Environment-international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

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

@Djibouti:People

Population: 440,727 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 43% (male 94,399; female 94,154) 15-64 years: 55% (male 127,190; female 113,582) 65 years and over: 2% (male 5,877; female 5,525) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.51% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 41.75 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 14.69 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -11.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.11 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.06 male(s)/female (1998 est.)