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CultureGrams can help you broaden your students' understanding of the world and its peoples. The World Edition includes 190+ country profiles, written for junior high students and older. CultureGrams also has a Kids Edition, Provinces Edition, and a States Edition, geared for upper elementary students. These editions include kid-friendly profiles of 70+ countries, all 50 states (including Washington, D.C.), and the Canadian provinces.
CultureGrams goes beyond mere facts and figures to deliver an insider's perspective on daily life and culture, including the history, customs, and lifestyles of the world's people.
Country: Djibouti
- Capital: Djibouti City
- Population: 486,530 (rank=170)
- Area, sq. mi.: 8,880 (rank=149)
- Area, sq. km.: 23,000
- Human Dev. Index rank: 148 of 177 countries
- Adjusted for women: NA
- Real GDP per capita: $1,993
- Adult literacy rate: 78% (male); 58% (female)
- Infant mortality rate: 101 per 1,000 births
- Life expectancy: 52 (male); 54 (female)
Did You Know?
- Djibouti's Lake Assal is the lowest point in Africa and the second lowest in the world.
- The official languages are French and Arabic, but the most commonly spoken languages are Somali and Afar.
- Djiboutian men commonly chew khat, a leafy plant that produces a mildly stimulating effect.
Religion
Djibouti is an Islamic state, and 99 percent of the population is Muslim. On Fridays, the streets are empty as men go to the mosques to pray and women pray at home and then prepare the midday meal. On other days, the call to prayer emanates from the mosques five times a day. Dress and other outward signs of belief are deemed important for social acceptance, though Djibouti is somewhat less conservative than other Muslim countries.
For example, women generally cover their heads but wear sheer and colorful clothes. Alcohol (forbidden by Islam) is sold in supermarkets, and nightclubs and bars cater to both Djiboutians and to visiting sailors and military personnel. Still, Djiboutians who drink usually try to hide this behavior. Three government-sanctioned churches -- Ethiopian Orthodox, French Catholic, and French Protestant -- largely serve the foreign population.
Visiting
Most visits among men revolve around the chewing of khat. Every day between 1 and 2 p.m., men gather at street stalls in the markets to buy khat just flown in from Ethiopia. Although chewing khat takes place every day, the most popular time is Thursday afternoons. Thursday marks the end of the work week and is normally a half-day off. Men come together in sitting areas called mebraz to talk and chew until the late evening. Some women also chew khat, though much less frequently and separate from men. These women are generally met with disapproval.
Women often make a sweet, milky tea called shaah. Some women also smoke fruit-flavored Arabic tobacco in a water pipe (shisha or hookah). Among young Djiboutians, friends are not usually invited to the family home, as the house is generally full of extended family. It is more common to meet in a cafe or in a neighborhood mebraz.
Housing
The nomads who migrate between northern Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia carry saplings, which are tied together and covered with boiled bark mats for shelter. These round, brown huts melt into the landscape and are hard to spot from a distance. Closer to Djibouti City, the frames of these huts are covered with sheets, tarps, or other material. It is also common for nomads to make rock-pile walled structures, which can be covered to make a temporary dwelling as they travel.
Dating and Marriage
Lineage and financial status -- as well as love -- are important elements in selecting a marriage partner. Once a mate is chosen, the giving of the bride-price, large amounts of khat, and various animals (by both families) precede the actual wedding ceremony. The bride does not attend this ceremony, at which the groom presents the bride-price to the male members of the bride's family in the presence of a sheikh (tribal leader). The couple is then considered married.
Parties celebrating engagements and marriages are important social events and allow women to adorn themselves in their nicest clothes, jewelry, and makeup and to visit and dance with other women. Men visit separately from the women in another room or even another building. Marriages also call for a parade around the city or neighborhood. If the family and friends have cars, they will drive through the streets honking their horns and blinking their lights in honor of the occasion.
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