Background: Eritrea was awarded to Ethiopia in 1952 as part of a federation. Ethiopia's annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a 30-year struggle for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean rebels defeating governmental forces; independence was overwhelmingly approved in a 1993 referendum. A two and a half year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices on 12 December 2000.

Geographic coordinates: 15 00 N 39 00 E

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total: 121,320 km²
Land: 121,320 km²
Water: 0 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Pennsylvania

Land boundaries
Total: 1,630 km
Border countries: (3) Djibouti 113 km; , Ethiopia 912 km; , Sudan 605 km

Coastline: 2,234 km total; mainland on Red Sea 1151 km islands in Red Sea 1083 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: hot dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually); semiarid in western hills and lowlands; rainfall heaviest during June-September except in coastal desert

Terrain: dominated by extension of Ethiopian north-south trending highlands descending on the east to a coastal desert plain on the northwest to hilly terrain and on the southwest to flat-to-rolling plains

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: near Kulul within the Denakil depression -75 m
Extremes highest point: Soira 3,018 m

Natural resources: gold potash zinc copper salt possibly oil and natural gas fish

Land use
Arable land: 12%
Permanent crops: 1%
Permanent pastures: 49%
Forests and woodland: 6%
Other: 32% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 280 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: frequent droughts; locust swarms

Geography
Note: strategic geopolitical position along world's busiest shipping lanes; Eritrea retained the entire coastline of Ethiopia along the Red Sea upon de jure independence from Ethiopia on 24 May 1993

Population: 4,298,269 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 3.84% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: NA%

Nationality
Noun: Eritrean
Adjective: Eritrean

Ethnic groups: ethnic Tigrinya 50% Tigre and Kunama 40% Afar 4% Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%

Languages: Afar Amharic Arabic Tigre and Kunama Tigrinya other Cushitic languages

Religions: Muslim Coptic Christian Roman Catholic Protestant

Age structure
0-14 years: 42.85% (male 922,691; female 918,916)
15-64 years: 53.87% (male 1,147,927; female 1,167,705)
65 years and over: 3.28% (male 71,232; female 69,798) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.84% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 42.52 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 12.07 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate
Note: according to the UNHCR, about 150,000 Eritrean refugees in Sudan have registered for voluntary repatriation, following the restoration of diplomatic relations between Eritrea and Sudan in January 2000

Environment
Current issues: deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male/female
Under 15 years: 1 male/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male/female
65 years and over: 1.02 male/female
Total population: 0.99 male/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 75.14 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 56.18 years
Male: 53.73 years
Female: 58.71 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.87 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 2.87% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Literacy
Definition: NA
Total population: 25%
Male: NA%
Female: NA%

Country name
Conventional long form: State of Eritrea
Conventional short form: Eritrea
Local long form: Hagere Ertra
Local short form: Ertra
Former: Eritrea Autonomous Region in Ethiopia

Government type
Note: following a successful referendum on independence for the Autonomous Region of Eritrea on 23-25 April 1993, a National Assembly, composed entirely of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice or PFDJ, was established as a transitional legislature; a Constitutional Commission was also established to draft a constitution; ISAIAS Afworki was elected president by the transitional legislature; the constitution, ratified in May 1997, did not enter into effect, pending parliamentary and presidential elections; parliamentary elections have now been scheduled to take place in December 2001

Capital: Asmara (formerly Asmera)

Administrative divisions
Note: in May 1995 the National Assembly adopted a resolution stating that the administrative structure of Eritrea, which had been established by former colonial powers, would consist of only six provinces when the new constitution, then being drafted, became effective in 1997; the new provinces, the names of which had not been recommended by the US Board on Geographic Names for recognition by the US Government, pending acceptable definition of the boundaries, were: Anseba, Debub, Debubawi Keyih Bahri, Gash-Barka, Maakel, and Semanawi Keyih Bahri; more recently, it has been reported that these provinces have been redesignated regions and renamed Southern Red Sea, Northern Red Sea, Anseba, Gash-Barka, Southern, and Central

Independence: 24 May 1993 (from Ethiopia)

National holiday: Independence Day 24 May (1993)

Constitution: the transitional constitution decreed on 19 May 1993 was replaced by a new constitution adopted on 23 May 1997 but not yet implemented

Legal system: operates on the basis of transitional laws that incorporate pre-independence statutes of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front revised Ethiopian laws customary laws and post independence enacted laws

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President ISAIAS Afworki (since 8 June 1993); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government and is head of the State Council and National Assembly
Head of government: President ISAIAS Afworki (since 8 June 1993); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government and is head of the State Council and National Assembly
Cabinet: State Council is the collective executive authority
Elections: president elected by the National Assembly; election last held 8 June 1993 (next tentatively scheduled for December 2001)
Election results: ISAIAS Afworki elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - ISAIAS Afworki 95%

Legislative branch
Elections: in May 1997, following the adoption of the new constitution, 75 members of the PFDJ Central Committee (the old Central Committee of the EPLF), 60 members of the 527-member Constituent Assembly which had been established in 1997 to discuss and ratify the new constitution, and 15 representatives of Eritreans living abroad were formed into a Transitional National Assembly to serve as the country's legislative body until country-wide elections to a National Assembly are held; only 75 members will be elected to the National Assembly - the other 75 will be members of the Central Committee of the PFDJ; parliamentary elections are now scheduled for NA December 2001

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; 10 provincial courts; 29 district courts

Political parties and leaders: People's Front for Democracy and Justice or PFDJ the only party recognized by the government [ISAIAS Afworki PETROS Solomon]; note - the National Assembly has appointed a committee to draft a law on political parties

International organization participation: ACP AfDB CCC ECA FAO IBRD ICAO ICFTU IDA IFAD IFC IGAD ILO IMF IMO Intelsat (nonsignatory user) Interpol IOC ITU NAM OAU OPCW UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador GIRMA Asmerom
In the us chancery: 1708 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,009
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 319-1991
In the us fax: [1] (202) 319-1304
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador William D. CLARKE
From the us embassy: Franklin D. Roosevelt Street, Asmara
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 211, Asmara
From the us telephone: [291] (1) 120,004
From the us fax: [291] (1) 127,584

Flag description: red isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) dividing the flag into two right triangles; the upper triangle is green the lower one is blue; a gold wreath encircling a gold olive branch is centered on the hoist side of the red triangle

Economy overview: With independence from Ethiopia on 24 May 1993 Eritrea faced the economic problems of a small desperately poor country. The economy is largely based on subsistence agriculture with 80% of the population involved in farming and herding. The small industrial sector consists mainly of light industries with outmoded technologies. Domestic output (GDP) is substantially augmented by worker remittances from abroad. Government revenues come from custom duties and taxes on income and sales. Road construction is a top domestic priority. In the long term Eritrea may benefit from the development of offshore oil offshore fishing and tourism. Eritrea's economic future depends on its ability to master fundamental social and economic problems e.g. by reducing illiteracy promoting job creation expanding technical training attracting foreign investment and streamlining the bureaucracy. Eritrea's agriculture over the last two years was severely weakened by war and drought and many farmlands must wait to be demined. Another major difficulty is the ports which prior to the war were Ethiopia's preferred outlets but since have seen trade dry up.

Real gdp growth rate: -1% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $710 (2000 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 16%
Industry: 27%
Services: 57% (2000 est.)

Agriculture products: sorghum lentils vegetables corn cotton tobacco coffee sisal; livestock goats; fish

Industries: food processing beverages clothing and textiles

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force: NA
By occupation agriculture: 80%
By occupation industry and services: 20%

Unemployment rate: NA%

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: NA%
Highest 10: NA%

Budget
Revenues: $283.9 million
Expenditures: $351.6 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 14% (2000 est.)

Exports: $26 million (f.o.b. 1999)
Commodities: livestock sorghum textiles food small manufactures
Partners: Sudan 27.2% Ethiopia 26.5% Japan 13.2% UAE 7.3% Italy 5.3% (1998)

Imports: $560 million (c.i.f. 1999)
Commodities: machinery petroleum products food manufactured goods
Partners: Italy 17.4% UAE 16.2% Germany 5.7% UK 4.5% Korea 4.4% (1998)

Debt external: $281 million (2000 est.)

Exchange rates: nakfa per US dollar = 9.5 (January 2000) 7.6 (January 1999) 7.2 (March 1998 est.)

Electricity
Production: 165 million kWh (1999)
Production by source fossil fuel: 100%
Production by source hydro: 0%
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Production by source other: 0% (1999)
Consumption: 153.5 million kWh (1999)
Exports: 0 kWh NA kWh (1999)
Imports: 0 kWh NA kWh (1999)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 23,578 (2000)
Mobile cellular: NA

Telephone system
General assessment: NA
Domestic: very inadequate; most telephones are in Asmara; government is seeking international tenders to improve the system
International: NA

Internet
Country code: .er
Service providers isps: 4 (2000)
Users: 500 (2000)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $160 million (2000 est.)
Percent of gdp: 29.4% (2000 est.)

Airports: 20 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 2
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 18
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 2
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 2
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 5
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 7
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.)

Railways
Total: 317 km
Narrow gauge: 317 km 0.950-m gauge (1999)
Note: links Ak'ordat and Asmara with the port of Massawa; nonoperational since 1978 except for about a 5 km stretch that was reopened in Massawa in 1994; rehabilitation of the remainder and of the rolling stock is under way

Waterways: none

Merchant marine
Total: 5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,069 GRT/19,549 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 1, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1 (2000 est.)