ational Assembly (150 seats; term
limits not established)
elections: in May 1997, following the adoption of the new
constitution, 75 members of the PFDJ Central Committee (the old
Central Committee of the EPLF), 60 members of the 527-member
Constituent Assembly which had been established in 1997 to discuss and
ratify the new constitution, and 15 representatives of Eritreans
living abroad were formed into a Transitional National Assembly to
serve as the country's legislative body until country-wide elections
to a National Assembly are held; only 75 members will be elected to
the National Assembly - the other 75 will be members of the Central
Committee of the PFDJ

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; 10 provincial courts; 29 district
courts

Political parties and leaders: People's Front for Democracy and
Justice or PFDJ, the only party recognized by the government [ISAIAS
Afworki, PETROS Solomon]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Eritrean Islamic Jihad or EIJ;
Eritrean Liberation Front or ELF ; Eritrean
Liberation Front-Revolutionary Council or ELF-RC ;
Eritrean Liberation Front-United Organization or ELF-UO [Mohammed Said
NAWD]

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, FAO,
G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat
(nonsignatory user), IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador SEMERE Russom
chancery: 1708 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: (202) 319-1991
FAX: (202) 319-1304

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador William D. CLARKE
embassy: Franklin D. Roosevelt Street, Asmara
mailing address: P. O. Box 211, Asmara
telephone: (1) 120004
FAX: (1) 127584

Flag description: 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

@Eritrea:Economy

Economy - overview: With independence from Ethiopia on 24 May 1993,
Eritrea faced the economic problems of a small, desperately poor
country. The economy is largely based on subsistence agriculture, with
80% of the population involved in farming and herding. The small
industrial sector consists mainly of light industries with outmoded
technologies. Domestic output (GDP) is su