Djibouti (2004) | Swaziland (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 5 districts (cercles, singular - cercle); 'Ali Sabih, Dikhil, Djibouti, Obock, Tadjoura | 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni |
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:
45.53% (male 250,327; female 252,479) 15-64 years: 51.88% (male 276,186; female 296,728) 65 years and over: 2.59% (male 11,687; female 16,936) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels | sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep |
Airports | 13 (2003 est.) | 18 (2000 est.) |
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:
1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
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:
17 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 10 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 23,000 sq km
land: 22,980 sq km water: 20 sq km |
total:
17,363 sq km land: 17,203 sq km water: 160 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Massachusetts | slightly smaller than New Jersey |
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. | Autonomy for the Swazis of southern Africa was guaranteed by the British in the late 19th century; independence was granted 1968. Student and labor unrest during the 1990s have pressured the monarchy (one of the oldest on the continent) to grudgingly allow political reform and greater democracy. |
Birth rate | 40.39 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 40.12 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $135 million
expenditures: $182 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1999 est.) |
revenues:
$400 million expenditures: $450 million, including capital expenditures of $115 million (FY96/97) |
Capital | Djibouti | Mbabane; note - Lobamba is the royal and legislative capital |
Climate | desert; torrid, dry | varies from tropical to near temperate |
Coastline | 314 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | multiparty constitution approved by referendum 4 September 1992 | none; constitution of 6 September 1968 was suspended 12 April 1973; a new constitution was promulgated 13 October 1978, but was not formally presented to the people; since then a few more outlines for a constitution have been compiled under the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), but so far none have been accepted |
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:
Kingdom of Swaziland conventional short form: Swaziland |
Currency | Djiboutian franc (DJF) | lilangeni (SZL) |
Death rate | 19.42 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 21.84 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $366 million (2002 est.) | $281 million (2000 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 Gregory L. JOHNSON embassy: Central Bank Building, Warner Street, Mbabane mailing address: P. O. Box 199, Mbabane telephone: [268] 404-6441 through 404-6445 FAX: [268] 404-5959 |
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 Mary Madzandza KANYA chancery: 3400 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 362-6683 FAX: [1] (202) 244-8059 |
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 | Swaziland has asked South Africa to open negotiations on reincorporating some nearby South African territories that are populated by ethnic Swazis or that were long ago part of the Swazi Kingdom |
Economic aid - recipient | $36 million (2001) | $55 million (1995) |
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. | In this small landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies more than 60% of the population. Manufacturing features a number of agroprocessing factories. Mining has declined in importance in recent years: diamond mines have shut down because of the depletion of easily accessible reserves; high-grade iron ore deposits were depleted by 1978; and health concerns have cut world demand for asbestos. Exports of soft drink concentrate, sugar, and wood pulp are the main earners of hard currency. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa from which it receives four-fifths of its imports and to which it sends two-thirds of its exports. Remittances from the Southern African Customs Union and Swazi workers in South African mines substantially supplement domestically earned income. The government is trying to improve the atmosphere for foreign investment. Overgrazing, soil depletion, drought, and sometimes floods persist as problems for the future. Prospects for 2001 are strengthened by government millennium projects for a new convention center, additional hotels, an amusement park, a new airport, and stepped-up roadbuilding and factory construction plans. |
Electricity - consumption | 167.4 million kWh (2001) | 198 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 852 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 701 million kWh
note: supplied by South Africa (1999) |
Electricity - production | 180 million kWh (2001) | 375 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
53.33% hydro: 46.67% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Lac Assal -155 m
highest point: Moussa Ali 2,028 m |
lowest point:
Great Usutu River 21 m highest point: Emlembe 1,862 m |
Environment - current issues | inadequate supplies of potable water; limited arable land; desertification; endangered species | limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion |
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, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Desertification, Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5% | African 97%, European 3% |
Exchange rates | Djiboutian francs per US dollar - 177.721 (2003), 177.721 (2002), 177.721 (2001), 177.721 (2000), 177.721 (1999) | emalangeni per US dollar - 7.7803 (January 2001), 6.9056 (2000), 6.1087 (1999), 5.4807 (1998), 4.6032 (1997), 4.2706 (1996); note - the Swazi lilangeni is at par with the South African rand; emalangeni is the plural form of lilangeni |
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:
King MSWATI III (since 25 April 1986) head of government: Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas DLAMINI (since 9 August 1996) cabinet: Cabinet recommended by the prime minister and confirmed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch |
Exports | NA (2001) | $881 million (f.o.b., 2000) |
Exports - commodities | reexports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit) | soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit |
Exports - partners | Somalia 63.9%, Yemen 22.5%, Ethiopia 4.7% (2003) | South Africa 65%, EU 12%, Mozambique 11%, US 5% (1998) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
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 | three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in yellow; centered in the red band is a large black and white shield covering two spears and a staff decorated with feather tassels, all placed horizontally |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $619 million (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $4.4 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 3.5%
industry: 15.8% services: 80.7% (2001 est.) |
agriculture:
10% industry: 46% services: 44% (1998 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,300 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $4,000 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.5% (2002 est.) | 2.4% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 11 30 N, 43 00 E | 26 30 S, 31 30 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 | landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa |
Highways | total: 2,890 km
paved: 364 km unpaved: 2,526 km (1999 est.) |
total:
3,000 km paved: 850 km unpaved: 2,150 km (1997) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | NA (2001) | $928 million (f.o.b., 2000) |
Imports - commodities | foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products | motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals |
Imports - partners | Saudi Arabia 19.7%, Ethiopia 10.9%, China 9.2%, France 6.5%, UK 5.1%, US 4.9% (2003) | South Africa 84%, EU 5%, Japan 2%, Singapore 2% (1998) |
Independence | 27 June 1977 (from France) | 6 September 1968 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3% (1996 est.) | 3.7% (FY95/96) |
Industries | construction, agricultural processing | mining (coal and asbestos), wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates |
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.) |
109.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (2002 est.) | 6.4% (2000 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, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 3 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 10 sq km (1998 est.) | 670 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme | High Court; Court of Appeal; judges for both courts are appointed by the monarch |
Labor force | 282,000 (2000) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | NA | private sector 70%, public sector 30% |
Land boundaries | total: 516 km
border countries: Eritrea 109 km, Ethiopia 349 km, Somalia 58 km |
total:
535 km border countries: Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km |
Land use | arable land: 0.04%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.96% (2001) |
arable land:
11% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 62% forests and woodland: 7% other: 20% (1993 est.) |
Languages | French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar | English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official) |
Legal system | based on French civil law system, traditional practices, and Islamic law | based on South African Roman-Dutch law in statutory courts and Swazi traditional law and custom in traditional courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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 |
bicameral Parliament or Libandla, an advisory body, consists of the Senate (30 seats - 10 appointed by the House of Assembly and 20 appointed by the monarch; members serve five-year terms) and the House of Assembly (65 seats - 10 appointed by the monarch and 55 elected by popular vote; members serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Assembly - last held 16 and 24 October 1998 (next to be held NA 2003) election results: House of Assembly - balloting is done on a nonparty basis; candidates for election are nominated by the local council of each constituency and for each constituency the three candidates with the most votes in the first round of voting are narrowed to a single winner by a second round |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 43.12 years
male: 41.83 years female: 44.44 years (2004 est.) |
total population:
38.62 years male: 37.86 years female: 39.4 years (2001 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: 76.7% male: 78% female: 75.6% (1995 est.) |
Location | Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia | Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,369 GRT/3,030 DWT
by type: cargo 1 (2004 est.) |
- |
Military branches | Djibouti National Army (including Navy and Air Force) | Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (Army), Royal Swaziland Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $26.5 million (2003) | $19.198 million (FY00/01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.4% (2003) | 4.75% (FY00/01) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 108,771 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49:
248,084 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 64,540 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49:
143,618 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 27 June (1977) | Independence Day, 6 September (1968) |
Nationality | noun: Djiboutian(s)
adjective: Djiboutian |
noun:
Swazi(s) adjective: Swazi |
Natural hazards | earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods | NA |
Natural resources | geothermal areas | asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 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] | Imbokodvo National Movement or INM [leader NA]; Ngwane National Libertatory Congress or NNLC [Obed DLAMINI, president]; People's United Democratic Movement or PUDEMO [Mario MASUKU, president]; Swaziland National Front or SWANAFRO [Elmond SHONGWE, president]; Swaziland Progressive Party or SPP [J. J. NQUKU, president]; Swaziland United Front or SUF [Matsapa SHONGWE, leader]
note: political parties are banned by the constitution promulgated on 13 October 1978; illegal parties are prohibited from holding large public gatherings; the organizations listed are political associations |
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.) | 1,104,343
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 50% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.1% (2004 est.) | 1.83% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Djibouti | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001) | AM 7, FM 6 (2000) |
Radios | - | 155,000 (1997) |
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) |
total:
297 km; note - includes 71 km which are not in use narrow gauge: 297 km 1.067-m gauge |
Religions | Muslim 94%, Christian 6% | Protestant 55%, Muslim 10%, Roman Catholic 5%, indigenous beliefs 30% |
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:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal adult | 18 years of age |
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:
not a modern system domestic: system consists of carrier-equipped, open-wire lines and low-capacity, microwave radio relay international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 9,500 (2003) | 33,500 (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 23,000 (2003) | 30,000 (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2002) | 10 (2000) |
Terrain | coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains | mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains |
Total fertility rate | 5.48 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 5.82 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 50% (2000 est.) | 22% (1995 est.) |
Waterways | - | none |