nd: 121,320 sq km

water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than Pennsylvania

Land boundaries: total: 1,630 km

border countries: Djibouti 113 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km

Coastline: 2,234 km total; mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in
Red Sea 1,083 km

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 NM

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 in coastal desert

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

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

Land use: arable land: 12%

permanent crops: 1%

permanent pastures: 49%

forests and woodland: 6%

other: 32% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 280 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: frequent droughts; locust swarms

Environment - current issues: deforestation; desertification; soil
erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: 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

Eritrea People

Population: 4,298,269 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 42.85% (male 922,691; female 918,916)

15-64 years: 53.87% (male 1,147,927; female 1,167,705)

65 years and over: 3.28% (male 71,232; female 69,798) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.84% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 42.52 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 12.07 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 7.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

note: according to the UNHCR, about 150,000 Eritrean refugees in
Sudan have registered for voluntary repatriation, following the
restoration of diplomatic relations between Eritrea and Sudan in
January 2000

Sex ratio: at birth: