Djibouti: Background & Geography
| Introduction | Djibouti |
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Background:
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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. |
| Geography | Djibouti |
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Location:
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Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia |
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Geographic coordinates:
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11 30 N, 43 00 E |
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Map references:
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Africa |
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Area:
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total: 23,000 sq km
water: 20 sq km land: 22,980 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than Massachusetts |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 516 km
border countries: Eritrea 109 km, Ethiopia 349 km, Somalia 58 km |
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Coastline:
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314 km |
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Maritime claims - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
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territorial sea: 12 NM
contiguous zone: 24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM |
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Climate:
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desert; torrid, dry |
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Terrain:
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coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Lac Assal -155 m
highest point: Moussa Ali 2,028 m |
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Natural resources:
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geothermal areas |
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Land use:
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arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
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Irrigated land:
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10 sq km (1998 est.) |
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Natural hazards:
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earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods |
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Environment - current issues:
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inadequate supplies of potable water; limited arable land; desertification; endangered species |
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Environment - international agreements:
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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 |
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Geography - note:
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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 |