Djibouti (2004) | Marshall Islands (2008) | |
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Administrative divisions | 5 districts (cercles, singular - cercle); 'Ali Sabih, Dikhil, Djibouti, Obock, Tadjoura | 33 municipalities; Ailinginae, Ailinglaplap, Ailuk, Arno, Aur, Bikar, Bikini, Bokak, Ebon, Enewetak, Erikub, Jabat, Jaluit, Jemo, Kili, Kwajalein, Lae, Lib, Likiep, Majuro, Maloelap, Mejit, Mili, Namorik, Namu, Rongelap, Rongrik, Toke, Ujae, Ujelang, Utirik, Wotho, Wotje |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 43.2% (male 101,168; female 100,545)
15-64 years: 53.7% (male 131,320; female 119,387) 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 7,327; female 7,153) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years: 38.3% (male 12,061/female 11,622)
15-64 years: 58.9% (male 18,634/female 17,775) 65 years and over: 2.8% (male 832/female 891) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels | coconuts, tomatoes, melons, taro, breadfruit, fruits; pigs, chickens |
Airports | 13 (2003 est.) | 15 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1524 to 2437 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 10
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
total: 11
914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
Area | total: 23,000 sq km
land: 22,980 sq km water: 20 sq km |
total: 181.3 sq km
land: 181.3 sq km water: 0 sq km note: the archipelago includes 11,673 sq km of lagoon waters and includes the atolls of Bikini, Enewetak, Kwajalein, Majuro, Rongelap, and Utirik |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Massachusetts | about the size of Washington, DC |
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 three consecutive six-year terms as president. Unrest among the Afars minority during the 1990s led to multi-party elections resulting in President Ismail Omar GUELLEH attaining office in May 1999. A peace accord in 2001 ended the final phases of a ten-year uprising by Afar rebels. 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. GUELLEH favors close ties to France, which maintains a significant military presence in the country. | After almost four decades under US administration as the easternmost part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the Marshall Islands attained independence in 1986 under a Compact of Free Association. Compensation claims continue as a result of US nuclear testing on some of the atolls between 1947 and 1962. The Marshall Islands hosts the US Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) Reagan Missile Test Site, a key installation in the US missile defense network. |
Birth rate | 40.39 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 32.37 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $135 million
expenditures: $182 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1999 est.) |
revenues: $42 million
expenditures: $40 million (1999) |
Capital | Djibouti | name: Majuro
geographic coordinates: 7 06 N, 171 23 E time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | desert; torrid, dry | tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November; islands border typhoon belt |
Coastline | 314 km | 370.4 km |
Constitution | multiparty constitution approved by referendum 4 September 1992 | 1 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: Republic of the Marshall Islands
conventional short form: Marshall Islands local long form: Republic of the Marshall Islands local short form: Marshall Islands abbreviation: RMI former: Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Marshall Islands District |
Currency | Djiboutian franc (DJF) | - |
Death rate | 19.42 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 4.66 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $366 million (2002 est.) | $86.5 million (FY99/00 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Marguerita RAGSDALE
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 Clyde BISHOP
embassy: Oceanside, Mejen Weto, Long Island, Majuro mailing address: P. O. Box 1379, Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands 96960-1379 telephone: [692] 247-4011 FAX: [692] 247-4012 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador ROBLE Olhaye
chancery: Suite 515, 1156 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 telephone: [1] (202) 331-0270 FAX: [1] (202) 331-0302 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Banny DE BRUM
chancery: 2433 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 234-5414 FAX: [1] (202) 232-3236 consulate(s) general: Honolulu |
Disputes - international | Djibouti maintains economic ties and border accords with "Somaliland" leadership while maintaining some political ties to various factions in Somalia including the Somali Transitional National Government in Mogadishu | claims US territory of Wake Island |
Economic aid - recipient | $36 million (2001) | $56.56 million more than $1 billion from the US, 1986-2002 (2005) |
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 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. | US Government assistance is the mainstay of this tiny island economy. Agricultural production, primarily subsistence, is concentrated on small farms; the most important commercial crops are coconuts and breadfruit. Small-scale industry is limited to handicrafts, tuna processing, and copra. The tourist industry, now a small source of foreign exchange employing less than 10% of the labor force, remains the best hope for future added income. The islands have few natural resources, and imports far exceed exports. Under the terms of the Amended Compact of Free Association, the US will provide millions of dollars per year to the Marshall Islands (RMI) through 2023, at which time a Trust Fund made up of US and RMI contributions will begin perpetual annual payouts. Government downsizing, drought, a drop in construction, the decline in tourism, and less income from the renewal of fishing vessel licenses have held GDP growth to an average of 1% over the past decade. |
Electricity - consumption | 167.4 million kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - production | 180 million kWh (2001) | - |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Lac Assal -155 m
highest point: Moussa Ali 2,028 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Likiep 10 m |
Environment - current issues | inadequate supplies of potable water; limited arable land; desertification; endangered species | inadequate supplies of potable water; pollution of Majuro lagoon from household waste and discharges from fishing vessels |
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
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, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5% | Micronesian |
Exchange rates | Djiboutian francs per US dollar - 177.721 (2003), 177.721 (2002), 177.721 (2001), 177.721 (2000), 177.721 (1999) | the US dollar is used |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Ismail Omar GUELLEH (since 8 May 1999)
head of government: Prime Minister DILEITA Mohamed Dileita (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: Ismail Omar GUELLEH elected president; percent of vote - Ismail Omar GUELLEH 74.4%, IDRIS Moussa Ahmed 25.6% |
chief of state: President Litokwa TOMEING (since 7 January 2008); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Litokwa TOMEING (since 7 January 2008) cabinet: Cabinet selected by the president from among the members of the legislature elections: president elected by Parliament from among its members for a four-year term; election last held 7 January 2008 (next to be held in 2012) election results: Litokwa TOMEING elected president; TOMEING received 18 votes to 15 for incumbent NOTE |
Exports | NA (2001) | $9.1 million f.o.b. (2000) |
Exports - commodities | reexports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit) | copra cake, coconut oil, handicrafts, fish |
Exports - partners | Somalia 63.9%, Yemen 22.5%, Ethiopia 4.7% (2003) | US, Japan, Australia, China (2006) |
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 | blue with two stripes radiating from the lower hoist-side corner - orange (top) and white; there is a white star with four large rays and 20 small rays on the hoist side above the two stripes |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $619 million (2002 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 3.5%
industry: 15.8% services: 80.7% (2001 est.) |
agriculture: 31.7%
industry: 14.9% services: 53.4% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,300 (2002 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.5% (2002 est.) | 3.5% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 11 30 N, 43 00 E | 9 00 N, 168 00 E |
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 | the Marshal Islands Bikini and Enewetak are former US nuclear test sites; Kwajalein, the famous World War II battleground, is used as a US missile test range; island city of Ebeye is the second largest settlement in the Marshall Islands, after the capital of Majuro, and one of the most densely populated locations in the Pacific |
Highways | total: 2,890 km
paved: 364 km unpaved: 2,526 km (1999 est.) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | NA (2001) | $54.7 million f.o.b. (2000) |
Imports - commodities | foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels, beverages and tobacco |
Imports - partners | Saudi Arabia 19.7%, Ethiopia 10.9%, China 9.2%, France 6.5%, UK 5.1%, US 4.9% (2003) | US, Japan, Australia, NZ, Singapore, Fiji, China, Philippines (2006) |
Independence | 27 June 1977 (from France) | 21 October 1986 (from the US-administered UN trusteeship) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3% (1996 est.) | NA% |
Industries | construction, agricultural processing | copra, tuna processing, tourism, craft items from seashells, wood, and pearls |
Infant mortality rate | total: 105.54 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 113.3 deaths/1,000 live births female: 97.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
total: 27.3 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 30.62 deaths/1,000 live births female: 23.82 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (2002 est.) | 3% (2005 est.) |
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 | ACP, ADB, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, IDA, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, WHO |
Irrigated land | 10 sq km (1998 est.) | 0 sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme | Supreme Court; High Court; Traditional Rights Court |
Labor force | 282,000 (2000) | 14,680 (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | NA | agriculture: 21.4%
industry: 20.9% services: 57.7% (2000) |
Land boundaries | total: 516 km
border countries: Eritrea 109 km, Ethiopia 349 km, Somalia 58 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 0.04%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.96% (2001) |
arable land: 11.11%
permanent crops: 44.44% other: 44.45% (2005) |
Languages | French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar | Marshallese (official) 98.2%, other languages 1.8% (1999 census)
note: English (official), widely spoken as a second language |
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 10 January 2003 (next to be held NA January 2008) election results: percent of vote - RPP 62.2%, FRUD 36.9%; seats - RPP 65, FRUD 0; note - RPP (the ruling party) dominated the election |
unicameral legislature or Nitijela (33 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 17 November 2003 (next to be held by November 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - independents 33 note: the Council of Chiefs or Ironij is a 12-member body comprised of tribal chiefs that advises on matters affecting customary law and practice |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 43.12 years
male: 41.83 years female: 44.44 years (2004 est.) |
total population: 70.61 years
male: 68.61 years female: 72.71 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 67.9% male: 78% female: 58.4% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 93.7% male: 93.6% female: 93.7% (1999) |
Location | Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia | Oceania, two archipelagic island chains of 29 atolls, each made up of many small islets, and five single islands in the North Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia |
Map references | Africa | Oceania |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,369 GRT/3,030 DWT
by type: cargo 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 902 ships (1000 GRT or over) 33,260,440 GRT/55,644,008 DWT
by type: barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 215, cargo 61, carrier 1, chemical tanker 165, combination ore/oil 6, container 171, liquefied gas 28, passenger 6, petroleum tanker 228, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 10, specialized tanker 2, vehicle carrier 5 foreign-owned: 857 (Australia 1, Belgium 1, Bermuda 5, Canada 4, Chile 4, China 3, Croatia 4, Cyprus 39, Denmark 9, Finland 2, Germany 214, Greece 226, Hong Kong 4, Italy 3, Japan 5, South Korea 3, Latvia 10, Malaysia 3, Monaco 7, Netherlands 5, Norway 62, Romania 1, Russia 4, Saudi Arabia 4, Singapore 12, Slovenia 3, Spain 3, Sweden 1, Switzerland 14, Turkey 41, UAE 14, UK 17, US 129) (2007) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the US |
Military branches | Djibouti National Army (including Navy and Air Force) | no regular military forces; under the 1983 Compact of Free Association, the US has full authority and responsibility for security and defense of the Marshall Islands; Marshall Islands Police (2006) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $26.5 million (2003) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.4% (2003) | NA |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 108,771 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 64,540 (2004 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 27 June (1977) | Constitution Day, 1 May (1979) |
Nationality | noun: Djiboutian(s)
adjective: Djiboutian |
noun: Marshallese (singular and plural)
adjective: Marshallese |
Natural hazards | earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods | infrequent typhoons |
Natural resources | geothermal areas | coconut products, marine products, deep seabed minerals |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | -5.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
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] | traditionally there have been no formally organized political parties; what has existed more closely resembles factions or interest groups because they do not have party headquarters, formal platforms, or party structures; the following two "groupings" have competed in legislative balloting in recent years - Aelon Kein Ad Party [Michael KABUA] and United Democratic Party or UDP [Litokwa TOMEING] |
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] | NA |
Population | 466,900 (July 2004 est.) | 61,815 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 50% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.1% (2004 est.) | 2.207% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Djibouti | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001) | AM 1, FM 3, shortwave 0 (additionally, the US Armed Forces Radio and Television Services (Central Pacific Network) operate one FM and one AM station on Kwajalein) (2005) |
Railways | total: 100 km (Djibouti segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway)
narrow gauge: 100 km 1.000-m gauge note: railway under joint control of Djibouti and Ethiopia (2003) |
- |
Religions | Muslim 94%, Christian 6% | Protestant 54.8%, Assembly of God 25.8%, Roman Catholic 8.4%, Bukot nan Jesus 2.8%, Mormon 2.1%, other Christian 3.6%, other 1%, none 1.5% (1999 census) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.02 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.038 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.048 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.934 male(s)/female total population: 1.041 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 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: 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 |
general assessment: digital switching equipment; modern services include telex, cellular, internet, international calling, caller ID, and leased data circuits
domestic: Majuro Atoll and Ebeye and Kwajalein islands have regular, seven-digit, direct-dial telephones; other islands interconnected by high frequency radiotelephone (used mostly for government purposes) and mini-satellite telephones international: country code - 692; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean); US Government satellite communications system on Kwajalein (2001) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 9,500 (2003) | 4,500 (2004) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 23,000 (2003) | 600 (2004) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2002) | 2 (both are US military stations; Marshalls Broadcasting Service, a cable company, operates on Majuro) (2005) |
Terrain | coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains | low coral limestone and sand islands |
Total fertility rate | 5.48 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 3.76 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 50% (2000 est.) | 30.9% (2000 est.) |