Djibouti Geography
actual Travel Guide > Facts > Djibouti > Geography
Location:
Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia.
Geographic coordinates:
11 30 N, 43 00 E.
Map references:
Africa.
Area:
total: 23,000 sq km
land: 22,980 sq km
water: 20 sq km.
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Massachusetts.
Land boundaries:
total: 516 km
border countries: Eritrea 109 km, Ethiopia 349 km, Somalia 58 km.
Coastline:
314 km.
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm.
Climate:
desert; torrid, dry.
Terrain:
coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains.
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Lac Assal -155 m
highest point: Moussa Ali 2,028 m.
Natural resources:
geothermal areas, gold, clay, granite, limestone, marble, salt, diatomite, gypsum, pumice, petroleum.
Land use:
arable land: 0.04%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 99.96% (2005).
Irrigated land:
10 sq km (2003).
Total renewable water resources:
0.3 cu km (1997).
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 0.02 cu km/yr (84%/0%/16%)
per capita: 25 cu m/yr (2000).
Natural hazards:
earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods.
Environment - current issues:
inadequate supplies of potable water; limited arable land; desertification; endangered species.
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
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.
This page was last updated on May 15, 2008
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Djibouti Geography 2008 |
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