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 also has strong 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)
0.3 cu km (1997)
Total: 0.02 cu km/yr (84%/0%/16%) ; Per capita: 25 cu m/yr (2000)
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, Wetlands ; 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
496,374 (July 2007 est.)
0-14 years: 43.4% (male 107,957/female 107,233) ; 15-64 years: 53.2% (male 137,111/female 126,952) ; 65 years and over: 3.4% (male 8,626/female 8,495) (2007 est.)
total: 18.2 years ; male: 18.6 years ; female: 17.7 years (2007 est.)
1.984% (2007 est.)
39.07 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
19.23 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female ; under 15 years: 1.007 male(s)/female ; 15-64 years: 1.08 male(s)/female ; 65 years and over: 1.015 male(s)/female ; total population: 1.045 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
total: 100.77 deaths/1,000 live births ; male: 108.35 deaths/1,000 live births ; female: 92.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total population: 43.25 years ; male: 41.88 years ; female: 44.65 years (2007 est.)
5.23 children born/woman (2007 est.)
2.9% (2003 est.)
9,100 (2003 est.)
690 (2003 est.)
noun: Djiboutian(s) ; adjective: Djiboutian
Somali 60%, Afar 35%, other 5% (includes French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian)
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.)
degree of risk: high ; food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever ; vectorborne disease: malaria ; note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified among birds in this country or surrounding region; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2007)

conventional long form: Republic of Djibouti ; conventional short form: Djibouti ; local long form: Republique de Djibouti/Jumhuriyat Jibuti ; local short form: Djibouti/Jibuti ; former: French Territory of the Afars and Issas, French Somaliland
republic
name: Djibouti ; geographic coordinates: 11 35 N, 43 09 E ; time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
6 districts (cercles, singular - cercle); Ali Sabieh, Arta, Dikhil, Djibouti, Obock, Tadjourah

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; accepts ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
18 years of age; universal
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 (eligible for a second 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 in January 2008) ; election results: percent of vote - RPP 62.2%, FRUD 36.9%; seats - RPP 65; 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 [Ismail Omar GUELLEH] (governing party); Peoples Social Democratic Party or PPSD [Moumin Bahdon FARAH]; Republican Alliance for Democracy or ARD; 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, and UDJ)
ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AU, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ITU, ITUC, LAS, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
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
chief of mission: Ambassador Roble OLHAYE Oudine ; chancery: Suite 515, 1156 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 ; telephone: [1] (202) 331-0270 ; FAX: [1] (202) 331-0302
chief of mission: Ambassador W. Stuart SYMINGTON ; embassy: Plateau du Serpent, Boulevard Marechal Joffre, Djibouti ; mailing address: B. P. 185, Djibouti ; telephone: [253] 35 39 95 ; FAX: [253] 35 39 40





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 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.
$1.878 billion (2006 est.)
$702 million (2005 est.)
3.2% (2005 est.)
$1,000 (2005 est.)
agriculture: 17.9% ; industry: 22.5% ; services: 59.6% (2003 est.)
282,000 (2000)
agriculture: NA% ; industry: NA% ; services: NA%
50% (2004 est.)
50% (2001 est.)
lowest 10%: NA% ; highest 10%: NA%

3% (2005 est.)

revenues: $135 million ; expenditures: $182 million (1999 est.)

fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels, animal hides
construction, agricultural processing
3% (1996 est.)
200 million kWh (2005)
fossil fuel: 100% ; hydro: 0% ; nuclear: 0% ; other: 0% (2001)
186 million kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 bbl/day (2005)
12,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
19.13 bbl/day (2004)
11,860 bbl/day (2004)
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005)
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

$340 million f.o.b. (2006)
reexports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit)
Somalia 66.2%, Ethiopia 21.4%, Yemen 3.4% (2006)
$1.555 billion f.o.b. (2006)
Saudi Arabia 21.4%, India 17.9%, China 11%, Ethiopia 4.6% (2006)


$394 million (2004 est.)



Djiboutian franc (DJF)
DJF
Djiboutian francs per US dollar - NA (2007), 174.75 (2006), 177.72 (2005), 177.72 (2004), 177.72 (2003)
calendar year
$78.6 million (2005)
10,800 (2005)
44,100 (2005)
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; mobile cellular coverage is limited to the area in and around Djibouti city ; international: country code - 253; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-3 optical telecommunications submarine cable with links to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe; 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 (2001)
28,000 (1997)
.dj
168 (2007)
1 (2000)
11,000 (2006)

13 (2007)
total: 3 ; over 3,047 m: 1 ; 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007)
total: 10 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 5 ; under 914 m: 3 (2007)


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 (2006)
total: 2,890 km ; paved: 364 km ; unpaved: 2,526 km (1999)

total: 1 ship (1000 GRT or over) 1,369 GRT/3,030 DWT ; by type: cargo 1 (2007)
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.)

3.8% (2006)

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): 9,828 (Somalia) (2006)

current situation: Djibouti is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and possibly forced labor; small numbers are trafficked from Ethiopia and Somalia for sexual exploitation; economic migrants from these countries also fall victim to trafficking upon reaching Djibouti City or the Ethiopia-Djibouti trucking corridor; women and children from neighboring countries reportedly transit Djibouti to Arab countries and Somalia for ultimate use in forced labor or sexual exploitation ; tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Djibouti does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so based partly on the government's commitments to undertake future action
