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 27 April
1993

@Eritrea:People

Population: 3,842,436 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 43% (male 826,686; female 818,323)
15-64 years: 54% (male 1,026,922; female 1,042,156)
65 years and over: 3% (male 66,222; female 62,127) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.39% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 42.52 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 12.57 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 3.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)
note: it is estimated that between 200,000 and 350,000 Eritrean
refugees were still living in Sudan in mid-1997

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.06 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 78.51 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 55.31 years
male: 53.19 years
female: 57.51 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.99 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Eritrean(s)
adjective: Eritrean

Ethnic groups: ethnic Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%,
Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%

Religions: Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant

Languages: Afar, Amharic, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, minor
ethnic group languages

Literacy: NA

@Eritrea:Government

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

Data code: ER

Government 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 Peoples' 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

National capital: Asmara (formerly Asmera)

Administrative divisions: 8 provinces (singular-awraja); Akele Guzay,
Barka, Denkel, Hamasen, Sahil, Semhar, Sen