Page last updated on February 28, 2018

Population:
865,267 (July 2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 162
[see also: Population country ranks ]

Nationality:
noun: Djiboutian(s)
adjective: Djiboutian

Ethnic groups:
Somali 60%, Afar 35%, other 5% (includes French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian)

Languages:
French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar

Religions:
Muslim 94%, Christian 6%

Demographic profile:
Djibouti is a poor, predominantly urban country, characterized by high rates of illiteracy, unemployment, and childhood malnutrition. More than 75% of the population lives in cities and towns (predominantly in the capital, Djibouti). The rural population subsists primarily on nomadic herding. Prone to droughts and floods, the country has few natural resources and must import more than 80% of its food from neighboring countries or Europe. Health care, particularly outside the capital, is limited by poor infrastructure, shortages of equipment and supplies, and a lack of qualified personnel. More than a third of health care recipients are migrants because the services are still better than those available in their neighboring home countries. The nearly universal practice of female genital cutting reflects Djibouti’s lack of gender equality and is a major contributor to obstetrical complications and its high rates of maternal and infant mortality. A 1995 law prohibiting the practice has never been enforced. Because of its political stability and its strategic location at the confluence of East Africa and the Gulf States along the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, Djibouti is a key transit point for migrants and asylum seekers heading for the Gulf States and beyond. Each year some hundred thousand people, mainly Ethiopians and some Somalis, journey through Djibouti, usually to the port of Obock, to attempt a dangerous sea crossing to Yemen. However, with the escalation of the ongoing Yemen conflict, Yemenis began fleeing to Djibouti in March 2015, with almost 20,000 arriving by August 2017. Most Yemenis remain unregistered and head for Djibouti City rather than seeking asylum at one of Djibouti’s three spartan refugee camps. Djibouti has been hosting refugees and asylum seekers, predominantly Somalis and lesser numbers of Ethiopians and Eritreans, at camps for 20 years, despite lacking potable water, food shortages, and unemployment.

Age structure:
0-14 years: 31.14% (male 135,151/female 134,312)
[see also: Age structure - 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 21.32% (male 86,820/female 97,656)
[see also: Age structure - 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 39.03% (male 140,242/female 197,484)
[see also: Age structure - 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 4.75% (male 18,593/female 22,515)
[see also: Age structure - 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 3.76% (male 14,559/female 17,935) (2017 est.)

[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - female country ranks ]

NOTE: 1) The information regarding Djibouti on this page is re-published from the 2018 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Djibouti People 2018 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Djibouti People 2018 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
  a) The assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
  b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order

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