Djibouti

Location

• Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia
• strategic location near world's busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; Lac Assal (Lake Assal) is the lowest point in Africa and the saltiest lake in the world

Population

Notable Population Centers

City	Population	Note
Djibouti	626,512	Capital
Ali Sabih	50,006
Dikhil	32,801
Tadjoura	19,533
Arta	17,477
Obock	15,429

Size

• 8,880 square miles
• 23,000 square kilometers
• slightly smaller than New Jersey

History

Present-day Djibouti was the site of the medieval Ifat and Adal Sultanates. In the late 19th century, the Afar sultans signed treaties with the French that allowed the latter to establish the colony of French Somaliland in 1862. The French signed additional treaties with the ethnic Somali in 1885. Tension between the ethnic Afar and Somali populations increased over time, as the ethnic Somalis perceived that the French unfairly favored the Afar and gave them disproportionate influence in local governance. In 1958, the French held a referendum that provided residents of French Somaliland the option to either continue their association with France or to join neighboring Somalia as it established its independence. Ethnic Somali protested the vote, because French colonial leaders did not recognize many Somali as residents, which gave the Afar outsized influence in the decision to uphold ties with France. After a second referendum in 1967, the French changed the territory’s name to the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas, in part to underscore their relationship with the ethnic Afar and downplay the significance of the ethnic Somalis. A final referendum in 1977 established Djibouti as an independent nation and granted ethnic Somalis Djiboutian nationality, formally resetting the balance of power between the majority ethnic Somalis and minority ethnic Afar residents. Upon independence, the country was named after its capital city of Djibouti. Hassan Gouled APTIDON, an ethnic Somali leader, installed an authoritarian one-party state and served as president until 1999. Unrest between the Afar minority and Somali majority culminated in a civil war during the 1990s that ended in 2001 with a peace accord between Afar rebels and the Somali Issa-dominated government. In 1999, Djibouti's first multiparty presidential election resulted in the election of Ismail Omar GUELLEH as president; he was reelected to a second term in 2005 and extended his tenure in office via a constitutional amendment, which allowed him to serve his third and fourth terms, and to begin a fifth term in 2021. Djibouti occupies a strategic geographic location at the intersection of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Its ports handle 95% of Ethiopia’s trade. Djibouti’s ports also service transshipments between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The government has longstanding ties to France, which maintains a military presence in the country, as do the US, Japan, Italy, Germany, Spain, and China.

Climate

desert; torrid, dry

Terrain

coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains

Languages

French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar

Religions

Sunni Muslim 94% (nearly all Djiboutians), other 6% (mainly foreign-born residents - Shia Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Baha'i, and atheist)

Government

presidential republic

• Constitution: history: approved by referendum 4 September 1992amendment process: proposed by the president of the republic or by the National Assembly; Assembly consideration of proposals requires assent of at least one third of the membership; passage requires a simple majority vote by the Assembly and approval by simple majority vote in a referendum; the president can opt to bypass a referendum if adopted by at least two-thirds majority vote of the Assembly; constitutional articles on the sovereignty of Djibouti, its republican form of government, and its pluralist form of democracy cannot be amended
• Political Parties and Leaders: n/a
• Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
• Legal System: mixed system based primarily on the French civil code (as it existed in 1997), Islamic religious law (in matters of family law and successions), and customary law
• Executive Branch: chief of state: President Ismail Omar GUELLEH (since 8 May 1999)head of government: Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil MOHAMED (since 1 April 2013)cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime ministerelection/appointment process: president directly elected by absolute-majority popular vote in 2 rounds, if needed, for a 5-year term; prime minister appointed by the presidentmost recent election date: 9 April 2021election results: 2021: Ismail Omar GUELLEH reelected president for a fifth term; percent of vote - Ismail Omar GUELLEH (RPP) 97.4%, Zakaria Ismael FARAH (MDEND) 2.7%2016: Ismail Omar GUELLEH reelected president for a fourth term; percent of vote - Ismail Omar GUELLEH (RPP) 87%, Omar Elmi KHAIREH (CDU) 7.3%, other 5.6%expected date of next election: April 2026
• Judicial Branch: highest court(s): Supreme Court or Cour Suprême (consists of NA magistrates); Constitutional Council (consists of 6 magistrates)judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court magistrates appointed by the president with the advice of the Superior Council of the Magistracy (CSM), a 10-member body consisting of 4 judges, 3 members (non-parliamentarians and judges) appointed by the president, and 3 appointed by the National Assembly president or speaker; magistrates appointed for life with retirement at age 65; Constitutional Council magistrate appointments - 2 by the president of the republic, 2 by the president of the National Assembly, and 2 by the CSM; magistrates appointed for 8-year, non-renewable termssubordinate courts: High Court of Appeal; Courts of First Instance; customary courts; State Court (replaced sharia courts in 2003)
• Legislative Branch: legislature name: National Assembly (Assemblée nationale)legislative structure: unicameralnumber of seats: 65 (all directly elected)electoral system: mixed systemscope of elections: full renewalterm in office: 5 yearsmost recent election date: 2/24/2023parties elected and seats per party: Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP) (58); Union for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) (7)percentage of women in chamber: 26.2%expected date of next election: February 2028note: most opposition parties boycotted the 2023 polls, stating the elections were "not free, not transparent, and not democratic"

Demographic Profile

n/a

Economy

• food import-dependent Horn of Africa economy driven by various national military bases and port-based trade; fairly resilient from COVID-19 disruptions; major re-exporter; increasing Ethiopian and Chinese trade relations; investing in infrastructure
• Budget: revenues: $725 million (2019 est.)expenditures: $754 million (2019 est.)
• Credit Rating: n/a
• Natural Resources: potential geothermal power, gold, clay, granite, limestone, marble, salt, diatomite, gypsum, pumice, petroleum
• Industries: construction, agricultural processing, shipping
• Agricultural Products: vegetables, beans, milk, beef, camel milk, lemons/limes, goat meat, lamb/mutton, tomatoes, beef offal (2023)note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
• Land Use: agricultural land: 73.5% (2022 est.)arable land: 0.1% (2022 est.)permanent crops: 0% (2022 est.)permanent pasture: 73.3% (2022 est.)forest: 0.3% (2022 est.)other: 26.2% (2022 est.)
• Labor Force by Occupation: n/a
• Imports
• Imported Commodities: refined petroleum, palm oil, fertilizers, cars, seed oils (2023)note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
• Import Partners: China 32%, India 12%, UAE 10%, Turkey 6%, Morocco 5% (2023)note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
• Exports
• Exported Commodities: raw sugar, seed oils, cars, palm oil, rice (2023)note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars
• Export Partners: Ethiopia 77%, UAE 5%, China 3%, Singapore 2%, France 2% (2023)note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports