Environment - current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; desertification; endangered species
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea,
Ozone Layer Protection, 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; Lac Assal (Lake Assal) is the lowest point in Africa
People Djibouti
Population: 472,810 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 42.6% (male 100,903; female 100,420) 15-64 years: 54.5% (male 135,409; female 122,209) 65 years and over: 2.9% (male 7,220; female 6,649) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.59% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 40.33 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 14.43 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)