Eritrea

Airports

total: 5 usable: 5 with permanent-surface runways: 2 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 2

Highways

total: 3,845 km paved: 807 km unpaved: gravel 840 km; improved earth 402 km; unimproved earth 1,796 km

Merchant marine

none

Ports

Assab (formerly Aseb), Massawa (formerly Mits'iwa)

Railroads

307 km total; 307 km 1.000-meter gauge; 307 km 0.950-meter gauge (nonoperational) linking Ak'ordat and Asmara (formerly Asmera) with the port of Massawa (formerly Mits'iwa; 1993 est.)

Telecommunications

NA

Branches

Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF)

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Agriculture

products - sorghum, livestock (including goats), fish, lentils, vegetables, maize, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sisal (for making rope)

Budget

revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Currency

1 birr (Br) = 100 cents; at present, Ethiopian currency used

Economic aid

$NA

Electricity

capacity: NA kW production: NA kWh consumption per capita: NA kWh

Exchange rates

1 birr (Br) per US$1 - 5.000 (fixed rate since 1992)

Exports

$NA commodities: NA partners: NA

External debt

$NA

Fiscal year

NA

Imports

$NA commodities: NA partners: NA

Industrial production

growth rate NA%

Industries

food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

NA%

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $1.7 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$500 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

NA%

Overview

With independence from Ethiopia on 27 April 1993, Eritrea faces the bitter economic problems of a small, desperately poor African country. Most of the population will continue to depend on subsistence farming. Domestic output is substantially augmented by worker remittances from abroad. Government revenues come from custom duties and income and sales taxes. Eritrea has inherited the entire coastline of Ethiopia and has long-term prospects for revenues from the development of offshore oil, offshore fishing and tourism. For the time being, Ethiopia will be largely dependent on Eritrean ports for its foreign trade.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Area

total area: 121,320 sq km land area: 121,320 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than Pennsylvania

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 on coast desert

Coastline

1,151 km (land and island coastline is 2,234 km)

Environment

current issues: famine; deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare natural hazards: frequent droughts international agreements: NA

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

NA sq km

Land boundaries

total 1,630 km, Djibouti 113 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km

Land use

arable land: 3% permanent crops: 2% (coffee) meadows and pastures: 40% forest and woodland: 5% other: 50%

Location

Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea between Djibouti and Sudan

Map references

Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, probably oil, fish

Note

strategic geopolitical position along world's busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields, Eritrea retained the entire coastline of Ethiopia along the Red Sea upon de jure independence from Ethiopia on 27 April 1993

Terrain

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

Administrative divisions

7 provinces; Akale Guzay, Baraka, Denakil, Hamasen, Samhar, Seraye, Sahil (1993)

Capital

Asmara (formerly Asmera)

Constitution

transitional "constitution" decreed 19 May 1993

Digraph

ER

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Hagos GEBREHIWOT chancery: Suite 400, 910 17th Street NW, Washington DC 20006 telephone: (202) 429-1991

Executive branch

chief of state and head of government: President ISSAIAS Afeworke (since 22 May 1993) cabinet: State Council; the collective executive authority note: election to be held before 20 May 1997

FAX

(202) 429-9004

FAX

[291] (1) 127-584

Flag

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

Independence

27 May 1993 (from Ethiopia; formerly the Eritrea Autonomous Region)

Judicial branch

Judiciary

Legal system

NA

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

OAU, ACP, AfDB, ECA, ILO, IMO, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), ITU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WMO

Names

conventional long form: State of Eritrea conventional short form: Eritrea local long form: none local short form: none former: Eritrea Autonomous Region in Ethiopia

National Assembly

EPLF Central Committee serves as the country's legislative body until multinational elections are held (before 20 May 1997)

National holiday

National Day (independence from Ethiopia), 24 May (1993)

Other political or pressure groups

Eritrean Islamic Jihad (EIJ); Islamic Militant Group

Political parties and leaders

Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) (Christian Muslim), ISSAIAS Aferworke, PETROS Solomon; Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) (Muslim), ABDULLAH Muhammed; Eritrean Liberation Front - United Organization (ELF-UO), Mohammed Said NAWUD; Eritrean Liberation Front - Revolutionary Council (ELF-RC), Ahmed NASSER

Suffrage

NA

Type

transitional government note: on 29 May 1991 ISSAIAS Afeworke, secretary general of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), announced the formation of the Provisional Government in Eritrea (PGE), in preparation for the 23-25 April 1993 referendum on independence for the autonomous region of Eritrea; the result was a landslide vote for independence that was announced on 27 April 1993

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Robert G. HOUDEK embassy: 34 Zera Yacob St., Asmara mailing address: P.O. Box 211, Asmara telephone: [291] (1) 123-720

Ethnic divisions

ethnic Tigrays 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%

Labor force

NA

Languages

Tigre and Kunama, Cushitic dialects, Tigre, Nora Bana, Arabic

Literacy

total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA%

Nationality

noun: Eritrean(s) adjective: Eritrean

Population

3,782,543 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

3.41% (1994 est.)

Religions

Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant