Total area: 22,000 km2
land area: 21,980 km2

Comparative area: slightly larger than Massachusetts

Land boundaries: 517 km total; Ethiopia 459 km, Somalia 58 km

Coastline: 314 km

Maritime claims:

Contiguous zone: 24 nm;

Extended economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: possible claim by Somalia based on unification of ethnic Somalis

Climate: desert; torrid, dry

Terrain: coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains

Natural resources: geothermal areas

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

Environment: vast wasteland

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

NOTE: The information regarding Djibouti on this page is re-published from the 1990 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Djibouti Geography 1990 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Djibouti Geography 1990 should be addressed to the CIA.