Eritrea
|
| Basic Facts |
| 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 |
| Gevernment type | transitional government
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 had been scheduled in December 2001, but were postponed indefinitely; currently the sole legal party is the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) |
| Capital |
name: Asmara (Asmera)
geographic coordinates: 15 20 N, 38 53 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| 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 |
| Currency | nakfa (ERN) |
| Internet country code | .er |
| Ports and terminals | Assab, Massawa |
| Agriculture products | sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sisal; livestock, goats; fish |
| Industries | food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles, light manufacturing, salt, cement, commercial ship repair |
| Geography |
| Location | Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan |
| Coordinates | 15 00 N, 39 00 E |
| Continent | Africa |
| Area |
total: 121,320 sq km
land: 121,320 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Boundaries |
total: 1,626 km
border countries: Djibouti 109 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km |
| Coastline | 2,234 km (mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea 1,083 km) |
| 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 |
| Natural resources | gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish |
| Natural hazards | frequent droughts; locust swarms |
| People |
| Population | 4,786,994 (July 2006 est.) |
| Ethnic groups | Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%, other 3% |
| Religions | Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant |
| Languages | Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages |
