|Republic of Djibouti
|Motto: "Unité, Égalité, Paix" (French)
"Unity, Equality, Peace"
and largest city
|Recognised national languages||Somali
|-||President||Ismail Omar Guelleh|
|-||Prime Minister||Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed|
|-||from France||June 27, 1977|
|-||Total||23,200 km2 (150th)
8,958 sq mi
|-||Water (%)||0.09 (20 km² / 7.7 sq mi)|
|-||2012 estimate||923,000 (158th)|
|GDP (PPP)||2011 estimate|
|GDP (nominal)||2011 estimate|
|HDI (2010)|| 0.402
low · 147th
|Time zone||EAT (UTC+3)|
|-||Summer (DST)||not observed (UTC+3)|
|Drives on the||right|
Djibouti (officially called Republic of Djibouti) is a country on the eastern coast of Africa. Djibouti gained its independence on June 27, 1977. The country was created out of the French Somaliland (later called the French Territory of the Afars and Issas), which was created in the 1800s as a result of French colonialism in Africa. Djibouti, had a population of 818,159 at the 2009 census. It is one of the least populous countries in Africa.
The history of Djibouti goes back thousands of years when it was part of the Sabean Empire (Ethiopia) to a time when Djiboutians traded hides and skins for the perfumes and spices of ancient Egypt, Pakistan, and China. Through close contacts with the Arabian peninsula for more than 1,000 years, the Somali and Afar tribes in this region became among the first on the African continent to accept Islam. Djibouti is a Muslim country which regularly takes part in Islamic as well as Arab meetings.
The country is close to a narrow part of the Red Sea so it is considered an important area from a military viewpoint.
Geography[change | change source]
Djibouti is near to the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east.
Regions[change | change source]
Djibouti is divided into five regions and one city. It is further divided into eleven districts.
The regions and city are:
- Ali Sabieh Region (Région d'Ali Sabieh)
- Arta Region (Région d'Arta)
- Dikhil Region (Région de Dikhil)
- Djibouti (Ville de Djibouti)
- Obock Region (Région d'Obock)
- Tadjourah Region (Région de Tadjourah)
Cities[change | change source]
This is a list of cities in Djibouti. All places with more than 1,000 people are included.
|Cities in Djibouti|
|1||Djibouti City||جيبوتي||623,891||Djibouti City|
|2||Ali Sabieh||على صبيح||43,074||Ali Sabieh Region|
|7.||Holhol||هلهول||3,519||Ali Sabieh Region|
|11.||Alaili Dadda||علايلي دادا||1,456||Obock Region|
Religion[change | change source]
The people of Djibouti are mostly Muslim. Islam is observed by 94% of Djibouti's population (about 740,000) (2010 estimate). The remaining six percent follow Christianity.
|Religion in Djibouti|
The Republic of Djibouti names Islam as the only state religion. The Constitution of 1992 provides for the equality of citizens of all faiths as well as the freedom to practise any religion.
References[change | change source]
- "Djibouti". International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2012/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=68&pr.y=6&sy=2009&ey=2012&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=611&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
- Human Development Report 2009. The United Nations. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- "Communication Officielle des Resultats du Recensement Général de la Population". Ministère de l'Economie, des Finances et de la Planification, Djibouti. 2010. http://www.ministere-finances.dj/RECENSEMENTDE%20LA%20POPULATION.html. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
- "World Bank country data Djibouti (2009) (number rounded)". Data.worldbank.org. http://data.worldbank.org/country/djibouti. Retrieved 2011-04-27.
- "Today in Djibouti History". Historyorb.com. http://www.historyorb.com/countries/djibouti. Retrieved 2011-04-27.
- "United Nations member states". Un.org. http://www.un.org/en/members/index.shtml#d. Retrieved 2011-04-27.
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