Internet users:
6,500 (2003)
Transportation Djibouti
Railways:
total: 100 km (Djibouti segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway)
narrow gauge: 100 km 1.000-m gauge
note: railway under joint control of Djibouti and Ethiopia (2004)
Highways:
total: 2,890 km
paved: 364 km
unpaved: 2,526 km (1999 est.)
Ports and harbors:
Djibouti
Merchant marine:
total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,369 GRT/3,030 DWT
by type: cargo 1 (2005)
Airports:
13 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 3
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1524 to 2437 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 10
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.)
Military Djibouti
Military branches:
Djibouti National Army (includes Navy and Air Force)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 18–49: 95,328 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18–49: 46,020 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$28.6 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
4.4% (2004)
Transnational Issues Djibouti
Disputes - international:
Djibouti maintains economic ties and border accords with
"Somaliland" leadership while maintaining some political ties to
various factions in Somalia; although most of the 26,000 Somali
refugees in Djibouti who fled civil unrest in the early 1990s have
returned, several thousand still await repatriation in UNHCR camps
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 25,474 (Somalia) (2004)
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Dominica
Introduction Dominica
Background:
Dominica was the last of the Caribbean islands to be colonized by
Europeans, due chiefly to the fierce resistance of the native
Caribs. France ceded possession to Great Britain in 1763, which made
the island a colony in 1805. In 1980, two years after independence,
Dominica's fortunes improved when a corrupt and tyrannical
administration was replaced by that of Mary Eugenia CHARLES, the
first female prime minister in the Caribbean, who remained in office
for 15 years. Some 3,000 Carib Indians still living on Dominica are
the only pre-Columbian population remaining in the eastern Caribbean.
Geography Dominica
Location:
Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic
Ocean, about one-half of the way from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and
Tobago
Geographic coordinates:
15 25 N, 61 20 W
Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean
Area:
total: 754 sq km
land: 754 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly more than four times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
148 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical; moderated by northeast trade winds; heavy rainfall
Terrain:
rugged mountains of volcanic origin
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Morne Diablatins 1,447 m
Natural resources:
timber, hydropower, arable land
Land use: arable land: 6.67% permanent crops: 20% other: 73.33% (2001)
Irrigated land:
NA sq km
Natural hazards:
flash floods are a constant threat; destructive hurricanes can be
expected during the late summer months
Environment - current issues:
NA
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
known as "The Nature Island of the Caribbean" due to its
spectacular, lush, and varied flora and fauna, which are protected
by an extensive natural park system; the most mountainous of the
Lesser Antilles, its volcanic peaks are cones of lava craters and
include Boiling Lake, the second-largest, thermally active lake in
the world
People Dominica
Population:
69,029 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 26.7% (male 9,328/female 9,125)
15–64 years: 65.4% (male 23,225/female 21,900)
65 years and over: 7.9% (male 2,193/female 3,258) (2005 est.)
Median age:
total: 29.59 years
male: 29.26 years
female: 29.95 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate: