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| Introduction | Djibouti |
| 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. |
| People | Djibouti |
| Population: | 466,900 (July 2004 est.) |
| 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.) |
| Median age: | total: 18.3 years male: 18.8 years female: 17.7 years (2004 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | 2.1% (2004 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 40.39 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Death rate: | 19.42 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| 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.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 105.54 deaths/1,000 live births female: 97.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 113.3 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 43.12 years male: 41.83 years female: 44.44 years (2004 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 5.48 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 2.9% (2003 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 9,100 (2003 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 690 (2003 est.) |
| Major infectious diseases: | typhoid fever, malaria overall degree of risk: high (2004) |
| Nationality: | noun: Djiboutian(s) adjective: Djiboutian |
| Ethnic groups: | Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5% |
| Religions: | Muslim 94%, Christian 6% |
| Languages: | French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 67.9% male: 78% female: 58.4% (2003 est.) |
| Government | Djibouti |
| Country name: | conventional long form: Republic of Djibouti conventional short form: Djibouti former: French Territory of the Afars and Issas, French Somaliland |
| Government type: | republic |
| Capital: | Djibouti |
| Administrative divisions: | 5 districts (cercles, singular - cercle); 'Ali Sabih, Dikhil, Djibouti, Obock, Tadjoura |
| Independence: | 27 June 1977 (from France) |
| National holiday: | Independence Day, 27 June (1977) |
| Constitution: | multiparty constitution approved by referendum 4 September 1992 |
| Legal system: | based on French civil law system, traditional practices, and Islamic law |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal adult |
| 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% |
| 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 |
| Judicial branch: | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| 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, WTrO |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador ROBLE Olhaye FAX: [1] (202) 331-0302 telephone: [1] (202) 331-0270 chancery: Suite 515, 1156 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Communications | Djibouti |
| Telephones - main lines in use: | 9,500 (2003) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular: | 23,000 (2003) |
| 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 |
| Radio broadcast stations: | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001) |
| Radios: | 52,000 (1997) |
| Television broadcast stations: | 1 (2002) |
| Televisions: | 28,000 (1997) |
| Internet country code: | .dj |
| Internet hosts: | 702 (2004) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 1 (2000) |
| Internet users: | 6,500 (2003) |
| Transportation | Djibouti |
| 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) |
| Highways: | total: 2,890 km paved: 364 km unpaved: 2,526 km (1999 est.) |
| Ports and harbors: | Djibouti |
| Merchant marine: | total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,369 GRT/3,030 DWT by type: cargo 1 (2003 est.) |
| Airports: | 13 (2003 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.) |
| 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.) |
| Military | Djibouti |
| Military branches: | Djibouti National Army (including Navy and Air Force) |
| Military manpower - availability: | males age 15-49: 108,771 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service: | males age 15-49: 64,540 (2004 est.) |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $26.5 million (2003) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 4.4% (2003) |
| Transnational Issues | Djibouti |
| 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 |
| Refugees and internally displaced persons: | refugees (country of origin): 25,474 (Somalia) (2004) |
| This page was last updated on 16 December, 2004 |
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