Location: Eastern Africa, at the entrance to the Red Sea between Eritrea and Somalia

Map references: Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area:
total area: 22,000 sq km
land area: 21,980 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Massachusetts

Land boundaries: total 508 km, Eritrea 113 km, Ethiopia 337 km, Somalia 58 km

Coastline: 314 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: none

Climate: desert; torrid, dry

Terrain: coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains

Natural resources: geothermal areas

Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 9%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 91%

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Environment:
current issues: desertification
natural hazards: prone to earthquakes, droughts
international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change

Note: strategic location near world's busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; terminus of rail traffic into Ethiopia; a vast wasteland

NOTE: The information regarding Djibouti on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Djibouti Geography 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Djibouti Geography 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.