Republic of Djibouti

National name: Jumhouriyya Djibouti

President: Ismail Omar Guelleh (1999)

Prime Minister: Dileita Mohamed Dileita (2001)

Land area: 8,486 sq mi (21,979 sq km); total area: 8,880 sq mi (23,000 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 486,530 (growth rate: 2.0%); birth rate: 39.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 102.4/1000; life expectancy: 43.2; density per sq mi: 57

Capital (1995 est.): Djibouti, 383,000

Monetary unit: Djibouti franc

Languages: French and Arabic (both official), Somali, Afar

Ethnicity/race: Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5%

Religions: Islam 94%, Christian 6%

Literacy rate: 68% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2002 est.): $619 million; per capita $1,300. Real growth rate: 3.5%. Inflation: 2%. Unemployment: 50% (2004 est.). Arable land: 0.04%. Agriculture: fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels, animal hides. Labor force: 282,000 (2000). Industries: construction, agricultural processing, salt. Natural resources: geothermal areas, gold, clay, granite, limestone, marble, salt, diatomite, gypsum, pumice, petroleum. Exports: $250 million f.o.b. (2004 est.): reexports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit). Imports: $987 million f.o.b. (2004 est.): foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products. Major trading partners: Somalia, Yemen, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, India, China, France, U.S. (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 9,500 (2003); mobile cellular: 23,000 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 1 (2002). Internet hosts: 1 (2004). Internet users: 6,500 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 100 km (Djibouti segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad) (2004). Highways: total: 2,890 km; paved: 364 km; unpaved: 2,526 km (1999 est.). Waterways: none. Ports and harbors: Djibouti. Airports: 13 (2004 est.).

International disputes: 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.

 

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