Oman (2002) | Djibouti (2005) | |
Administrative divisions | 6 regions (mintaqat, singular - mintaqah) and 2 governorates* (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah) Ad Dakhiliyah, Al Batinah, Al Wusta, Ash Sharqiyah, Az Zahirah, Masqat, Musandam*, Zufar*; note - the US Embassy in Oman reports that Masqat is a governorate, but this has not been confirmed by the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN) | 5 districts (cercles, singular - cercle); 'Ali Sabih, Dikhil, Djibouti, Obock, Tadjoura |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 41.9% (male 579,065; female 556,923)
15-64 years: 55.7% (male 914,494; female 597,948) 65 years and over: 2.4% (male 34,555; female 30,477) (2002 est.) |
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.) |
Agriculture - products | dates, limes, bananas, alfalfa, vegetables; camels, cattle; fish | fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels, animal hides |
Airports | 143 (2001) | 13 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 6
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 3
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1524 to 2437 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 133
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 55 914 to 1,523 m: 37 under 914 m: 32 (2002) |
total: 10
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 212,460 sq km
land: 212,460 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 23,000 sq km
land: 22,980 sq km water: 20 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Kansas | slightly smaller than Massachusetts |
Background | In 1970, QABOOS bin Said Al Said ousted his father and has ruled as sultan ever since. His extensive modernization program has opened the country to the outside world and has preserved a long-standing political and military relationship with the UK. Oman's moderate, independent foreign policy has sought to maintain good relations with all Middle Eastern countries. | 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. |
Birth rate | 37.76 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 39.98 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $9.2 billion
expenditures: $6.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $135 million
expenditures: $182 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1999 est.) |
Capital | Muscat | Djibouti |
Climate | dry desert; hot, humid along coast; hot, dry interior; strong southwest summer monsoon (May to September) in far south | desert; torrid, dry |
Coastline | 2,092 km | 314 km |
Constitution | none; note - on 6 November 1996, Sultan QABOOS issued a royal decree promulgating a new basic law which, among other things, clarifies the royal succession, provides for a prime minister, bars ministers from holding interests in companies doing business with the government, establishes a bicameral legislature, and guarantees basic civil liberties for Omani citizens | multiparty constitution approved by referendum 4 September 1992 |
Country name | conventional long form: Sultanate of Oman
conventional short form: Oman local long form: Saltanat Uman local short form: Uman former: Muscat and Oman |
conventional long form: Republic of Djibouti
conventional short form: Djibouti former: French Territory of the Afars and Issas, French Somaliland |
Currency | Omani rial (OMR) | - |
Death rate | 4.03 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 19.39 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $5.3 billion (2000 est.) | $366 million (2002 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Richard Lewis BALTIMORE III
embassy: Jameat A'Duwal Al Arabiya Street, Al Khuwair area, Muscat mailing address: international: P. O. Box 202, P.C. 115, Madinat Al-Sultan Qaboos, Muscat telephone: [968] 698989, extension 203 FAX: [968] 699771 |
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 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Mohamed Ali AL KHUSAIBY
chancery: 2535 Belmont Road, NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387-1980 through 1981, 1988 FAX: [1] (202) 745-4933 |
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 |
Disputes - international | Oman signed a boundary treaty with the UAE in 1999, but the completed boundary is not expected until the end of 2002; undefined segments of the Oman-UAE boundary remain with Ra's al-Khaymah and Ash Shariqah (Sharjah) emirates, including the Musandam Peninsula, where an administrative boundary substitutes for an international boundary | 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 |
Economic aid - recipient | $76.4 million (1995) (1995) | $36 million (2001) |
Economy - overview | Oman's economic performance improved significantly in 2000 due largely to the upturn in oil prices. The government is moving ahead with privatization of its utilities, the development of a body of commercial law to facilitate foreign investment, and increased budgetary outlays. Oman continues to liberalize its markets and joined the World Trade Organization (WTrO) in November 2000. GDP growth improved in 2001 despite the global slowdown. | 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. |
Electricity - consumption | 7.533 billion kWh (2000) | 167.4 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 8.1 billion kWh (2000) | 180 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal Shams 2,980 m |
lowest point: Lac Assal -155 m
highest point: Moussa Ali 2,028 m |
Environment - current issues | rising soil salinity; beach pollution from oil spills; very limited natural fresh water resources | inadequate supplies of potable water; limited arable land; desertification; endangered species |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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 | Arab, Baluchi, South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi), African | Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5% |
Exchange rates | Omani rials per US dollar - 0.3845 (fixed rate since 1986) | Djiboutian francs per US dollar - 177.72 (2004), 177.72 (2003), 177.72 (2002), 177.72 (2001), 177.72 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Sultan and Prime Minister QABOOS bin Said Al Said (since 23 July 1970); note - the monarch is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: Sultan and Prime Minister QABOOS bin Said Al Said (since 23 July 1970); note - the monarch is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary |
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% |
Exports | $10.9 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) | NA |
Exports - commodities | petroleum, reexports, fish, metals, textiles | reexports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit) |
Exports - partners | Japan 21%, Thailand 18%, China 16%, South Korea 12%, UAE 12%, US 3% (2001) | Somalia 63.8%, Yemen 22.6%, Ethiopia 5% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three horizontal bands of white, red, and green of equal width with a broad, vertical, red band on the hoist side; the national emblem (a khanjar dagger in its sheath superimposed on two crossed swords in scabbards) in white is centered near the top of the vertical band | 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 |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $21.5 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 3%
industry: 40% services: 57% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 3.5%
industry: 15.8% services: 80.7% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,300 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 7.4% (2001 est.) | 3.5% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 21 00 N, 57 00 E | 11 30 N, 43 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location on Musandam Peninsula adjacent to Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil | 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 |
Heliports | 1 (2002) | - |
Highways | total: 32,800 km
paved: 9,840 km (including 550 km of expressways) unpaved: 22,960 km (1996) |
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 | $5.4 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) | NA |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, livestock, lubricants | foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products |
Imports - partners | UAE 23% (largely reexports), Japan 16%, UK 13%, Italy 7%, Germany 5%, US 5% (2001) | Saudi Arabia 19.7%, India 12.4%, Ethiopia 11.8%, China 8.1%, France 5.6%, US 4.8% (2004) |
Independence | 1650 (expulsion of the Portuguese) | 27 June 1977 (from France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 4% (2000 est.) | 3% (1996 est.) |
Industries | crude oil production and refining, natural gas production, construction, cement, copper | construction, agricultural processing, salt |
Infant mortality rate | 21.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 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.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1% (2001 est.) | 2% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, GCC, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO | 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 |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 620 sq km (1998 est.) | 10 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court
note: the nascent civil court system, administered by region, has non-Islamic judges as well as traditional Islamic judges |
Supreme Court or Cour Supreme |
Labor force | 920,000 | 282,000 (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% | NA |
Land boundaries | total: 1,374 km
border countries: Saudi Arabia 676 km, UAE 410 km, Yemen 288 km |
total: 516 km
border countries: Eritrea 109 km, Ethiopia 349 km, Somalia 58 km |
Land use | arable land: 0.08%
permanent crops: 0.22% other: 99.7% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 0.04%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.96% (2001) |
Languages | Arabic (official), English, Baluchi, Urdu, Indian dialects | French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar |
Legal system | based on English common law and Islamic law; ultimate appeal to the monarch; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on French civil law system, traditional practices, and Islamic law |
Legislative branch | bicameral Majlis Oman consists of an upper chamber or Majlis al-Dawla (48 seats; members appointed by the monarch; has advisory powers only) and a lower chamber or Majlis al-Shura (83 seats; members elected by limited suffrage for three-year term, however, the monarch makes final selections and can negate election results; body has some limited power to propose legislation, but otherwise has only advisory powers)
elections: last held NA September 2000 (next to be held NA September 2003) election results: NA; note - two women were elected for the first time to the Majlis al-Shura, about 100,000 people voted |
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 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 72.31 years
male: 70.15 years female: 74.57 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 43.1 years
male: 41.84 years female: 44.39 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: approaching 80% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 67.9% male: 78% female: 58.4% (2003 est.) |
Location | Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Persian Gulf, between Yemen and UAE | Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia |
Map references | Middle East | Africa |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 17,291 GRT/9,457 DWT
ships by type: cargo 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 1 note: includes a foreign-owned ship registered here as a flag of convenience: Singapore 1 (2002 est.) |
total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,369 GRT/3,030 DWT
by type: cargo 1 (2005) |
Military branches | Royal Omani Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force), Royal Omani Police | Djibouti National Army (includes Navy and Air Force) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $2,424.4 million (FY01) | $28.6 million (2004) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 12.2% (FY01) | 4.4% (2004) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 780,292 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 434,026 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - military age | 14 years of age (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 26,470 (2002 est.) | - |
National holiday | Birthday of Sultan QABOOS, 18 November (1940) | Independence Day, 27 June (1977) |
Nationality | noun: Omani(s)
adjective: Omani |
noun: Djiboutian(s)
adjective: Djiboutian |
Natural hazards | summer winds often raise large sandstorms and dust storms in interior; periodic droughts | earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods |
Natural resources | petroleum, copper, asbestos, some marble, limestone, chromium, gypsum, natural gas | geothermal areas, gold, clay, granite, limestone, marble, salt, diatomite, gypsum, pumice, petroleum |
Net migration rate | 0.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 1,300 km; natural gas 1,030 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | none | 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] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | 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] |
Population | 2,713,462
note: includes 527,078 non-nationals (July 2002 est.) |
476,703 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 50% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | 3.41% (2002 est.) | 2.06% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Matrah, Mina' al Fahl, Mina' Raysut | Djibouti |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 3, FM 9, shortwave 2 (1999) | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001) |
Radios | 1.4 million (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | 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) |
Religions | Ibadhi Muslim 75%, Sunni Muslim, Shi'a Muslim, Hindu | Muslim 94%, Christian 6% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.53 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.13 male(s)/female total population: 1.29 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
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.) |
Suffrage | in Oman's most recent elections in 2000, limited to approximately 175,000 Omanis chosen by the government to vote in elections for the Majlis ash-Shura | 18 years of age; universal adult |
Telephone system | general assessment: modern system consisting of open wire, microwave, and radiotelephone communication stations; limited coaxial cable
domestic: open wire, microwave, radiotelephone communications, and a domestic satellite system with 8 earth stations international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat |
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 |
Telephones - main lines in use | 201,000 (1997) | 9,500 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 59,822 (1997) | 23,000 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 13 (plus 25 low-power repeaters) (1999) | 1 (2002) |
Terrain | central desert plain, rugged mountains in north and south | coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains |
Total fertility rate | 5.99 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 5.4 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 50% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | none | - |