Guide to Djibouti Introduction Background: 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. Djibouti's first multi-party presidential elections in 1999 resulted in the election of Ismail Omar GUELLEH. Djibouti occupies a very 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 has also developed increasingly stronger ties with the United States in recent years. Djibouti currently hosts the only United States military base in sub-Saharan Africa and is a front-line state in the global war on terrorism.
Geography Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia
Geographic coordinates: 11 30 N, 43 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Massachusetts
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 314 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
Climate: desert; torrid, dry
Terrain: coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: geothermal areas, gold, clay, granite, limestone, marble, salt, diatomite, gypsum, pumice, petroleum
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 10 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods
Environment - current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; limited arable land; desertification; endangered species
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: 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
People Population: 476,703 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 2.06% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 39.98 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 19.39 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 5.4 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 2.9% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 9,100 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 690 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5%
Religions: Muslim 94%, Christian 6%
Languages: French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: republic
Capital: Djibouti
Administrative 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
Legislative branch: unicameral Chamber of Deputies or Chambre des Deputes (65 seats; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms) elections
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]
Political pressure groups and leaders: 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]
International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AU, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, LAS, NAM, OIC, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
Flag description: 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
Economy Economy - overview: 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.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $619 million (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 3.5% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,300 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 282,000 (2000)
Labor force - by occupation: NA
Unemployment rate: 50% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: 50% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2% (2002 est.)
Budget: revenues
Agriculture - products: fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels, animal hides
Industries: construction, agricultural processing, salt
Industrial production growth rate: 3% (1996 est.)
Electricity - production: 180 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 167.4 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 11,300 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: NA
Oil - imports: NA
Exports: $155 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities: reexports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit)
Exports - partners: Somalia 63.8%, Yemen 22.6%, Ethiopia 5% (2004)
Imports: $665 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities: foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products
Imports - partners: Saudi Arabia 19.7%, India 12.4%, Ethiopia 11.8%, China 8.1%, France 5.6%, US 4.8% (2004)
Debt - external: $366 million (2002 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $36 million (2001)
Currency (code): Djiboutian franc (DJF)
Currency code: DJF
Exchange rates: Djiboutian francs per US dollar - 177.72 (2004), 177.72 (2003), 177.72 (2002), 177.72 (2001), 177.72 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 9,500 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 23,000 (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001)
Radios: 52,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 1 (2002)
Televisions: 28,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .dj
Internet hosts: 702 (2004)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)
Internet users: 6,500 (2003)
Transportation Railways: total
Highways: total
Ports and harbors: Djibouti
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 13 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Military Military branches: Djibouti National Army (includes Navy and Air Force)
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001)
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $28.6 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 4.4% (2004)
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: Djibouti maintains economic ties and border accords with "Somaliland" leadership while maintaining some political ties to various factions in Somalia; although most of the 26,000 Somali refugees in Djibouti who fled civil unrest in the early 1990s have returned, several thousand still await repatriation in UNHCR camps
Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin)
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
| Weather Statistics | Djibouti |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | | Mean | 26 C | 26 C | 27 C | 29 C | 31 C | 34 C | 36 C | 35 C | 33 C | 30 C | 27 C | 26 C | | Prcp | 10mm | 4mm | 10mm | 12mm | 7mm | 1mm | 6mm | 8mm | 4mm | 14mm | 21mm | 13mm |
| Source: Global Historical Climatology Network |
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