Geography of Djibouti
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (July 2006) |
Djibouti is a country in Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia. Its coordinates are .
Contents |
[edit] Geography
Djibouti shares 113 km of border with Eritrea, 337 with Ethiopia and 58 with Somalia (total 506 km). It also has 314 km of coastline.
Its climate is mostly hot, dry desert. Mountains in the center of the country separate a coastal plain and a plateau. The lowest point is Lac Assal (−155 m) and the highest is Moussa Ali (2,028 m). Natural resources include geothermal energy. There is no arable land, irrigation or permanent crops, nor any forests. 9% of the country is permanent pastureland (1993 est).
It has a strategic location near world's busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; terminus of rail traffic into Ethiopia; mostly wasteland.
[edit] Environment
Natural hazards include earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods. Inadequate supplies of potable water and desertification are current issues. It is a party to international agreements on Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution.
[edit] Area:
- total: 23,000 km²
- land: 22,980 km²
- water: 20 km²
[edit] Maritime claims
- contiguous zone: 24 nm (44.4 km)
- exclusive economic zone: 200 nm (370.4 km)
- territorial sea: 12 nm (22.2 km)
