Eritrea
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Current Environmental Issues: deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare
Geography
Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan
Geographic Coordinates: 15 00 N, 39 00 E
Area:
total: 121,320 sq km
land: 121,320 sq km
water: 0 sq 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
Natural Hazards: frequent droughts; locust swarms
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
highest point: Soira 3,018 m
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
Type: Transitional Government
Capital: Asmara (Asmera)
Independence Date: 24 May 1993 (from Ethiopia)
Legal System: primary basis is the Ethiopian legal code of 1957, with revisions; new civil, commercial, and penal codes have not yet been promulgated; government also issues unilateral proclamations setting laws and policies; also relies on customary and post-independence-enacted laws and, for civil cases involving Muslims, Islamic law; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age, universal
International Agreement
Environmental-international Agreement:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
People and Society
Population: 5,028,475 (July 2008 est.)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 42.9% (male 1,085,116/female 1,072,262)
15-64 years: 53.5% (male 1,332,349/female 1,355,494)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 88,068/female 95,186) (2008 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 2.447% (2008 est.)
Birthrate; 33.62 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death Rate: 9.15 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net Migration Rate: NA
Life Expectancy at Birth:
total population: 60.05 years
male: 58.29 years
female: 61.87 years (2008 est.)
Total Fertility Rate: 4.84 children born/woman (2008 est.)
Languages: Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 58.6%
male: 69.9%
female: 47.6% (2003 est.)
Water
Total Renewable Water Resources: 6.3 cu km (2001)
Freshwater Withdrawal (domestic, industrial, agricultural):
total: 0.3 cu km/yr (3%/0%/97%)
per capita: 68 cu m/yr (2000)
Agriculture
Agricultural Products: sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, sisal; livestock, goats; fish
Irrigated Land: 210 sq km (2003)
Resources
Natural Resources: gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish
Land Use:
arable land: 4.78%
permanent crops: 0.03%
other: 95.19% (2005)
Energy
| Production | Consumption | Exports | Imports | Reserves | |
| Electricity | 274 million kWh (2005) | 228 million kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) | |
| Oil | 0 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 5,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 54.59 bbl/day (2004) | 4,924 bbl/day (2004) | 0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Natural Gas | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005) | 0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Source: CIA Factbook | |||||
Health
Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Adults: 2.7% (2003 est.)
Major Infectious Disease:
degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria (2008)
Conflict
International Disputes: Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by 2002 Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision but, neither party responded to the revised line detailed in the November 2006 EEBC Demarcation Statement; UN Peacekeeping Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), which has monitored the 25-km-wide Temporary Security Zone in Eritrea since 2000, is extended for six months in 2007 despite Eritrean restrictions on its operations and reduced force of 17,000; Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting eastern Sudanese rebel groups
Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: IDPs: 32,000 (border war with Ethiopia from 1998-2000; most IDPs are near the central border region) (2007)
Economy
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $3.619 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $1.316 billion (2007 est.)
GDP- real growth rate: 1.3% (2007 est.)
GDP- per capita: $800 (2007 est.)
GPD- composition by sector:
agriculture: 21.7%
industry: 22.6%
services: 55.7% (2007 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line: 50% (2004 est.)
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Industries: food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles, light manufacturing, salt, cement
Exports: livestock, sorghum, textiles, food, small manufactures
Export Partners: Italy 19%, Austria 11.6%, France 11.5%, US 5.6%, Ethiopia 4.7%, Taiwan 4.6%, China 4.4% (2006)
Imports: machinery, petroleum products, food, manufactured goods
Import Partners: US 11.4%, China 8.3%, Germany 6.6%, Italy 5.4%, Saudi Arabia 5%, France 4.6%
Economic Aid Recipient: $355.2 million (2005)
Currency: nakfa (ERN)
Communications
Telephones-main line in use: 37,700 (2006)
Telephones-mobile/cellular: 70,000 (2007)
Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 2, FM NA, shortwave 2 (2000)
Television Broadcast Stations: 2 (2006)
Internet Hosts: 1,446 (2007)
Internet Users: 100,000 (2006)
Transportation
Airports: 18 (2007)
Railways:
total: 306 km
narrow gauge: 306 km 0.950-m gauge (2006)
Roadways:
total: 4,010 km
paved: 874 km
unpaved: 3,136 km (2000)
Ports and Terminals: Assab, Massawa