Djibouti

• earthquakes;
• droughts;
• occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods

• inadequate supplies of potable water;
• limited arable land;
• desertification;
• endangered species

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

• 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

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.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

vectorborne disease:

malaria (2004)

noun:

Djiboutian(s)

adjective:

Djiboutian

conventional long form:

Republic of Djibouti

conventional short form:

Djibouti

former:

French Territory of the Afars and Issas, French Somaliland

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%

• 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]

• 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]

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

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

lowest 10%:

NA

highest 10%:

NA

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

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)

total:

2,890 km

paved:

364 km

unpaved:

2,526 km (1999 est.)

total:

1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,369 GRT/3,030 DWT

by type:

cargo 1 (2005)

• 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