Djibouti Beckons

Djibouti Beckons*

"Area: 23,200 sq km
Population: 721,000
Life expectancy [special boxed section; they want you to know this]: men 51 yrs., women 54 yrs.
Climate: Desert [I...], torrid [am not...] and dry [making this up.]."


"...famine, AIDS, and war in this volatile region have orphaned thousands of children."
...
"Djibouti is above all, a carrier."
...
"The functioning 42-acre Free Zone may not be very big..."
...
"...virtually the only natural mineral resource being mined in Djibouti is salt..." ["Locusts, we have locusts of every race, color and creed..."]
"Since the discovery of salt in Ethiopia, however, prices have dropped from $50 a ton to $24. We are looking for other clients." [Oh God, those poor people.]
...
"In the district of Ali Sabieh alone, we have created 28 jobs..."
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"Movie buffs may not be aware of Djibouti's** whereabouts on the world map, but they might well know what its interior looks like. People familiar with the 1968 science fiction classic 'Planet of the Apes'..." [Oh God, no. No]
...
"In 2005 we had an increase of nearly 15 percent [in tourism]. Starting in 1999, we had 14,000 tourists [about the same number as my bathroom]. Now, FOR THE FIRST TIME [emphasis added], we have exceeded a volume of 30,000 ["volume" protests its usage here]."


*16 page ad (costing one-half of Djibouti's GDP) in September/October 2006 Foreign Affairs.
**Spell check for "Djibouti's" is "despotism."