llion (1997)

Currency: 1 nafka = 100 cents

Exchange rates: nakfa per US$1 = 9.5 (January 2000), 7.6 (January
1999), 7.2 (March 1998 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

@Eritrea:Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 23,578 (2000)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 0 (1995)

Telephone system:
domestic: very inadequate; most telephones are in Asmara; government
is seeking international tenders to improve the system
international: NA

Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 1, shortwave 2 (2000)

Radios: 345,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 1 (2000)

Televisions: 1,000 (1997)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (1999)

@Eritrea:Transportation

Railways:
total: 317 km
narrow gauge: 317 km 0.950-m gauge (1999)
note: links Ak'ordat and Asmara with the port of Massawa;
nonoperational since 1978 except for about a 5 km stretch that was
reopened in Massawa in 1994; rehabilitation of the remainder and of
the rolling stock is under way

Highways:
total: 4,010 km
paved: 874 km
unpaved: 3,136 km (1996 est.)

Ports and harbors: Assab (Aseb), Massawa (Mits'iwa)

Merchant marine:
total: 5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,069 GRT/19,549 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 1, liquified gas 1, petroleum tanker 1,
roll-on/roll-off 1 (1999 est.)

Airports: 21 (1999 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 3
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (1999 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 18
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 6
914 to 1,523 m: 6
under 914 m: 2 (1999 est.)

@Eritrea:Military

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $196 million (FY97)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 28.6% (FY97)

@Eritrea:Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: dispute over alignment of boundary with
Ethiopia led to armed conflict in 1998, which is still unresolved
despite arbitration efforts

______________________________________________________________________

ESTONIA

@Estonia:Introduction

Background: After centuries of Swedish and Russian rule, Estonia
attained independence in 1918. Forcibly incorporated into the USSR in
1940, it regained its freedom in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet
Union. Since the last Russian troops left in 1994, Estonia has been
free to promote economic and political ties with Western Europe.

@Estonia:Geography

Location: Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea