The World Factbook (1982)/Djibouti

by the Central Intelligence Agency

DJIBOUTI
(formerly French Territory of the Afars and Issas)

(See reference map VII)

LAND

23,310 km²; 89% desert wasteland, 10% permanent pasture, and less than 1% cultivated

Land boundaries: 517 km

WATER

Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 12 nm (fishing 200 nm; economic zone 200 nm)

Coastline: 314 km (includes offshore islands)

PEOPLE

Population: 306,000 (July 1982) average annual growth rate 4.1%

Nationality: noun—Afar(s), Issa(s); adjective—Afar, Issa

Ethnic divisions: Somalis (Issas) and Afars

Religion: 94% Muslim, 6% Christian

Language: French (official), Somali, Afar, Arabic, all widely used

Literacy: about 5%

Labor force: a small number of semiskilled laborers at port

Organized labor: some 3,000 railway workers organized

GOVERNMENT

Official name: Republic of Djibouti

Type: republic

Capital: Djibouti

Political subdivisions: 5 Cercles (districts)

Legal system: based on French civil law system, traditional practices, and Islamic law

Branches: 65-member Parliament, Cabinet, President, Prime Minister

Government leader: President HASSAN Gouled Aptidon

Suffrage: universal

Elections: Parliament elected May 1977

Political parties and leaders: Peoples Progress Assembly (RPP), Hassan Gouled

Communists: possibly a few sympathizers

Member of: Arab League, FAO, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ISCO, ITU, NAM, OAU, UN

ECONOMY

GNP: $264.7 million (1978)

Agriculture: livestock; desert conditions limit commercial crops to about 6 hectares, including fruits and vegetables

Industry: ship repairs and services of port and railroad drastically reduced with war of 1977-78 in Ethiopia's Ogaden that cut the railroad line; it has since been reopened

Electric power: 55,000 kW capacity (1980); 220 million kWh produced (1980), 770 kWh per capita

Imports: $92 million (1978); almost all domestically needed goods—foods, machinery, transport equipment

Exports: $86 million (1978); hides and skins, and transit of coffee; values plummeted after railroad line was cut

Monetary conversion rate: 178 Djibouti francs=US$1

Fiscal year: probably same as that for France (calendar year)

COMMUNICATIONS

Railroads: the Franco-Ethiopian railroad extends for 97 km through Djibouti

Highways: 1,387 km total; 279 km bituminous surface, 112 km improved earth; 996 km unimproved earth

Ports: 1 major (Djibouti)

Airfields: 11 total, 11 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runway; 1 with runway 2,440-3,659 m, 4 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft, including 1 leased in

Telecommunications: fair system of urban facilities in Djibouti and radiocommunication stations at outlying places; 4,350 telephones (1.2 per 100 popl.); 1 AM station and no FM stations; 1 TV station; 1 INTELSAT satellite station at Ambouli, working with Indian Ocean satellite

DEFENSE FORCES

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

Defense is responsibility of France

Military budget: for fiscal year ending 31 December 1981, $2.9 million; about 3.4% of central government budget