Djibouti Facts, Djibouti Flag -- National Geographic

Fast Facts

Population:: 793,000
Capital:: Djibouti; 502,000
Area:: 23,200 square kilometers (8,958 square miles)
Language:: French, Arabic, Somali, Afar
Religion:: Muslim, Christian
Currency:: Djiboutian franc
Life Expectancy:: 43
GDP per Capita:: U.S. $1,300
Literacy Percent:: 68

Gateway for Red Sea shipping, Djibouti lies in northeast Africa. A French territory until 1977, France's naval base and garrison generate about half of the country's income. The capital of this resource-poor nation profits as a regional banking center with a free port and modern air facilities. Terminus of the railway from Addis Ababa, it handles much of Ethiopia's trade. A civil war in the early 1990s ended with a power-sharing agreement between the two main ethnic groups, the Issa of Somali origin and the Afar of Ethiopian origin.

ECONOMY

Industry: Construction, agricultural processing
Agriculture: Fruits, vegetables; goats
Exports: Re-exports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit)

—Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition

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