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Djibouti:
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Other pages in this profile of Djibouti:
People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.
People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.
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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. 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. |
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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: 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 |
Elevation 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 |
Land use |
arable land: 0.04% permanent crops: 0% other: 99.96% (2005) |
Irrigated land |
10 sq km (2003) |
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: 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 |
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 |
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Copyright 2008 World Sites Atlas (sitesatlas.com) |