| GEOGRAPHY |
| Country name: |
conventional long form: Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area
conventional short form: Dhekelia |
| Capital: |
Djibouti |
| Location: |
Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia |
| Geographic
Coordinates: |
11 30 N, 43 00 E |
| Area: |
total: 23,000 sq km
land: 22,980 sq km
water: 20 sq km |
| Area
Comparative: |
slightly smaller than Massachusetts |
| Land
Boundaries: |
total: 516 km
border countries: Eritrea 109 km, Ethiopia 349 km, Somalia 58 km |
| Coastline: |
314 km |
| Maritime
Claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
| Climate: |
desert; torrid, dry |
| Terrain: |
coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains |
| Elavation
Extremes: |
lowest point: Lac Assal -155 m
highest point: Moussa Ali 2,028 m |
| Natural
Resources: |
geothermal areas, gold, clay, granite, limestone, marble, salt, diatomite, gypsum, pumice, petroleum |
| GOVERNEMENT |
| Governement
Type: |
republic |
| Administratives
Divisions: |
5 districts (cercles, singular - cercle); 'Ali Sabih, Dikhil, Djibouti, Obock, Tadjoura |
| Independence |
27 June 1977 (from France) |
| National
Holiday: |
Independence Day, 27 June (1977) |
| Constitution: |
multiparty constitution approved by referendum 4 September 1992 |
| Legal
System; |
based on French civil law system, traditional practices, and Islamic law |
| Suffrage |
18 years of age; universal adult |
| Executive
Branch: |
chief of state: President Ismail Omar GUELLEH (since 8 May 1999)
head of government: Prime Minister DILEITA Mohamed 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 9 April 1999 (next to be held 8 April 2005); prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Ismail Omar GUELLEH elected president; percent of vote - Ismail Omar GUELLEH 74.4%, IDRIS Moussa Ahmed 25.6% |
| Legislative
Branch: |
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 |
| Judicial
Branch: |
Supreme Court or Cour Supreme |
| Political
parties and Leaders: |
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 [leader NA] |
| PEOPLE |
| Population: |
476,703 (July 2005 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 43.3% (male 103,516/female 102,860)
15-64 years: 53.5% (male 133,168/female 121,823)
65 years and over: 3.2% (male 7,748/female 7,588) (2005 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 18.23 years
male: 18.77 years
female: 17.69 years (2005 est. |
| Nationality: |
noun: Djiboutian(s)
adjective: Djiboutian |
| Ethnic groups: |
Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5% |
| Religions: |
Muslim 94%, Christian 6% |
| Languages: |
French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar |
| COMUNICATIONS |
| Telephones - main
lines in use: |
9,500 (2003) |
| Telephones - mobile
cellular: |
23,000 (2003) |
| Telephone system: |
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, Marseilles, Colombo, and Singapore; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat; Medarabtel regional microwave radio relay telephone network |
| Radio broadcast
stations: |
AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001) |
| Television broadcast
stations: |
1 (2002) |
| Internet country
code: |
.dj |
| Internet hosts: |
702 (2004) |
| Internet users: |
6,500 (2003) |
| TRANSPORT |
| Railways: |
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 (2003) |
| Highways: |
total: 2,890 km
paved: 364 km
unpaved: 2,526 km (1999 est.) |
| Waterways: |
|
| Pipelines: |
|
| Ports and harbors: |
Djibouti |
| Merchant marine: |
total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,369 GRT/3,030 DWT
by type: cargo 1 (2005) |
| Airports: |
13 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 3
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1524 to 2437 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
total: 10
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
| Heliports: |
|
