(top) and
light green with a white isosceles triangle based on the hoist side
bearing a red five-pointed star in the center

Geography
---------

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 area: 22,000 sq km
land area: 21,980 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Massachusetts

Land boundaries:
total: 508 km
border countries: Eritrea 113 km, Ethiopia 337 km, Somalia 58 km

Coastline: 314 km

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

International disputes: none

Climate: desert; torrid, dry

Terrain: coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains
lowest point: Asal -155 m
highest point: Mousa Alli 2,028 m

Natural resources: geothermal areas

Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 9%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 91%

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Environment:
current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; desertification
natural hazards: earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic
disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ship Pollution; signed, but not
ratified - Desertification

Geographic note: strategic location near world's busiest shipping
lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; terminus of rail traffic into
Ethiopia; a vast wasteland

People
------

Population: 427,642 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 43% (male 91,687; female 91,242)
15-64 years: 55% (male 123,699; female 110,530)
65 years and over: 2% (male 5,389; female 5,095) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.5% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 42.5 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 15.26 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: -12.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.12 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.06 male(s)/female
all ages: 1.07 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 106.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 50.15 years
male: 48.24 years
female: 52.12