]! ^! 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. 
]" ^" Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia ^# 11 30 N, 43 00 E ^$ Africa ^% `! 23,000 sq km `" 22,980 sq km `# 20 sq km ^& slightly smaller than Massachusetts ^' `! 516 km `U Eritrea 109 km, Ethiopia 349 km, Somalia 58 km ^( 314 km ^) `$ 12 nm `H 24 nm `I 200 nm ^* desert; torrid, dry ^+ coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains ^, `% Lac Assal -155 m `& Moussa Ali 2,028 m ^- geothermal areas, gold, clay, granite, limestone, marble, salt, diatomite, gypsum, pumice, petroleum ^. `' 0.04% `( 0% `) 99.96% (2001) ^/ 10 sq km (1998 est.) ^0 earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods ^1 inadequate supplies of potable water; limited arable land; desertification; endangered species _J `K Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution `L none of the selected agreements ^2 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 
]# ^3 476,703 (July 2005 est.) ^4 `* 43.3% (male 103,516/female 102,860) `+ 53.5% (male 133,168/female 121,823) `, 3.2% (male 7,748/female 7,588) (2005 est.) ^5 `! 18.23 years `- 18.77 years `. 17.69 years (2005 est.) ^6 2.06% (2005 est.) ^7 39.98 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^8 19.39 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^9 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^: `/ 1.03 male(s)/female `0 1.01 male(s)/female `+ 1.09 male(s)/female `, 1.02 male(s)/female `1 1.05 male(s)/female (2005 est.) ^; `! 104.13 deaths/1,000 live births `- 111.82 deaths/1,000 live births `. 96.21 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) ^< `1 43.1 years `- 41.84 years `. 44.39 years (2005 est.) ^= 5.4 children born/woman (2005 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 (2004) ^A `2 Djiboutian(s) `3 Djiboutian ^B Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5% ^C Muslim 94%, Christian 6% ^D French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar ^E `M age 15 and over can read and write `1 67.9% `- 78% `. 58.4% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `4 Republic of Djibouti `5 Djibouti `X French Territory of the Afars and Issas, French Somaliland ^H republic ^I Djibouti ^J 5 districts (cercles, singular - cercle); 'Ali Sabih, Dikhil, Djibouti, Obock, Tadjoura ^K 27 June 1977 (from France) ^L Independence Day, 27 June (1977) ^M multiparty constitution approved by referendum 4 September 1992 ^N based on French civil law system, traditional practices, and Islamic law ^O 18 years of age; universal adult ^P `6 President Ismail Omar GUELLEH (since 8 May 1999) `7 Prime Minister Mohamed Dileita DILEITA (since 4 March 2001) `8 Council of Ministers responsible to the president `9 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 `: Ismail Omar GUELLEH reelected president; percent of vote - Ismail Omar GUELLEH 100% ^Q unicameral Chamber of Deputies or Chambre des Deputes (65 seats; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms) `9 last held 10 January 2003 (next to be held January 2008) `: percent of vote - RPP 62.2%, FRUD 36.9%; seats - RPP 65, FRUD 0; note - RPP (the ruling party) dominated the election ^R Supreme Court or Cour Supreme ^S 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] ^T 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] ^U 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 ^V `N Ambassador ROBLE Olhaye `O Suite 515, 1156 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 `P [1] (202) 331-0270 `Q [1] (202) 331-0302 ^W `N Ambassador Marguerita RAGSDALE `Z Plateau du Serpent, Boulevard Marechal Joffre, Djibouti `[ B. P. 185, Djibouti `P [253] 35 39 95 `Q [253] 35 39 40 ^X 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 
]% ^Y 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. ^Z $619 million (2002 est.) ^[ 3.5% (2002 est.) ^\ purchasing power parity - $1,300 (2002 est.) ^] `; 3.5% `< 15.8% `= 80.7% (2001 est.) ^^ 282,000 (2000) ^_ NA ^` 50% (2004 est.) ^a 50% (2001 est.) _! `> NA `? NA _" 2% (2002 est.) _# `@ $135 million `A $182 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1999 est.) _$ fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels, animal hides _% construction, agricultural processing, salt _& 3% (1996 est.) _' 180 million kWh (2002) _( 167.4 million kWh (2002) _) 0 kWh (2002) _* 0 kWh (2002) _+ 0 bbl/day (2001 est.) _, 11,300 bbl/day (2001 est.) _- NA _. NA _/ $155 million f.o.b. (2002 est.) _0 reexports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit) _1 Somalia 63.8%, Yemen 22.6%, Ethiopia 5% (2004) _2 $665 million f.o.b. (2002 est.) _3 foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products _4 Saudi Arabia 19.7%, India 12.4%, Ethiopia 11.8%, China 8.1%, France 5.6%, US 4.8% (2004) _5 $366 million (2002 est.) _6 $36 million (2001) _7 Djiboutian franc (DJF) _8 Djiboutian francs per US dollar - 177.72 (2004), 177.72 (2003), 177.72 (2002), 177.72 (2001), 177.72 (2000) _9 calendar year 
]& _: 9,500 (2003) _; 23,000 (2003) _< `B telephone facilities in the city of Djibouti are adequate as are the microwave radio relay connections to outlying areas of the country `C microwave radio relay network `D 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 _= AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001) _> 1 (2002) _? .dj _@ 702 (2004) _A 6,500 (2003) 
]' _e `! 100 km (Djibouti segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway) `c 100 km 1.000-m gauge note: railway under joint control of Djibouti and Ethiopia (2004) _B `! 2,890 km `E 364 km `F 2,526 km (1999 est.) _C Djibouti _K `! 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,369 GRT/3,030 DWT by type: cargo 1 (2005) _D 13 (2004 est.) _E `! 3 `] 1 `G 1 1524 to 2437 m: 1 (2004 est.) _L `! 10 `^ 2 `_ 5 `T 3 (2004 est.) 
]( _F Djibouti National Army (includes Navy and Air Force) _M 18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001) _] males age 18-49: 95,328 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 46,020 (2005 est.) _N $28.6 million (2004) _O 4.4% (2004) 
]) _H 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 _c `d 25,474 (Somalia) (2004) 