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East Africa, south of Somalia, bordering the Red Sea. Slightly smaller than Massachusetts. Desert.
French territory until 1977. Civil war between ethnicities in the 1990s that ended in 2001. Presidential elections held in 1999.
Figures unless otherwise stated are from the CIA Factbook.
Estimated per capita GDP:
2006 $1,000 (Ranks 209th)
2005 $1,000
2002 $1,300
1999 $1,300
GDP annual growth rate estimated for 2006: 3.5 percent. (Ranks 150th)
Unemployment estimated for 2004: 50 percent.
Factbook: "Per capita consumption dropped an estimated 35% over the last seven years because of recession, civil war, and a high population growth rate (including immigrants and refugees). Faced with a multitude of economic difficulties, the government has fallen in arrears on long-term external debt and has been struggling to meet the stipulations of foreign aid donors."
Deaths: 19.16. Births: 38.61, down from 39.98 in 2005.
Estimated for July 2008: 506,221, up from 476,703 in 2005. Growth rate estimated for 2008: 1.945 percent per year.
Infant mortality estimated for 2008: 99.13, down from 104.13 in 2005 (deaths before the age of one year, per 1,000 live births).
Average life expectancy estimated for 2008: 43.31 years.
Living with HIV/AIDS, ages 15 to 49: 2.9 percent (2003).
Somali 60 percent; Afar 35 percent; French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5 percent
SOURCES:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
Copyright © 2008 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved.