Background: Eritrea won independence from Italian colonial control in 1941, but the UN only established it as an autonomous region within the Ethiopian federation in 1952, after a decade of British administrative control. Ethiopia's full annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a violent 30-year conflict for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean fighters defeating government forces. Eritreans overwhelmingly approved independence in a 1993 referendum. ISAIAS Afwerki has been Eritrea's only president since independence; his rule, particularly since 2001, has been characterized by highly autocratic and repressive actions. His government has created a highly militarized society by instituting an unpopular program of mandatory conscription into national service -- divided between military and civilian service -- of indefinite length. A two-and-a-half-year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices in 2000. Ethiopia rejected a subsequent 2007 Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) demarcation. More than a decade of a tense “no peace, no war” stalemate ended in 2018 when the newly elected Ethiopian prime minister accepted the EEBC’s 2007 ruling, and the two countries signed declarations of peace and friendship. Eritrean leaders then engaged in intensive diplomacy around the Horn of Africa, bolstering regional peace, security, and cooperation, as well as brokering rapprochements between governments and opposition groups. In 2018, the UN Security Council lifted an arms embargo that had been imposed on Eritrea since 2009, after the UN Somalia-Eritrea Monitoring Group reported they had not found evidence of Eritrean support in recent years for al-Shabaab. The country’s rapprochement with Ethiopia led to a resumption of economic ties, but the level of air transport, trade, and tourism have remained roughly the same since late 2020. The Eritrean economy remains agriculture-dependent, and the country is still one of Africa’s poorest nations. Eritrea faced new international condemnation and US sanctions in mid-2021 for its participation in the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray Regional State, where Eritrean forces were found to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. As most Eritrean troops were departing northern Ethiopia in January 2023, ISAIAS began a series of diplomatic engagements aimed at bolstering Eritrea’s foreign partnerships and regional influence. Despite the country's improved relations with its neighbors, ISAIAS has not let up on repression, and conscription and militarization continue.

Area
Total: 117,600 km²
Land: 101,000 km²
Water: 16,600 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Pennsylvania

Land boundaries
Total: 1,840 km
Border countries (3): (3) Djibouti 125 km; Ethiopia 1,033 km; Sudan 682 km

Coastline: 2,234 km (mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km; islands in Red Sea 1,083 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, heaviest June to September); semiarid in western hills and lowlands

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
Highest point: Soira 3,018 m
Lowest point: near Kulul within the Danakil Depression -75 m
Mean elevation: 853 m

Land use
Agricultural land: 62.7% (2023 est.)
Arable land: 5.7% (2023 est.)
Permanent crops: 0% (2023 est.)
Permanent pasture: 56.9% (2023 est.)
Forest: 12% (2023 est.)
Other: 25.3% (2023 est.)

Irrigated land: 210 km² (2012)

Natural hazards: frequent droughts, rare earthquakes and volcanoes; locust swarms
Volcanism: Dubbi (1,625 m), which last erupted in 1861, was the country's only historically active volcano until Nabro (2,218 m) came to life in 2011

Geography
Note: strategic geopolitical position along world's busiest shipping lanes

Population
Total: 6,343,956 (2024 est.)
Male: 3,122,433
Female: 3,221,523
Distribution: density is highest in the center of the country, in and around the cities of Asmara (capital) and Keren; smaller settlements exist in the north and south, as shown in this population distribution map
Growth rate: 1.12% (2024 est.)

Languages: Tigrinya (official), Arabic (official), English (official), Tigre, Kunama, Afar, other Cushitic languages

Religions: Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran, Sunni Muslim

Age structure
0-14 years: 35.7% (male 1,138,382/female 1,123,925)
15-64 years: 60.3% (male 1,882,547/female 1,944,266)
65 years and over: 4% (2024 est.) (male 101,504/female 153,332)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 65.8 (2024 est.)
Youth dependency ratio: 59.1 (2024 est.)
Elderly dependency ratio: 6.7 (2024 est.)
Potential support ratio: 15 (2024 est.)

Median age
Total: 21.3 years (2024 est.)
Male: 20.8 years
Female: 21.8 years

Population growth rate: 1.12% (2024 est.)

Birth rate: 26.3 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)

Death rate: 6.5 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)

Population distribution: density is highest in the center of the country, in and around the cities of Asmara (capital) and Keren; smaller settlements exist in the north and south, as shown in this population distribution map

Urbanization
Urban population: 43.3% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 3.67% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: 1.073 million ASMARA (capital) (2023)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2024 est.)

Maternal mortality ratio: 291 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 39.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
Male: 46.6 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 32.8 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 67.5 years (2024 est.)
Male: 64.9 years
Female: 70.2 years

Total fertility rate: 3.43 children born/woman (2024 est.)

Youth unemployment
Rate (ages 15-24): 5.6% (2024 est.); 5.6% (2023 est.); 5.7% (2022 est.)
Rate (ages 15-24) note: % of labor force seeking employment

Capital
Name: Asmara
Geographic coordinates: 15 20 N, 38 56 E
Time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Etymology: the name's origin is unclear; according to Tigrinya oral tradition, the name is part of a phrase meaning 'the women made them unite,' referring to a group of women who made four clans unite to defeat a common enemy; asmara also means 'flowery wood' in the Tigrinya language

Administrative divisions: 6 regions (zobatat, singular - zoba); 'Anseba, Debub (South), Debubawi K'eyyih Bahri (Southern Red Sea), Gash-Barka, Ma'ikel (Central), Semienawi K'eyyih Bahri (Northern Red Sea)

Legal system: mixed system of civil, customary, and Islamic religious law

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

Executive branch
Chief of state: President ISAIAS Afwerki (since 24 May 1993)
Head of government: President ISAIAS Afwerki (since 8 June 1993)
Cabinet: State Council appointed by the president
Election/appointment process: president indirectly elected by the National Assembly for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term), according to the constitution
Most recent election date: 24 May 1993, following independence from Ethiopia
1993: ISAIAS Afwerki elected president by the transitional National Assembly; percent of National Assembly vote - ISAIAS Afwerki (PFDJ) 95%, other 5%
Expected date of next election: postponed indefinitely
Note: the president is both chief of state and head of government and is head of the State Council and National Assembly

Legislative branch
Legislature name: National Assembly (Hagerawi Baito)
Legislative structure: unicameral
Number of seats: 150 (all indirectly elected)
Scope of elections: full renewal
Term in office: 4 years
Most recent election date: 2/1/1994
Note: in 1997, after the new constitution was adopted, the government formed a Transitional National Assembly to serve as the country's legislative body until countrywide elections to form a National Assembly could be held; the constitution stipulates that once past the transition stage, all National Assembly members will be elected by secret ballot of all eligible voters; National Assembly elections scheduled for December 2001 were postponed indefinitely due to the war with Ethiopia; as of 2025, no sitting legislative body exists

Flag description: a red isosceles triangle (based on the left side) divides the flag into two right triangles; the upper triangle is green, the lower is blue; a gold wreath around a gold olive branch is on the left side of the red triangle

National anthem
Title: 'Ertra, Ertra, Ertra' (Eritrea, Eritrea, Eritrea)
Lyrics/music: SOLOMON Tsehaye Beraki/Isaac Abraham MEHAREZGI and ARON Tekle Tesfatsion
History: adopted 1993, after gaining independence from Ethiopia

National heritage
Total World Heritage Sites: 1 (cultural)
Selected World Heritage Site locales:

Real gdp growth rate: 5% (2017 est.); 1.9% (2016 est.); 2.6% (2015 est.)

Real gdp per capita: 5% (2017 est.); 1.9% (2016 est.); 2.6% (2015 est.)

Industries: food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles, light manufacturing, salt, cement

Labor force: 1.71 million (2024 est.)
Note: number of people ages 15 or older who are employed or seeking work

Unemployment rate: 5.6% (2024 est.); 5.6% (2023 est.); 5.7% (2022 est.)
Note: % of labor force seeking employment

Youth unemployment
Rate (ages 15-24): 5.6% (2024 est.); 5.6% (2023 est.); 5.7% (2022 est.)
Rate (ages 15-24) note: % of labor force seeking employment

Budget
Revenues: $633 million (2018 est.)
Expenditures: $549 million (2018 est.)

Exports: $624.3 million (2017 est.); $485.4 million (2016 est.); $374.898 million (2011 est.)
Commodities: copper ore, zinc ore, gold, garments, liquor (2023)
Commodities note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars

Imports: $494.229 million (2010 est.); $435.275 million (2009 est.)
Commodities: trucks, sorghum, construction vehicles, wheat flours, other foods (2023)
Commodities note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars

Electricity
Installed generating capacity: 243,000 kW (2023 est.)
Consumption: 388.987 million kWh (2023 est.)
Transmission/distribution losses: 51.528 million kWh (2023 est.)
Access electrification - total population: 55.4% (2022 est.)
Access electrification - urban areas: 75.5%
Access electrification - rural areas: 36%
Generation sources fossil fuels: 89.1% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)
Generation sources solar: 10.7% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)
Generation sources wind: 0.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)

Petroleum
Refined petroleum consumption: 5,000 bbl/day (2023 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions: 733,000 metric tonnes of CO&sub2; (2023 est.)
From petroleum and other liquids: 733,000 metric tonnes of CO&sub2; (2023 est.)

Energy consumption per capita: 2.977 million Btu/person (2023 est.)

Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 66,000 (2021 est.)
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 2 (2022 est.)
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 1.8 million (2021 est.)
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 50 (2021 est.)

Internet
Users percent of population: 20% (2023 est.)

Broadband fixed subscriptions
Total: 6,000 (2022 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: (2022 est.) less than 1

Military expenditures: 10% of GDP (2019 est.); 10.2% of GDP (2018 est.); 10.3% of GDP (2017 est.); 10.4% of GDP (2016 est.); 10.6% of GDP (2015 est.)

Airports: 11 (2025)

Railways
Total: 306 km (2018)
Narrow gauge: 306 km (2018) 0.950-m gauge

Merchant marine
Total: 9 (2023)
By type: general cargo 4, oil tanker 1, other 4