1985 Edition

Agriculture

livestock; limited commercial crops, including fruit and vegetables

Airfields

12 total, 11 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,4403,659 m, 4 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Area

22,000 km2; about the size of New Hampshire; 89% desert waste, 10% permanent pasture, less than 1% cultivated

Branches

legislative — 65-member parliament (National Assembly), executive, judiciary

Army, Navy, Air Force; paramilitary National Security Force

Budget

(1983) revenues, $118 million; grants, $27 million; current expenditures, $120 million; development expenditures, $32 million; extrabudgetary expenditures, $21 million

Capital

Djibouti

Civil air

1 major transport aircraft

Coastline

314 km (includes offshore islands) People

Communists

possibly a few sympathizers

Elections

Parliament elected May 1982 Political parties and leaders: Peoples Progress Assembly (RPP), Hassan Gouled Aptidon

Electric power

50,000 kW capacity (1984); 88 million kWh produced (1984), 304 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

60% Somali (Issa); 35% Afar, 5% French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian

Exports

$108 million (f .o.b., 1983); hides and skins and transit of coffee; a large portion consists of reexports to foreign residents of

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

GDP

$369 million (1983); per capita income $1,168(1983)

Government leader

HASSAN Gouled Aptidon, President (since June 1977)

Highways

2,800 km total; 279 km bituminous surface, 229 km improved earth, 2,292 km unimproved earth

Imports

$179 million (f .o.b., 1983); almost all domestically needed goods — foods, machinery, transport equipment

Labor force

a small number of semiskilled laborers at port

Land boundaries

517 km Water

Language

French (official), Somali and Afar widely used

Legal system

based on French civil law system, traditional practices, and Islamic law; partial constitution ratified January 1981 by National Assembly

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm (economic, including fishing, 200 nm)

Literacy

20%

Major industries

transit trade, port, railway, services; live cattle and sheep exports to Saudi Arabia; secondary services to French military

Member of

AfDB, Arab League, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDE— Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAU, QIC, UN, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO Economy

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 December 1984, $27.8 million; about 22% of central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, about 64,000; about 38,000 fit for military service

Monetary conversion rate

177.67 Djibouti francs=US$l (October 1984)

National holiday

27 June

Nationality

noun — Djiboutian(s); adjective— Djiboutian

Official name

Republic of Djibouti

Organized labor

some 3,000 railway workers organized Government

Political subdivisions

5 cercles (districts)

Population

297,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 2.6%

Ports

1 major (Djibouti)

Railroads

the Ethiopian-Djibouti railroad extends for 97 km through Djibouti

Religion

94% Muslim, 6% Christian

Suffrage

universal adult

Telecommunications

fair system of urban facilities in Djibouti and radio-relay stations at outlying places; 6,400 telephones (1.8 per 100 popl.); 2 AM stations, 1 FM station, 1 TV station; 1 Indian Ocean satellite ground station Defense Forces

Type

republic