Djibouti
Republic of Djibouti
National name: Jumhouriyya Djibouti
President: Ismail Omar Guelleh (1999)
Prime Minister: Dileita Mohamed Dileita (2001)
Land area: 8,486 sq mi (21,979 sq km); total area: 8,880 sq mi (23,000 sq km)
Population (2006 est.): 486,530 (growth rate: 2.0%); birth rate: 39.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 102.4/1000; life expectancy: 43.2; density per sq mi: 57
Capital (1995 est.): Djibouti, 383,000
Monetary unit: Djibouti franc
Languages: French and Arabic (both official), Somali, Afar
Ethnicity/race: Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5%
Religions: Islam 94%, Christian 6%
Literacy rate: 68% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2002 est.): $619 million; per capita $1,300. Real growth rate: 3.5%. Inflation: 2%. Unemployment: 50% (2004 est.). Arable land: 0.04%. Agriculture: fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels, animal hides. Labor: 282,000 (2000). Industries: construction, agricultural processing, salt. Natural resources: geothermal areas, gold, clay, granite, limestone, marble, salt, diatomite, gypsum, pumice, petroleum. Exports: $155 million (f.o.b., 2002 est.): reexports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit). Imports: $665 million (f.o.b., 2002 est.): foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products. Major trading partners: Somalia, Yemen, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, China, India, France, UK, U.S. (2003).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 9,500 (2003); mobile cellular: 23,000 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 1 (2002). Internet hosts: 1 (2004). Internet users: 6,500 (2003).
Transportation: Railways: total: 100 km (Djibouti segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad) (2004). Highways: total: 2,890 km; paved: 364 km; unpaved: 2,526 km (1999 est.). Waterways: none. Ports and harbors: Djibouti. Airports: 13 (2004 est.).
International disputes: 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.
Geography
Djibouti lies in northeast Africa on the Gulf of Aden at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. It borders on Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia. The country, the size of Massachusetts, is mainly a stony desert, with scattered plateaus and highlands.
Government
Republic with a unicameral legislature.
Dominica
Commonwealth of Dominica
President: Nicholas Liverpool (2003)
Prime Minister: Roosevelt Skerrit (2004)
Total and land area: 290 sq mi (751 sq km)
Population (2006 est.): 68,910 (growth rate: –0.1%); birth rate: 15.3/1000; infant mortality rate: 13.7/1000; life expectancy: 74.9; density per sq mi: 238
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Roseau, 20,000
Monetary unit: East Caribbean dollar
Languages: English (official) and French patois
Ethnicity/race: black, mixed black and European, European, Syrian, Carib Amerindian
Religions: Roman Catholic 77%, Protestant 15% (Methodist 5%, Pentecostal 3%, Seventh-Day Adventist 3%, Baptist 2%, other 2%), none 2%, other 6%
Literacy rate: 94% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2003 est.): $384 million; per capita $5,500. Real growth rate: –1%. Inflation: 1% (2001 est.). Unemployment: 23% (2000 est.). Arable land: 7%. Labor force: 25,000 (1999 est); agriculture 40%, industry and commerce 32%, services 28%. Agriculture: bananas, citrus, mangoes, root crops, coconuts, cocoa; forest and fishery potential not exploited. Industries: soap, coconut oil, tourism, copra, furniture, cement blocks, shoes. Natural resources: timber, hydropower, arable land. Exports: $39 million (f.o.b., 2003 est.): bananas, soap, bay oil, vegetables, grapefruit, oranges. Imports: $98.2 million (f.o.b., 2003 est.): manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, food, chemicals. Major trading partners: UK, Jamaica, U.S., Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, Japan, Trinidad and Tobago, China, South Korea (2003).
Member of Commonwealth of Nations
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 23,700 (2002); mobile cellular: 9,400 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 4, shortwave 0 (2004). Television broadcast stations: 1 (2004). Internet hosts: 681 (2003). Internet users: 12,500 (2002).
Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 780 km; paved: 393 km; unpaved: 393 km (1999 est.). Ports and harbors: Portsmouth, Roseau. Airports: 2 (2004 est.).
International disputes: joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea.
Geography
Dominica (pronounced Dom-in-EEK-a) is a mountainous island of volcanic origin of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, south of Guadeloupe and north of Martinique.
Government
Parliamentary democracy.
Dominican Republic
National name: República Dominicana
President: Leonel Fernández (2004)
Land area: 18,680 sq mi (48,381 sq km); total area: 18,815 sq mi (48,730 sq km)
Population (2006 est.): 9,183,984 (growth rate: 1.5%); birth rate: 23.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 28.2/1000; life expectancy: 71.7; density per sq mi: 492
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Santo Domingo, 2,851,300 (metro. area), 2,252,400 (city proper)
Other large city: Santiago de los Caballeros, 501,800
Monetary unit: Dominican Peso
Language: Spanish
Ethnicity/race: white 16%, black 11%, mixed 73%
Religion: Roman Catholic 95%
Literacy rate: 85% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $55.68 billion; per capita $6,300. Real growth rate: 1.7%. Inflation: 55%. Unemployment: 17%. Arable land: 23%. Agriculture: sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef, eggs. Labor force: 2.3 million to 2.6 million (2000 est); services and government 58.7%, industry 24.3%, agriculture 17% (1998 est.). Industries: tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco. Natural resources: nickel, bauxite, gold, silver. Exports: $5.446 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): ferronickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, meats, consumer goods. Imports: $8.093 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Major trading partners: U.S., Canada, Haiti, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia (2003).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 901,800 (2003); mobile cellular: 2,120,400 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 120, FM 56, shortwave 4 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 25 (1997). Internet hosts: 64,197 (2003). Internet users: 500,000 (2003).
Transportation: Railways: total: 1,743 km (2004). Highways: total: 12,600 km; paved: 6,224 km; unpaved: 6,376 km (1999). Ports and harbors: Boca Chica, Puerto Plata, Rio Haina, Santo Domingo. Airports: 31 (2004 est.).
International disputes: increasing numbers of illegal migrants from the Dominican Republic cross the Mona Passage each year to Puerto Rico to find work.
Geography
The Dominican Republic in the West Indies occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with Haiti. Its area equals that of Vermont and New Hampshire combined. Duarte Peak, at 10,417 ft (3,175 m), is the highest point in the West Indies.
Government
Representative democracy.