DJIBOUTI
Population
Population
Population
Djibouti is home to 865,267 people (2017).The population density is about 40 inhabitants per square kilometre.
The natural population growth rate is 2.16%. (2017)
Birth rate per 1000 inhabitants is 23.4 (2017)
Death rate per 1000 inhabitants is 7.5 (2017)
Life expectancy is 63.6 years. (men 61 and women 66.2 years (2017)
The population consists mainly of two ethnic groups: the Afar (35%), related to the Ethiopians, and the Somali (60%) with Somali ancestry. Minorities include Yemeni Arabs and Europeans (there is a large French community).
Language
Djibouti has two official languages, French and Arabic. Furthermore, Somali and Afar are spoken.
Some pronunciation rules of Arabic:
-all letters are pronounced
-a ' means that a letter is pronounced very short
-the r is a rolling r
-The y is pronounced as sj
-the sh is pronounced as sj
-the gh is pronounced like a brew r or French r
-The kh is pronounced like a hard g.
-The ou is pronounced like the oe
There is no fixed Dutch spelling for Arabic words. The names are written as they are pronounced. So Aqaba can just as well be spelled as Akaba.
Arabic is written from right to left and consists of 28 consonants. Vowels are not written, which results in different Latin spellings for the same word. Arabic numerals are written from left to right.
Some words and phrases:
| English | Arabic |
| One | wahed, female: wahda |
| Two | etnen |
| Three | talata |
| Tien | ‘ashra |
| Hunderd | meyya |
| Thousand | ‘alf |
| Sunday | yom el had |
| Wednesday | yom el ’arba’ |
| Yes | ‘aywa |
| No | la’ |
| Summer | sef |
| Winter | sheta |
| Where is the hotel? | fen el fondok? |
| What time is it? | essa’a kam? |
| What is your name? | ‘esm-ak ‘ak? (man) |
| What is your name? | ‘esm-ek ‘eh? (vrouw) |
| Do you have change? | ‘andokom fakka? |
Religion
Djibouti was one of the first African countries to spread Islam. Djibouti is less than 35 kilometres from the coast of Saudi Arabia. Apart from Sunni Muslims, there are Roman Catholic, Protestant and Greek Orthodox minorities.
Sources
Elmar Landeninformatie
CIA - World Factbook
BBC - Country Profiles
Copyright: Team The World of Info