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: 23,200 sq km
land: 23,180 sq km
water: 20 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, gold, clay, granite, limestone, marble, salt, diatomite, gypsum, pumice, petroleum

Land use:
arable land: 0.04%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 99.96% (2005)

Irrigated land:
10 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:
0.3 cu km (1997)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 0.02 cu km/yr (84%/0%/16%)
per capita: 25 cu m/yr (2000)

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, Wetlands
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