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NAVIGATION
State of Eritrea
Hagere Ertra
former: Eritrea Autonomous Region in Ethiopia
INTRODUCTION
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Background:
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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. Eritrea currently hosts a UN peacekeeping operation that will monitor the border region until an international commission determines and demarcates the boundary between the two countries. |
GEOGRAPHY
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Location:
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Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan |
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Geographic coordinates:
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15 00 N, 39 00 E |
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Map references:
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Africa |
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Area:
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total: 121,320 sq km
water: 0 sq km land: 121,320 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly larger than Pennsylvania |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 1,626 km
border countries: Djibouti 109 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km |
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Coastline:
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2,234 km total; mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea 1,083 km |
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 12 NM |
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Climate:
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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 |
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Terrain:
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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 |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: near Kulul within the Denakil depression -75 m
highest point: Soira 3,018 m |
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Natural resources:
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gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish |
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Land use:
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arable land: 3.87%
permanent crops: 0.02% other: 96.11% (1998 est.) |
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Irrigated land:
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220 sq km (1998 est.) |
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Natural hazards:
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frequent droughts; locust swarms |
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Environment - current issues:
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deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare |
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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Geography - note:
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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 |
PEOPLE
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Population:
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4,465,651 (July 2002 est.) |
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 42.9% (male 958,564; female 955,625)
15-64 years: 53.9% (male 1,192,454; female 1,213,313) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 73,017; female 72,678) (2002 est.) |
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Population growth rate:
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3.8% (2002 est.) |
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Birth rate:
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42.25 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
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Death rate:
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11.82 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
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Net migration rate:
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7.61 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: UNHCR began repatriating about 150,000 Eritrean refugees from Sudan in 2001 following the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2000 (2002 est.) |
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Sex ratio:
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at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
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Infant mortality rate:
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73.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 56.57 years
female: 59.13 years (2002 est.) male: 54.09 years |
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Total fertility rate:
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5.8 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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2.87% (1999 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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NA |
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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NA |
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Nationality:
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noun: Eritrean(s)
adjective: Eritrean |
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Ethnic groups:
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ethnic Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%, other 3% |
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Religions:
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Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant |
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Languages:
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Afar, Amharic, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages |
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Literacy:
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definition: NA
total population: 25% male: NA% female: NA% |