Flag Description

two equal horizontal bands of light blue (top) and light green with a white isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bearing a red five-pointed star in the center; blue stands for sea and sky and the Issa Somali people; green symbolizes earth and the Afar people; white represents peace; the red star recalls the struggle for independence and stands for unity

Background:The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas became Djibouti in 1977. Hassan Gouled APTIDON installed an authoritarian one-party state and proceeded to serve as president until 1999. Unrest among the Afar minority during the 1990s led to a civil war that ended in 2001 with a peace accord between Afar rebels and the Somali Issa-dominated government. In 1999, Djibouti's first multiparty presidential elections resulted in the election of Ismail Omar GUELLEH as president; he was reelected to a second term in 2005 and extended his tenure in office via a constitutional amendment, which allowed him to begin a third term in 2011. Djibouti occupies a strategic geographic location at the intersection of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and serves as an important shipping portal for goods entering and leaving the east African highlands and transshipments between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The government holds longstanding ties to France, which maintains a significant military presence in the country, and has strong ties with the United States. Djibouti hosts several thousand members of US armed services at US-run Camp Lemonnier.

Total Area: 23,200 sq km

Land Area:23,180 sq km

Water Area:20 sq km

Land Boundries Total:528 km

Border Countries:Eritrea 125 km, Ethiopia 342 km, Somalia 61 km

Coastline:314 km

Lowest Point:Lac Assal -155 m

Highest Point:Moussa Ali 2,028 m

Population:810,179 (July 2014 est.)

Population Growth Rate:2.23% (2014 est.)

Religion:Muslim 94%, Christian 6%

Literacy(%):0.679

Literacy(%) Male:0.78

Literacy(%) Female:58.4% (2003 est.)

Independence Day:27 June 1977 (from France)

National Holiday:Independence Day, 27 June (1977)

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