999)
head of government: Prime Minister Mohamed Dileita DILEITA (since 4 March 2001)
cabinet: Council of Ministers responsible to the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 8 April 2005 (next to be held by April 2011); prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Ismail Omar GUELLEH reelected president; percent of vote - Ismail Omar GUELLEH 100%

unicameral Chamber of Deputies or Chambre des Deputes (65 seats; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms)
elections: last held 10 January 2003 (next to be held January 2008)
election results: percent of vote - RPP 62.2%, FRUD 36.9%; seats - RPP 65, FRUD 0; note - RPP (the ruling party) dominated the election

Supreme Court or Cour Supreme

Democratic National Party or PND [ADEN Robleh Awaleh]; Democratic Renewal Party or PRD [Abdillahi HAMARITEH]; Djibouti Development Party or PDD [Mohamed Daoud CHEHEM]; Front pour la Restauration de l'Unite Democratique or FRUD [Ali Mohamed DAOUD]; People's Progress Assembly or RPP (governing party) [Ismail Omar GUELLEH]; Peoples Social Democratic Party or PPSD [Moumin Bahdon FARAH]; Republican Alliance for Democracy or ARD [Ahmed Dini AHMED]; Union for Democracy and Justice or UDJ

Union for Presidential Majority UMP (coalition includes RPP, FRUD, PPSD and PND); Union for Democratic Changeover or UAD (opposition coalition includes ARD, MRDD, UDJ, and PDD) [Ahmed Dini AHMED]

ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AU, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ITU, LAS, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO

chief of mission: Ambassador ROBLE Olhaye
chancery: Suite 515, 1156 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005
telephone: [1] (202) 331-0270
FAX: [1] (202) 331-0302

chief of mission: Ambassador Marguerita RAGSDALE
embassy: Plateau du Serpent, Boulevard Marechal Joffre, Djibouti
mailing address: B. P. 185, Djibouti
telephone: [253] 35 39 95
FAX: [253] 35 39 40

two equal horizontal bands of light blue (top) and light green with a white isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bearing a red five-pointed star in the center

The economy is based on service activities connected with the country's strategic location and status as a free trade zone in northeast Africa. Two-thirds of the inhabitants live in the capital city; the remainder are mostly nomadic herders. Scanty rainfall limits crop production to fruits and vegetables, and most food must be imported. Djibouti provides services as both a transit port for the region and an international transshipment and refueling center. Djibouti has few natural resources and little industry. The nation is, therefore, heavily dependent on foreign assistance to help support its balance of payments and to finance development projects. An unemployment rate of at least 50% continues to be a major problem. While inflation is not a concern, due to the fixed tie of the Djiboutian franc to the US dollar, the artificially high value of the Djiboutian franc adversely affects Djibouti's balance of payments. Per capita consumption dropped an estimated 35% over the last seven years because of recession, civil war, and a high population growth rate (including immigrants and refugees). Faced with a multitude of economic difficulties, the government has fallen in arrears on long-term external debt and has been struggling to meet the stipulations of foreign aid donors.

$619 million (2002 est.)

NA

3.5% (2002 est.)

$1,300 (2002 est.)

agriculture: 3.5%
industry: 15.8%
services: 80.7% (2001 est.)

282,000 (2000)

agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%

50% (2004 est.)

50% (2001 est.)

lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

2% (2002 est.)

revenues: $135 million
expenditures: $182 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)

fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels, animal hides

construction, agricultural processing, salt

3% (1996 est.)

240 million kWh (2003)

fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)

223.2 million kWh (2003)

0 kWh (2003)

0 kWh (2003)

0 bbl/day (2003)

12,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

NA bbl/day

NA bbl/day

0 cu m (2003 est.)

0 cu m (2003 est.)

$250 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)

reexports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit)

Somalia 63.8%, Yemen 22.6%, Ethiopia 5% (2004)

$987 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)

foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products

Saudi Arabia 19.7%, India 12.4%, Ethiopia 11.8%, China 8.1%, France 5.6%, US 4.8% (2004)

$366 million (2002 est.)

$36 million (2001)

Djiboutian franc (DJF)

DJF

Djiboutian francs per US dollar - 177.72 (2005), 177.72 (2004), 177.72 (2003), 177.72 (2002), 177.72 (2001)

calendar year

11,100 (2004)

34,500 (2004)

general assessment: telephone facilities in the city of Djibouti are adequate, as are the microwave radio relay connections to outlying areas of the country
domestic: microwave radio relay network
international: country code - 253; submarine cable to Jiddah, Suez, Sicily, Marseille, Colombo, and Singapore; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat; Medarabtel regional microwave radio relay telephone network

AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001)

52,000 (1997)

1 (2002)

28,000 (1997)

.dj

506 (2005)

1 (2000)

9,000 (2005)

13 (2005)

total: 3
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2005)

total: 10
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 3 (2005)

total: 100 km (Djibouti segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway)
narrow gauge: 100 km 1.000-m gauge
note: railway under joint control of Djibouti and Ethiopia (2004)

total: 2,890 km
paved: 364 km
unpaved: 2,526 km (1999)

total: 1 ships (1000 GRT or over) 1,369 GRT/3,030 DWT
by type: cargo 1 (2005)

Djibouti

Djibouti National Army (includes Navy and Air Force)

18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001)

males age 18-49: 95,328
females age 18-49: 87,795 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49: 46,020
females age 18-49: 42,181 (2005 est.)

$29.05 million (2005 est.)

4.3% (2005 est.)

Djibouti maintains economic ties and border accords with "Somaliland" leadership while maintaining some political ties to various factions in Somalia; thousands of Somali refugees await repatriation in UNHCR camps in Djibouti

refugees (country of origin): 17,331 (Somalia) (2005)