Djibouti (2001) | Micronesia, Federated States of (2006) | |
![]() | ![]() | |
Administrative divisions | 5 districts (cercles, singular - cercle); 'Ali Sabih, Dikhil, Djibouti, Obock, Tadjoura | 4 states; Chuuk (Truk), Kosrae (Kosaie), Pohnpei (Ponape), Yap |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
42.58% (male 98,314; female 97,859) 15-64 years: 54.58% (male 132,619; female 118,841) 65 years and over: 2.84% (male 6,787; female 6,280) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 36.6% (male 20,116/female 19,391)
15-64 years: 60.4% (male 32,620/female 32,659) 65 years and over: 3% (male 1,413/female 1,805) (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels | black pepper, tropical fruits and vegetables, coconuts, cassava (tapioca), betel nuts, sweet potatoes; pigs, chickens; fish |
Airports | 12 (2000 est.) | 6 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
2 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2006) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
- |
Area | total:
22,000 sq km land: 21,980 sq km water: 20 sq km |
total: 702 sq km
land: 702 sq km water: 0 sq km (fresh water only) note: includes Pohnpei (Ponape), Chuuk (Truk) Islands, Yap Islands, and Kosrae (Kosaie) |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Massachusetts | four times the size of Washington, DC (land area only) |
Background | The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas became Djibouti in 1977. A peace accord in 1994 ended a three-year uprising by Afars rebels. | In 1979 the Federated States of Micronesia, a UN Trust Territory under US administration, adopted a constitution. In 1986 independence was attained under a Compact of Free Association with the US, which was amended and renewed in 2004. Present concerns include large-scale unemployment, overfishing, and overdependence on US aid. |
Birth rate | 40.66 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 24.68 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$133 million expenditures: $187 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.) |
revenues: $127.3 million ($69 million less grants)
expenditures: $144.2 million; including capital expenditures of $17.9 million $NA (1998 est.) |
Capital | Djibouti | name: Palikir
geographic coordinates: 6 55 N, 158 08 E time difference: UTC+10 (15 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | desert; torrid, dry | tropical; heavy year-round rainfall, especially in the eastern islands; located on southern edge of the typhoon belt with occasionally severe damage |
Coastline | 314 km | 6,112 km |
Constitution | multiparty constitution approved by referendum 4 September 1992 | 10 May 1979 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Djibouti conventional short form: Djibouti former: French Territory of the Afars and Issas, French Somaliland |
conventional long form: Federated States of Micronesia
conventional short form: none local long form: Federated States of Micronesia local short form: none former: Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Ponape, Truk, and Yap Districts abbreviation: FSM |
Currency | Djiboutian franc (DJF) | - |
Death rate | 14.66 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 4.75 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | $356 million (1999 est.) | $60.8 million (FY05 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Donald YAMAMOTO embassy: Plateau du Serpent, Boulevard Marechal Joffre, Djibouti mailing address: B. P. 185, Djibouti telephone: [253] 35 39 95 FAX: [253] 35 39 40 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Suzanne K. HALE
embassy: 101 Upper Pics Road, Kolonia mailing address: P. O. Box 1286, Kolonia, Pohnpei, 96941 telephone: [691] 320-2187 FAX: [691] 320-2186 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 Jesse Bibiano MAREHALAU
chancery: 1725 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 223-4383 FAX: [1] (202) 223-4391 consulate(s) general: Honolulu, Tamuning (Guam) |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $106.3 million (1995) | $86.3 million under terms of the Compact of Free Association, the US pledged $1.3 billion in grant aid during the period 1986-2001; the level of aid has been subsequently reduced |
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 being 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. It 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 40% to 50% continues to be a major problem. Inflation is not a concern, however, because of the fixed tie of the franc to the US dollar. 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. The year 2001 will see only small growth as port activity should decrease now that Ethiopia has more trade route options. | Economic activity consists primarily of subsistence farming and fishing. The islands have few mineral deposits worth exploiting, except for high-grade phosphate. The potential for a tourist industry exists, but the remote location, a lack of adequate facilities, and limited air connections hinder development. The Amended Compact of Free Association with the US guarantees the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) millions of dollars in annual aid through 2023, and establishes a Trust Fund into which the US and the FSM make annual contributions in order to provide annual payouts to the FSM in perpetuity after 2023. The country's medium-term economic outlook appears fragile due not only to the reduction in US assistance but also to the slow growth of the private sector. |
Electricity - consumption | 167.4 million kWh (1999) | 178.6 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 180 million kWh (1999) | 192 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Lac Assal -155 m highest point: Moussa Ali 2,028 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Dolohmwar (Totolom) 791 m |
Environment - current issues | inadequate supplies of potable water; desertification | overfishing, climate change, pollution |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5% | nine ethnic Micronesian and Polynesian groups |
Exchange rates | Djiboutian francs per US dollar - 177.721 (fixed rate since 1973) | the US dollar is used |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President GUELLEH Ismail Omar (since 8 May 1999); head of government: Prime Minister DILLEITA Mohamed Dilleita (since 4 March 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers responsible to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 9 April 1999 (next to be held NA 2005); prime minister appointed by the president election results: GUELLEH Ismail Omar elected president; percent of vote - GUELLEH Ismail Omar 74.4%, IDRIS Moussa Ahmed 25.6% |
chief of state: President Joseph J. URUSEMAL (since 11 May 2003); Vice President Redley KILLION (11 May 2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Joseph J. URUSEMAL (since 11 May 2003); Vice President Redley KILLION (11 May 2003) cabinet: Cabinet includes the vice president and the heads of the eight executive departments elections: president and vice president elected by Congress from among the four senators at large for a four-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 11 May 2003 (next to be held May 2007); note - a proposed constitutional amendment to establish popular elections for president and vice president failed election results: Joseph J. URUSEMAL elected president; percent of Congress vote - NA%; Redley KILLION elected vice president; percent of Congress vote - NA% |
Exports | $260 million (f.o.b., 1999 est.) | $14 million (f.o.b.) (2004 est.) |
Exports - commodities | reexports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit) | fish, garments, bananas, black pepper |
Exports - partners | Somalia 53%, Yemen 23%, Ethiopia 5%, (1998) | Japan, US, Guam (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 October - 30 September |
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 | light blue with four white five-pointed stars centered; the stars are arranged in a diamond pattern |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $574 million (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
3% industry: 22% services: 75% (1998 est.) |
agriculture: 28.9%
industry: 15.2% services: 55.9% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,300 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 2% (2000 est.) | 0.3% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 11 30 N, 43 00 E | 6 55 N, 158 15 E |
Geography - note | strategic location near world's busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; terminus of rail traffic into Ethiopia; mostly wasteland | four major island groups totaling 607 islands |
Highways | total:
2,890 km paved: 364 km unpaved: 2,526 km (1996) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $440 million (f.o.b., 1999 est.) | $132.7 million f.o.b. (2004) |
Imports - commodities | foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products | food, manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, beverages |
Imports - partners | France 13%, Ethiopia 12%, Italy 9%, Saudi Arabia 6%, UK 6% (1998) | US, Japan, Hong Kong (2004) |
Independence | 27 June 1977 (from France) | 3 November 1986 (from the US-administered UN Trusteeship) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3% (1996 est.) | NA% |
Industries | limited to a few small-scale enterprises, such as dairy products and mineral-water bottling | tourism, construction; fish processing, specialized aquaculture; craft items from shell, wood, and pearls |
Infant mortality rate | 101.51 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 29.16 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 32.17 deaths/1,000 live births female: 26.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (2000 est.) | 2.2% (2005) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACP, AsDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IMF, IOC, ITU, MIGA, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, WHO, WMO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | NA |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme | Supreme Court |
Labor force | 282,000 | 37,410 |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 75%, industry 11%, services 14% (1991 est.) | note: 0.9% two-thirds are government employees, 34.4%, 64.7% |
Land boundaries | total:
508 km border countries: Eritrea 113 km, Ethiopia 337 km, Somalia 58 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 9% forests and woodland: 0% other: 91% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 5.71%
permanent crops: 45.71% other: 48.58% (2005) |
Languages | French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar | English (official and common language), Trukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Kosrean, Ulithian, Woleaian, Nukuoro, Kapingamarangi |
Legal system | based on French civil law system, traditional practices, and Islamic law | based on adapted Trust Territory laws, acts of the legislature, municipal, common, and customary laws |
Legislative branch | unicameral Chamber of Deputies or Chambre des Deputes (65 seats; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms)
elections: last held 19 December 1997 (next to be held NA 2002) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - RPP 65; note - RPP (the ruling party) dominated the election |
unicameral Congress (14 seats; 4 - one elected from each state to serve four-year terms and 10 - elected from single-member districts delineated by population to serve two-year terms; members elected by popular vote)
elections: elections for four-year term seats last held 4 March 2003 (next to be held March 2007); elections for two-year term seats last held 8 March 2005 (next to be held March 2007) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 14 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
51.21 years male: 49.37 years female: 53.1 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 70.05 years
male: 68.24 years female: 71.95 years (2006 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 46.2% male: 60.3% female: 32.7% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 89% male: 91% female: 88% (1980 est.) |
Location | Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia | Oceania, island group in the North Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Indonesia |
Map references | Africa | Oceania |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,369 GRT/3,030 DWT ships by type: cargo 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 2 ships (1000 GRT or over) 2,423 GRT/1,551 DWT
by type: cargo 1, passenger/cargo 1 (2006) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the US |
Military branches | Djibouti National Army (includes Navy and Air Force) | no ministry of defense and no standing armed forces; the paramilitary Maritime Wing, a small maritime law enforcement unit, is responsible to the Division of Maritime Surveillance within the Office of the Attorney General (2003) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $23 million (FY97) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.5% (FY97) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
108,038 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
63,589 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 27 June (1977) | Constitution Day, 10 May (1979) |
Nationality | noun:
Djiboutian(s) adjective: Djiboutian |
noun: Micronesian(s)
adjective: Micronesian; Chuukese, Kosraen(s), Pohnpeian(s), Yapese |
Natural hazards | earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods | typhoons (June to December) |
Natural resources | geothermal areas | forests, marine products, deep-seabed minerals, phosphate |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -21.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Democratic National Party or PND [ADEN Robleh Awaleh]; Democratic Renewal Party or PRD [Abdillahi HAMARITEH]; People's Progress Assembly or RPP (governing party) [Ismail Omar GELLEH] | no formal parties |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy or FRUD and affiliates; Movement for Unity and Democracy or MUD | - |
Population | 460,700 (July 2001 est.) | 108,004 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 26.7% |
Population growth rate | 2.6% (2001 est.) | -0.11% (2006 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Djibouti | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 5, FM 1, shortwave 0 (2004) |
Radios | 52,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
100 km (Djibouti segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad) narrow gauge: 100 km 1.000-m gauge note: Djibouti and Ethiopia plan to revitalize the century-old railroad that links their capitals by 2003 |
- |
Religions | Muslim 94%, Christian 6% | Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 47%, other 3% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.12 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.08 male(s)/female total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
NA |
Suffrage | NA years of age; universal adult | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | 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 international: 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 |
general assessment: adequate system
domestic: islands interconnected by shortwave radiotelephone (used mostly for government purposes), satellite (Intelsat) ground stations, and some coaxial and fiber-optic cable; cellular service available on Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap international: country code - 691; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2002) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 8,000 (1997) | 12,400 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 203 (1997) | 14,100 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (plus 5 low-power repeaters) (1998) | 3; note - cable TV also available (2004) |
Terrain | coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains | islands vary geologically from high mountainous islands to low, coral atolls; volcanic outcroppings on Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Chuuk |
Total fertility rate | 5.72 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 3.16 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 50% (2000 est.) | 22% (2000 est.) |
Waterways | none | - |