The economy is based on service activities connected with the country's strategic location and status as a free trade zone in the horn of africa. two-thirds of djibouti's inhabitants live in the capital city; the remainder are mostly nomadic herders. scanty rainfall limits crop production to fruits and vegetables, and most food must be imported. djibouti provides services as both a transit port for the region and an international transshipment and refueling center. imports and exports from landlocked neighbor ethiopia represent 85% of port activity at djibouti's container terminal. djibouti has few natural resources and little industry. the nation is, therefore, heavily dependent on foreign assistance to help support its balance of payments and to finance development projects. an unemployment rate of nearly 60% continues to be a major problem. while inflation is not a concern, due to the fixed tie of the djiboutian franc to the us dollar, the artificially high value of the djiboutian franc adversely affects djibouti's balance of payments. per capita consumption dropped an estimated 35% between 1999 and 2006 because of recession, civil war, and a high population growth rate (including immigrants and refugees). faced with a multitude of economic difficulties, the government has fallen in arrears on long-term external debt and has been struggling to meet the stipulations of foreign aid donors.
Inadequate supplies of potable water; limited arable land; desertification; endangered species
Republic
506,221 (july 2008 est.)
Eastern africa, bordering the gulf of aden and the red sea, between eritrea and somalia
Total: 23,000 sq km land: 22,980 sq km water: 20 sq km
Slightly smaller than massachusetts
Conventional long form: republic of djibouti conventional short form: djibouti local long form: republique de djibouti/jumhuriyat jibuti local short form: djibouti/jibuti former: french territory of the afars and issas, french somaliland
Name: djibouti geographic coordinates: 11 35 n, 43 09 e time difference: utc+3 (8 hours ahead of washington, dc during standard time)
18 years of age for voluntary military service; 16-25 years of age for voluntary military training; no conscription (2008)
Djibouti maintains economic ties and border accords with "somaliland" leadership while maintaining some political ties to various factions in somalia; kuwait is chief investor in the 2008 restoration and upgrade of the ethiopian-djibouti rail link