litary
Dhekelia

Military - note:

includes Dhekelia Garrison and Ayios Nikolaos Station connected by a
roadway

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Djibouti

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 as president until 1999. Unrest among
the Afars minority during the 1990s led to a civil war that ended in
2001 following the conclusion of a peace accord between Afar rebels
and the Issa-dominated government. In 1999, Djibouti's first
multi-party presidential elections resulted in the election of
Ismail Omar GUELLEH; he was re-elected to a second and final term in
2005. Djibouti occupies a 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. The present
leadership favors close ties to France, which maintains a
significant military presence in the country, but also has strong
ties with the US. Djibouti hosts the only US military base in
sub-Saharan Africa and is a front-line state in the global war on
terrorism.

Geography
Djibouti

Location:

Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between
Eritrea and Somalia

Geographic coordinates:

11 30 N, 43 00 E

Map references:

Africa

Area:

total: 23,000 sq km
land: 22,980 sq km
water: 20 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than Massachusetts

Land boundaries:

total: 516 km
border countries: Eritrea 109 km, Ethiopia 349 km, Somalia 58 km

Coastline:

314 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate:

desert; torrid, dry

Terrain:

coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Lac Assal -155 m
highest point: Moussa Ali 2,028 m

Natural resources:

geothermal areas, gold, clay, granite, limestone, marble, salt,
diatomite, gypsum, pumice, petroleum

Land use:

arable land: 0.04%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 99.96% (2005)

Irrigated land:

10 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

0.3 cu km (1997)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):