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Geography
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: 22,000 sq km
land: 21,980 sq km
water: 20 sq km
Area—comparative: slightly smaller than Massachusetts
Land boundaries:
total: 508 km
border countries: Eritrea 113 km, Ethiopia 337 km, Somalia 58
km
Coastline: 314 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 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: NA%
permanent crops: NA%
permanent pastures: 9%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 91% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
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; desertification
Environment—international
agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Law of the Sea, 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