Location: | Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia |
| Geographic coordinates: | 11 30 N, 43 00 E |
| Map references: | Africa |
| Area: | total: 23,000 sq km
water: 20 sq km
land: 22,980 sq km |
| Area - comparative: | slightly smaller than Massachusetts |
| Land boundaries: | total: 516 km
border countries: Eritrea 109 km, Ethiopia 349 km, Somalia 58 km |
| Coastline: | 314 km |
| Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
| Climate: | desert; torrid, dry |
| Terrain: | coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Lac Assal -155 m
highest point: Moussa Ali 2,028 m |
| Natural resources: | geothermal areas |
| Land use: | arable land: 0.04%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 99.96% (2001) |
| Irrigated land: | 10 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Natural hazards: | earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods |
| Environment - current issues: | inadequate supplies of potable water; limited arable land; desertification; endangered species |
| Environment - international agreements: | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Geography - note: | strategic location near world's busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; terminus of rail traffic into Ethiopia; mostly wasteland; Lac Assal (Lake Assal) is the lowest point in Africa
Source: CIA World Factbook
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