Country profile: Djibouti

Djibouti's location is the main economic asset of a country that is mostly barren. The capital, Djibouti city, handles Ethiopian imports and exports. Its transport facilities are used by several landlocked African countries to fly in their goods for re-export. This earns Djibouti much-needed transit taxes and harbour fees.

After independence from France in 1977, Djibouti was left with a government which enjoyed a balance between the two main ethnic groups, the Issa of Somali origin and the Afar of Ethiopian origin.

But the country's first president, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, installed an authoritarian one-party state dominated by his own Issa community. Afar resentment erupted into a civil war in the early 1990s, and though Mr Gouled, under French pressure, introduced a limited multi-party system in 1992, the rebels from the Afar party, the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (Frud), were excluded.

Thus, Mr Gouled's Popular Rally for Progress party won every seat and the war went on. It ended in 1994 with a power-sharing deal which brought the main faction of Frud into government. A splinter, radical faction continued to fight until 2000, when it too signed a peace deal with the government of Gouled's successor, Ismael Omar Guelleh.

President: Ismael Omar Guelleh

Mr Guelleh, known in Djibouti by his initials, IOG, won a second term in one-man presidential elections in April 2005. The opposition did not field a candidate.

His campaign included promises to tackle poverty and reduce Djibouti's dependence on food imports. He said he would step down at the end of his second term, in keeping with the constitution.

Ismael Omar Guelleh succeeded his uncle and Djibouti's first president, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, in April 1999 at the age of 52. He was elected in a multi-party ballot which was not contested by Mr Aptidon.

Mr Guelleh supports Djibouti's traditionally strong ties with France and has tried to reconcile the different factions in neighbouring Somalia.

The government owns the principal newspaper, La Nation, as well as Radiodiffusion-Television de Djibouti (RTD), which operates the national radio and TV. There are no private broadcasters.

The government closely controls all electronic media. Private newspapers and other publications are generally allowed to circulate freely, but journalists exercise self-censorship. The official media are uncritical of the government.

A powerful mediumwave (AM) transmitter in the country broadcasts US-sponsored Arabic-language Radio Sawa programmes to East Africa and Arabia. Local FM relays carry the BBC (99.2) and Voice of America.

The press

• La Nation - government-owned daily
• La Republique - opposition Parti National Democratique periodical
• Le Renouveau - run by opposition Party for Democratic Renewal

Radio

• Radio Djibouti - operated by RTD; national network broadcasts in Afar, Arabic and Somali, international network in French

Television

• Djibouti Television - operated by RTD

News agency

• Agence Djiboutienne d'Information - state news agency

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
UN news about Djibouti
BBC Weather: Djibouti
Republic of Djibouti
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites