Djibouti (2007) | Tokelau (2003) | |
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Administrative divisions | 6 districts (cercles, singular - cercle); Ali Sabieh, Arta, Dikhil, Djibouti, Obock, Tadjourah | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 43.4% (male 107,957/female 107,233)
15-64 years: 53.2% (male 137,111/female 126,952) 65 years and over: 3.4% (male 8,626/female 8,495) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 42%
15-64 years: 53% 65 years and over: 5% (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels, animal hides | coconuts, copra, breadfruit, papayas, bananas; pigs, poultry, goats |
Airports | 13 (2007) | none; lagoon landings are possible by amphibious aircraft (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 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 (2007) |
- |
Area | total: 23,000 sq km
land: 22,980 sq km water: 20 sq km |
total: 10 sq km
land: 10 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Massachusetts | about 17 times the size of The Mall in 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. In 1999, Djibouti's first multi-party presidential elections resulted in the election of Ismail Omar GUELLEH; he was re-elected to a second and final term in 2005. Djibouti occupies a 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 is also developing stronger ties with the US. Djibouti hosts the only US military base in sub-Saharan Africa and is a front-line state in the global war on terrorism. | Originally settled by Polynesian emigrants from surrounding island groups, the Tokelau Islands were made a British protectorate in 1889. They were transferred to New Zealand administration in 1925. |
Birth rate | 39.07 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | NA births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $135 million
expenditures: $182 million (1999 est.) |
revenues: $430,830
expenditures: $2.8 million, including capital expenditures of $37,300 (1987 est.) |
Capital | name: Djibouti
geographic coordinates: 11 35 N, 43 09 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
none; each atoll has its own administrative center |
Climate | desert; torrid, dry | tropical; moderated by trade winds (April to November) |
Coastline | 314 km | 101 km |
Constitution | multiparty constitution approved by referendum 4 September 1992 | administered under the Tokelau Islands Act of 1948, as amended in 1970 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Djibouti
conventional short form: Djibouti local long form: Republique de Djibouti/Jumhuriyat Jibuti local short form: Djibouti/Jibuti former: French Territory of the Afars and Issas, French Somaliland |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Tokelau |
Currency | - | New Zealand dollar (NZD) |
Death rate | 19.23 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | NA deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $394 million (2004 est.) | $0 |
Dependency status | - | self-administering territory of New Zealand; note - Tokelauans are drafting a constitution and developing institutions and patterns of self-government as Tokelau moves toward free association with New Zealand |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador W. Stuart SYMINGTON
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 New Zealand) |
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 |
none (territory of New Zealand) |
Disputes - international | Djibouti maintains economic ties and border accords with "Somaliland" leadership while maintaining some political ties to various factions in Somalia; thousands of Somali refugees await repatriation in UNHCR camps in Djibouti | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $78.6 million (2005) | from New Zealand about $4 million annually |
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 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. | Tokelau's small size (three villages), isolation, and lack of resources greatly restrain economic development and confine agriculture to the subsistence level. The people rely heavily on aid from New Zealand - about $4 million annually - to maintain public services, with annual aid being substantially greater than GDP. The principal sources of revenue come from sales of copra, postage stamps, souvenir coins, and handicrafts. Money is also remitted to families from relatives in New Zealand. |
Electricity - consumption | 186 million kWh (2005) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | - |
Electricity - production | 200 million kWh (2005) | NA kWh |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (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 5 m |
Environment - current issues | inadequate supplies of potable water; limited arable land; desertification; endangered species | very limited natural resources and overcrowding are contributing to emigration to New Zealand |
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, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
- |
Ethnic groups | Somali 60%, Afar 35%, other 5% (includes French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian) | Polynesian |
Exchange rates | Djiboutian francs per US dollar - 174.75 (2006), 177.72 (2005), 177.72 (2004), 177.72 (2003), 177.72 (2002) | New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 2.154 (2002), 2.3776 (2001), 2.1863 (2000), 1.8886 (1999), 1.8632 (1998), 1.5083 (1997) |
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 (eligible for a second 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: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK and New Zealand are represented by Administrator Lindsay WATT (since NA March 1993)
head of government: Aliki Faipule Pio TUIA (since NA 2002) cabinet: the Council of Faipule, consisting of three elected leaders - one from each atoll - functions as a cabinet elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand; the head of government is chosen from the Council of Faipule and serves a one-year term |
Exports | NA bbl/day | $98,000 f.o.b. (1983) |
Exports - commodities | reexports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit) | stamps, copra, handicrafts |
Exports - partners | Somalia 66.2%, Ethiopia 21.4%, Yemen 3.4% (2006) | NZ (2000) |
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 | the flag of New Zealand is used |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $1.5 million (1993 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 17.9%
industry: 22.5% services: 59.6% (2003 est.) |
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $1,000 (1993 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.2% (2005 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 11 30 N, 43 00 E | 9 00 S, 172 00 W |
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 | consists of three atolls, each with a lagoon surrounded by a number of reef-bound islets of varying length and rising to over three meters above sea level |
Highways | - | total: NA km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | NA bbl/day | $323,000 c.i.f. (1983) |
Imports - commodities | foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products | foodstuffs, building materials, fuel |
Imports - partners | Saudi Arabia 21.4%, India 17.9%, China 11%, Ethiopia 4.6% (2006) | NZ (2000) |
Independence | 27 June 1977 (from France) | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3% (1996 est.) | NA% |
Industries | construction, agricultural processing | small-scale enterprises for copra production, woodworking, plaited craft goods; stamps, coins; fishing |
Infant mortality rate | total: 100.77 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 108.35 deaths/1,000 live births female: 92.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
total: NA%
male: NA% female: NA% |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3% (2005 est.) | NA% |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AU, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ITU, ITUC, LAS, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | SPC, UNESCO (associate), WHO (associate) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 10 sq km (2003) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme | Supreme Court in New Zealand exercises civil and criminal jurisdiction in Tokelau |
Labor force | 282,000 (2000) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
- |
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% (2005) |
arable land: 0% (soil is thin and infertile)
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
Languages | French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar | Tokelauan (a Polynesian language), English |
Legal system | based on French civil law system, traditional practices, and Islamic law; accepts ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | New Zealand and local statutes |
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 in January 2008) election results: percent of vote - RPP 62.2%, FRUD 36.9%; seats - RPP 65; note - RPP (the ruling party) dominated the election |
unicameral General Fono (48 seats; members chosen by each atoll's Council of Elders or Taupulega to serve three-year terms); note - the Tokelau Amendment Act of 1996 confers limited legislative power on the General Fono |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 43.25 years
male: 41.88 years female: 44.65 years (2007 est.) |
total population: NA years
male: 68 years female: 70 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 67.9% male: 78% female: 58.4% (2003 est.) |
NA |
Location | Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia | Oceania, group of three atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand |
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 ship (1000 GRT or over) 1,369 GRT/3,030 DWT
by type: cargo 1 (2007) |
none (2002 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of New Zealand |
Military branches | Djibouti National Army (includes Navy and Air Force) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 3.8% (2006) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 27 June (1977) | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) |
Nationality | noun: Djiboutian(s)
adjective: Djiboutian |
noun: Tokelauan(s)
adjective: Tokelauan |
Natural hazards | earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods | lies in Pacific typhoon belt |
Natural resources | geothermal areas, gold, clay, granite, limestone, marble, salt, diatomite, gypsum, pumice, petroleum | NEGL |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | NA migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 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 [Ismail Omar GUELLEH] (governing party); 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 | none |
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] | none |
Population | 496,374 (July 2007 est.) | 1,418 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 50% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.984% (2007 est.) | 0.01% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | none; offshore anchorage only |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
note: each atoll has a radio broadcast station of unknown type that broadcasts shipping and weather reports (1998) |
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 (2006) |
0 km |
Religions | Muslim 94%, Christian 6% | Congregational Christian Church 70%, Roman Catholic 28%, other 2%
note: on Atafu, all Congregational Christian Church of Samoa; on Nukunonu, all Roman Catholic; on Fakaofo, both denominations, with the Congregational Christian Church predominant |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.007 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.08 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.015 male(s)/female total population: 1.045 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
NA (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 21 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; mobile cellular coverage is limited to the area in and around Djibouti city international: country code - 253; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-3 optical telecommunications submarine cable with links to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat; Medarabtel regional microwave radio relay telephone network |
general assessment: adequate
domestic: radiotelephone service between islands international: radiotelephone service to Samoa; government-regulated telephone service (TeleTok), with 3 satellite earth stations, established in 1997 |
Telephones - main lines in use | 10,800 (2005) | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 44,100 (2005) | 0 (2001) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2001) | - |
Terrain | coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains | low-lying coral atolls enclosing large lagoons |
Total fertility rate | 5.23 children born/woman (2007 est.) | NA children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 50% (2004 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | - | none |