Djibouti (2005) | Guam (2002) | |
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Administrative divisions | 5 districts (cercles, singular - cercle); 'Ali Sabih, Dikhil, Djibouti, Obock, Tadjoura | none (territory of the US) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 43.3% (male 103,516/female 102,860)
15-64 years: 53.5% (male 133,168/female 121,823) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 7,748/female 7,588) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 35.1% (male 29,706; female 26,813)
15-64 years: 58.6% (male 49,457; female 44,697) 65 years and over: 6.3% (male 5,070; female 5,053) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels, animal hides | fruits, copra, vegetables; eggs, pork, poultry, beef |
Airports | 13 (2004 est.) | 5 (2001) |
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
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2002) |
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: 1 1
under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
Area | total: 23,000 sq km
land: 22,980 sq km water: 20 sq km |
total: 549 sq km
land: 549 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Massachusetts | three times 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 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. | Guam was ceded to the US by Spain in 1898. Captured by the Japanese in 1941, it was retaken by the US three years later. The military installation on the island is one of the most strategically important US bases in the Pacific. |
Birth rate | 39.98 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 24.09 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $135 million
expenditures: $182 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1999 est.) |
revenues: $420 million
expenditures: $431 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | Djibouti | Hagatna (Agana) |
Climate | desert; torrid, dry | tropical marine; generally warm and humid, moderated by northeast trade winds; dry season from January to June, rainy season from July to December; little seasonal temperature variation |
Coastline | 314 km | 125.5 km |
Constitution | multiparty constitution approved by referendum 4 September 1992 | Organic Act of 1 August 1950 |
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: Territory of Guam
conventional short form: Guam local long form: Guahan |
Currency | - | US dollar (USD) |
Death rate | 19.39 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 4.24 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $366 million (2002 est.) | $NA |
Dependency status | - | organized, unincorporated territory of the US with policy relations between Guam and the US under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of the Interior |
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 |
none (territory of the US) |
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 |
none (territory of the US) |
Disputes - international | 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 | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $36 million (2001) | Guam receives large transfer payments from the US Federal Treasury ($143 million in 1997) into which Guamanians pay no income or excise taxes; under the provisions of a special law of Congress, the Guam Treasury, rather than the US Treasury, receives federal income taxes paid by military and civilian Federal employees stationed in Guam |
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 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. | The economy depends on US military spending, tourism, and the export of fish and handicrafts. Total US grants, wage payments, and procurement outlays amounted to $1 billion in 1998. Over the past 20 years, the tourist industry has grown rapidly, creating a construction boom for new hotels and the expansion of older ones. More than 1 million tourists visit Guam each year. The industry has recently suffered setbacks because of the continuing Japanese slowdown; the Japanese normally make up almost 90% of the tourists. Most food and industrial goods are imported. Guam faces the problem of building up the civilian economic sector to offset the impact of military downsizing. |
Electricity - consumption | 167.4 million kWh (2002) | 767.25 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 180 million kWh (2002) | 825 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Lac Assal -155 m
highest point: Moussa Ali 2,028 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Lamlam 406 m |
Environment - current issues | inadequate supplies of potable water; limited arable land; desertification; endangered species | extirpation of native bird population by the rapid proliferation of the brown tree snake, an exotic, invasive species |
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 |
- |
Ethnic groups | Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5% | Chamorro 37%, Filipino 26%, white 10%, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other 27% |
Exchange rates | Djiboutian francs per US dollar - 177.72 (2004), 177.72 (2003), 177.72 (2002), 177.72 (2001), 177.72 (2000) | the US dollar is used |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Ismail Omar GUELLEH (since 8 May 1999)
head of government: Prime Minister Mohamed Dileita 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 8 April 2005 (next to be held by April 2011); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Ismail Omar GUELLEH reelected president; percent of vote - Ismail Omar GUELLEH 100% |
chief of state: President George W. BUSH of the US (since 20 January 2001); Vice President Richard B. CHENEY (since 20 January 2001)
head of government: Governor Felix P. P. CAMACHO (since 6 January 2003) and Lieutenant Governor Kaleo MOYLAN (since 6 January 2003) cabinet: executive departments; heads appointed by the governor with the consent of the Guam legislature elections: US president and vice president elected on the same ticket for a four-year term; governor and lieutenant governor elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year term; election last held 5 November 2002 (next to be held NA November 2006) election results: Felix P. P. CAMACHO elected governor; percent of vote - Felix P. P. CAMACHO (Republican Party) 55.4%, Robert A. UNDERWOOD (Democratic Party) 44.6% |
Exports | NA | $75.7 million f.o.b. (1999 est.) |
Exports - commodities | reexports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit) | mostly transshipments of refined petroleum products; construction materials, fish, food and beverage products |
Exports - partners | Somalia 63.8%, Yemen 22.6%, Ethiopia 5% (2004) | US 25% |
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 | territorial flag is dark blue with a narrow red border on all four sides; centered is a red-bordered, pointed, vertical ellipse containing a beach scene, outrigger canoe with sail, and a palm tree with the word GUAM superimposed in bold red letters; US flag is the national flag |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $3.2 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 3.5%
industry: 15.8% services: 80.7% (2001 est.) |
agriculture: NA%
industry: 15% (1993) services: NA% (1993) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,300 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $21,000 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.5% (2002 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 11 30 N, 43 00 E | 13 28 N, 144 47 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 | largest and southernmost island in the Mariana Islands archipelago; strategic location in western North Pacific Ocean |
Highways | total: 2,890 km
paved: 364 km unpaved: 2,526 km (1999 est.) |
total: 885 km
paved: 675 km unpaved: 210 km note: there are also 685 km of roads classified non-public, including roads located on federal government installations |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | NA | $203 million f.o.b. (1999 est.) |
Imports - commodities | foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products | petroleum and petroleum products, food, manufactured goods |
Imports - partners | Saudi Arabia 19.7%, India 12.4%, Ethiopia 11.8%, China 8.1%, France 5.6%, US 4.8% (2004) | US 23%, Japan 19% |
Independence | 27 June 1977 (from France) | none (territory of the US) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3% (1996 est.) | NA% |
Industries | construction, agricultural processing, salt | US military, tourism, construction, transshipment services, concrete products, printing and publishing, food processing, textiles |
Infant mortality rate | total: 104.13 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 111.82 deaths/1,000 live births female: 96.21 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
6.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (2002 est.) | 0% (1999 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 | ESCAP (associate), Interpol (subbureau), IOC, SPC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 20 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 10 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme | Federal District Court (judge is appointed by the president); Territorial Superior Court (judges appointed for eight-year terms by the governor) |
Labor force | 282,000 (2000) | 60,000 (2000 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | NA | federal and territorial government 26%, private 74% (trade 24%, other services 40%, industry 10%) (2000 est.) |
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: 10.91%
permanent crops: 10.91% other: 78.18% (1998 est.) |
Languages | French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar | English, Chamorro, Japanese |
Legal system | based on French civil law system, traditional practices, and Islamic law | modeled on US; US federal laws apply |
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 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 (15 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms)
elections: last held 5 November 2002 (next to be held 2 November 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Democratic Party 9, Republican Party 6 note: Guam elects one nonvoting delegate to the US House of Representatives; election last held 7 November 2000 (next to be held 5 November 2002); results - Robert UNDERWOOD was reelected as delegate; percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Democratic Party 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 43.1 years
male: 41.84 years female: 44.39 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 78.11 years
male: 75.81 years female: 80.72 years (2002 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: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (1990 est.) |
Location | Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia | Oceania, island in the North Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines |
Map references | Africa | Oceania |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,369 GRT/3,030 DWT
by type: cargo 1 (2005) |
none (2002 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the US |
Military branches | Djibouti National Army (includes Navy and Air Force) | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $28.6 million (2004) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.4% (2004) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 27 June (1977) | Discovery Day, first Monday in March (1521) |
Nationality | noun: Djiboutian(s)
adjective: Djiboutian |
noun: Guamanian(s)
adjective: Guamanian |
Natural hazards | earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods | frequent squalls during rainy season; relatively rare, but potentially very destructive typhoons (June - December) |
Natural resources | geothermal areas, gold, clay, granite, limestone, marble, salt, diatomite, gypsum, pumice, petroleum | fishing (largely undeveloped), tourism (especially from Japan) |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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] | Democratic Party (party of Governor GUTIERREZ) [leader NA]; Republican Party (controls the legislature) [leader NA] |
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 | 476,703 (July 2005 est.) | 160,796 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 50% (2001 est.) | 23% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.06% (2005 est.) | 1.99% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Djibouti | Apra Harbor |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001) | AM 4, FM 7, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | - | 221,000 (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 (2004) |
0 km |
Religions | Muslim 94%, Christian 6% | Roman Catholic 85%, other 15% (1999 est.) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.09 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.02 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth: 1.14 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.11 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.11 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female total population: 1.1 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal adult | 18 years of age; universal; US citizens, but do not vote in US presidential elections |
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: modern system, integrated with US facilities for direct dialing, including free use of 800 numbers
domestic: modern digital system, including cellular mobile service and local access to the Internet international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean); submarine cables to US and Japan (Guam is a trans-Pacific communications hub for MCI, Sprint, AT&T, IT&E, and GTE, linking the US and Asia) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 9,500 (2003) | 84,134 (1998) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 23,000 (2003) | 55,000 (1998) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2002) | 5 (1997) |
Terrain | coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains | volcanic origin, surrounded by coral reefs; relatively flat coralline limestone plateau (source of most fresh water), with steep coastal cliffs and narrow coastal plains in north, low hills in center, mountains in south |
Total fertility rate | 5.4 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 3.73 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 50% (2004 est.) | 15% (2000 est.) |
Waterways | - | none |