Region:
Eastern Africa
Capital:
Djibouti
Population:
466 900 (July
2004 est.)
Surface
area:
23 200 square
km
Currency:
franc
GDP
per capita:
$1 300 (2002
est.)
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 three
consecutive six-year
terms as president.
Unrest among
the Afars minority
during the 1990s
led to multi-party
elections resulting
in President
Ismail Omar GUELLEH
attaining office
in May 1999.
A peace accord
in 2001 ended
the final phases
of a ten-year
uprising by Afar
rebels. Djibouti
occupies a very
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. GUELLEH
favors close
ties to France,
which maintains
a significant
military presence
in the country.
Economy
– overview:
The
economy is based
on service activities
connected with
the country's
strategic location
and status as
a free trade
zone in northeast
Africa. Two-thirds
of the inhabitants
live in the capital
city, the remainder
being 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
trans-shipment
and refuelling
centre. It has
few natural resources
and little industry.
An
unemployment
rate of 50% continues
to be a major
problem. Per
capita consumption
dropped an estimated
35% over the
last seven years
because of recession,
civil war, and
a high population
growth rate (including
immigrants and
refugees).
United
Nations Membership
date:
20 September
1977
New
York Mission:
Permanent Mission
of the Republic
of Djibouti to
the United Nations,
866 United Nations
Plaza, Suite
4011
New York, N.Y.
10017 USA
Telephone: 212-753-3163
Telefax: 212-
223-1276
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