The UN awarded Eritrea 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 in December 2000. Eritrea hosted a UN peacekeeping operation that monitored a 25 km-wide Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) on the border with Ethiopia. Eritrea's denial of fuel to the mission caused the UN to withdraw the mission and terminate its mandate 31 July 2008. An international commission, organized to resolve the border dispute, posted its findings in 2002. However, both parties have been unable to reach agreement on implementing the decision. On 30 November 2007, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission remotely demarcated the border by coordinates and dissolved itself, leaving Ethiopia still occupying several tracts of disputed territory, including the town of Badme. Eritrea accepted the EEBC's "virtual demarcation" decision and called on Ethiopia to remove its troops from the TSZ that it states is Eritrean territory. Ethiopia has not accepted the virtual demarcation decision.

Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan

15 00 N, 39 00 E

Africa

slightly larger than Pennsylvania

2,234 km (mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea 1,083 km)

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

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

gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish

210 sq km (2003)

6.3 cu km (2001)

frequent droughts; locust swarms

deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare

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

5,647,168 (July 2010 est.)

2.577% (2010 est.)

34.2 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

8.43 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

NA

4.6 children born/woman (2010 est.)

1.3% (2007 est.)

38,000 (2007 est.)

2,600 (2007 est.)

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

Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant

Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages

2.4% of GDP (2006)

transitional government

6 regions (zobatat, singular - zoba); Anseba, Debub (South), Debubawi K'eyih Bahri (Southern Red Sea), Gash Barka, Ma'akel (Central), Semenawi Keyih Bahri (Northern Red Sea)

24 May 1993 (from Ethiopia)

Independence Day, 24 May (1993)

adopted on 23 May 1997, but has not yet been fully implemented

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; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

unicameral National Assembly (150 seats; members elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)

High Court - regional, subregional, and village courts; also have military and special courts

People's Front for Democracy and Justice or PFDJ [ISAIAS Afworki] (the only party recognized by the government); note - a National Assembly committee drafted a law on political parties in January 2001, but the full National Assembly has yet to debate or vote on it

Eritrean Democratic Party (EDP) [HAGOS, Mesfin]; Eritrean Islamic Jihad or EIJ (includes Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement or EIJM also known as the Abu Sihel Movement); Eritrean Islamic Salvation or EIS (also known as the Arafa Movement); Eritrean Liberation Front or ELF [ABDULLAH Muhammed]; Eritrean National Alliance or ENA (a coalition including EIJ, EIS, ELF, and a number of ELF factions) [HERUY Tedla Biru]; Eritrean Public Forum or EPF [ARADOM Iyob]

ACP, AfDB, AU, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS (observer), ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, ITUC, LAS (observer), MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

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; green stands for the country's agriculture economy, red signifies the blood shed in the fight for freedom, and blue symbolizes the bounty of the sea; the wreath-olive branch symbol is similar to that on the first flag of Eritrea from 1952; the shape of the red triangle broadly mimics the shape of the country

Since independence from Ethiopia in 1993, Eritrea has faced the economic problems of a small, desperately poor country, accentuated by the recent implementation of restrictive economic policies. Eritrea has a command economy under the control of the sole political party, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). Like the economies of many African nations, a large share of the population - nearly 80% - is engaged in subsistence agriculture, but they produce only a small share of total output. The Ethiopian-Eritrea war in 1998-2000 severely hurt Eritrea's economy. GDP growth fell to zero in 1999 and to -12.1% in 2000. The May 2000 Ethiopian offensive into northern Eritrea caused some $600 million in property damage and loss including losses of $225 million in livestock and 55,000 homes. The attack prevented planting of crops in Eritrea's most productive region, causing food production to drop by 62%. Despite the fighting, Eritrea developed its transportation infrastructure, asphalting new roads, improving its ports, and repairing war-damaged roads and bridges. Since the war's conclusion, the government has maintained a firm grip on the economy, expanding the use of the military and party-owned businesses to complete Eritrea's development agenda. The government strictly controls the use of foreign currency by limiting access and availability. Few private enterprises remain in Eritrea. Eritrea's economy depends heavily on taxes paid by members of the diaspora. Erratic rainfall and the delayed demobilization of agriculturalists from the military continue to interfere with agricultural production, and Eritrea's recent harvests have been unable to meet the food needs of the country. The Government continues to place its hope for additional revenue on the development of several international mining projects. Despite difficulties for international companies in working with the Eritrean Government, a Canadian mining company signed a contract with the government in 2007 and plans to begin mineral extraction in 2010. Eritrea's economic future depends upon its ability to master social problems such as illiteracy, unemployment, and low skills, and more importantly, on the government's willingness to support a true market economy.

$3.961 billion (2009 est.)

$3.823 billion (2008 est.)

$3.748 billion (2007 est.)

$1.873 billion (2009 est.)

3.6% (2009 est.)

2% (2008 est.)

1.3% (2007 est.)

$700 (2009 est.)

$700 (2008 est.)

$700 (2007 est.)

1.935 million NA

NA%

50% (2004 est.)

10.4% of GDP (2009 est.)

20% (2009 est.)

19.9% (2008 est.)

NA%

$896.2 million (31 December 2008)

$749.1 million (31 December 2007)

$1.053 billion (31 December 2008)

$932.9 million (31 December 2007)

$1.851 billion (31 December 2008)

$1.711 billion (31 December 2007)

sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, sisal; livestock, goats; fish

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

4% (2009 est.)

271 million kWh (2007 est.)

228 million kWh (2007 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

5,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

4,790 bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

-$246 million (2009 est.)

-$168 million (2008 est.)

$17 million (2009 est.)

$14 million (2008 est.)

livestock, sorghum, textiles, food, small manufactures

India 25.3%, Italy 20.7%, Sudan 14.1%, China 12.9%, France 5.5%, Saudi Arabia 5.4% (2008)

$627 million (2009 est.)

$601 million (2008 est.)

machinery, petroleum products, food, manufactured goods

Saudi Arabia 20.7%, India 13.6%, Italy 12.6%, China 9.9%, US 5.1%, Germany 4.6% (2008)

$36 million (31 December 2009 est.)

$58 million (31 December 2008 est.)

$311 million (2000 est.)

nakfa (ERN) per US dollar - 15.5 (2009), 15.38 (2008), 15.5 (2007), 15.4 (2006), 14.5 (2005)

40,400 (2008)

108,600 (2008)

government controls broadcast media with private ownership prohibited; 1 state-owned TV station; state-owned radio operates 2 networks; purchases of satellite dishes and subscriptions to international broadcast media are permitted (2007)

.er

1,241 (2010)

200,000 (2008)

13 (2010)

1 (2010)

Assab, Massawa

Eritrean Armed Forces: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force (2010)

18-40 years of age for male and female voluntary and compulsory military service; 16-month conscript service obligation (2006)

6.3% of GDP (2006 est.)

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; Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting eastern Sudanese rebel groups; in 2008 Eritrean troops move across the border on Ras Doumera peninsula and occupy Doumera Island with undefined sovereignty in the Red Sea