nal Issues

Disputes - international: exclusive maritime economic zone boundary
dispute with Cameroon is presently before the ICJ; maritime boundary
dispute with Gabon because of disputed sovereignty over islands in
Corisco Bay; maritime boundary dispute with Nigeria and Cameroon
because of disputed jurisdiction over oil-rich areas in the Gulf of
Guinea

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ERITREA

@Eritrea:Introduction

Background: 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 border war with
Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 remains unresolved.

@Eritrea: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 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 and locust storms

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

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertificat