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@Eritrea
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Introduction

Background: On 29 May 1991, ISAIAS Afworki, secretary general of
the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), which then
served as the country's legislative body, announced the formation of
the Provisional Government in Eritrea (PGE) in preparation for the
23-25 April 1993 referendum on independence from Ethiopia. The
referendum resulted in a landslide vote for independence, which
became effective on 24 May 1993.

Geography

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

Geographic coordinates: 15 00 N, 39 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area:
total: 121,320 sq km
land: 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: NA

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 on 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, probably oil
and natural gas (currently under exploration), fish

Land use:
arable land: 12%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 48%
forests and woodland: 20%
other: 19% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 280 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: frequent droughts

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