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: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
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, 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