Eritrea

• hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast;
• cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually, heaviest June to September);
• semiarid in western hills and lowlands

agricultural land:

75.1%;

• arable land 6.8%;
• permanent crops 0%;
• permanent pasture 68.3%

forest:

15.1%

other:

9.8% (2011 est.)

• deforestation;
• desertification;
• soil erosion;
• overgrazing

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• 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 24 May 1993

noun:

Eritrean(s)

adjective:

Eritrean

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.97 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.74 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.75 male(s)/female

total population:

0.97 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

malaria and dengue fever (2016)

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

etymology:

the country name derives from the ancient Greek appellation "Erythra Thalassa" meaning Red Sea, which is the major water body bordering the country

name:

Asmara (Asmera)

geographic coordinates:

15 20 N, 38 56 E

time difference:

UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

history:

ratified by the Constituent Assembly 23 May 1997 (not fully implemented); note - drafting of a new constitution, which began in 2014, continued into 2017

amendments:

• proposed by the president of Eritrea or by assent of at least one-half of the National Assembly membership;
• passage requires at least an initial three-quarters majority vote by the Assembly and, after one year, final passage by at least four-fifths majority vote by the Assembly (2017)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Eritrea

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

20 years

chief of state:

• President ISAIAS Afworki (since 8 June 1993);
• note - the president is both chief of state and head of government and is head of the State Council and National Assembly

head of government:

President ISAIAS Afworki (since 8 June 1993)

cabinet:

State Council appointed by the president

elections/appointments:

• president indirectly elected by the National Assembly for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• the only election was held on 8 June 1993, following independence from Ethiopia (next election postponed indefinitely)

election results:

ISAIAS Afworki elected president by the transitional National Assembly; percent of National Assembly vote - ISAIAS Afworki (PFDJ) 95%, other 5%

description:

unicameral National Assembly or Hagerawi Baito (150 seats; 75 members indirectly elected by the ruling party and 75 directly elected by simple majority vote; members serve 5-year terms)

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 countrywide elections to form a National Assembly were held;
• although only 75 of 150 members of the Transitional National Assembly were elected, the constitution stipulates that once past the transition stage, all members of the National Assembly will be elected by secret ballot of all eligible voters;
• National Assembly elections scheduled for December 2001 were postponed indefinitely due to the war with Ethiopia

highest court(s):

High Court (consists of 20 judges and organized into civil, commercial, criminal, labor, administrative, and customary sections)

judge selection and term of office:

High Court judges appointed by the president

subordinate courts:

• regional/zonal courts;
• community courts;
• special courts;
• sharia courts (for issues dealing with Muslim marriage, inheritance, and family);
• military courts

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires BERHANE Gebrehiwet Solomon (since 15 March 2011)

chancery:

1708 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone:

[1] (202) 319-1991

FAX:

[1] (202) 319-1304

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Natalie E. BROWN (since September 2016)

embassy:

179 Ala Street, Asmara

mailing address:

P.O. Box 211, Asmara

telephone:

[291] (1) 120004

FAX:

[291] (1) 127584

• 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;
• green stands for the country's agriculture economy, red signifies the blood shed in the fight for freedom, and blue symbolizes the bounty of the sea;
• the wreath-olive branch symbol is similar to that on the first flag of Eritrea from 1952;
• the shape of the red triangle broadly mimics the shape of the country

note: one of several flags where a prominent component of the design reflects the shape of the country; other such flags are those of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, and Vanuatu

name:

"Ertra, Ertra, Ertra" (Eritrea, Eritrea, Eritrea)

lyrics/music:

SOLOMON Tsehaye Beraki/Isaac Abraham MEHAREZGI and ARON Tekle Tesfatsion

note: adopted 1993; upon independence from Ethiopia

• sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, sisal;
• livestock, goats;
• fish

agriculture:

80%

industry and services:

20% (2004 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

• woefully inadequate service provided by state-owned telecom monopoly;
• most fixed-line telephones are in Asmara;
• cell phone use only slowly increasing throughout the country;
• no data service

domestic:

combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular subscribership is less than 10 per 100 persons

international:

country code - 291 (2016)

• government controls broadcast media with private ownership prohibited;
• 1 state-owned TV station;
• state-owned radio operates 2 networks;
• purchases of satellite dishes and subscriptions to international broadcast media are permitted (2007)

total:

306 km

narrow gauge:

306 km 0.950-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 122

total:

4,010 km

paved:

874 km

unpaved:

3,136 km (2000)

country comparison to the world: 158

total:

4

by type:

cargo 2, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1 (2010)

country comparison to the world: 130

• Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by 2002 Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision, but neither party responded to the revised line detailed in the November 2006 EEBC Demarcation Statement;
• Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting eastern Sudanese rebel groups;
• in 2008, Eritrean troops moved across the border on Ras Doumera peninsula and occupied Doumera Island with undefined sovereignty in the Red Sea

current situation:

• Eritrea is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor domestically and, to a lesser extent, sex and labor trafficking abroad;
• the country’s national service program is often abused, with conscripts detained indefinitely and subjected to forced labor;
• Eritrean migrants, often fleeing national service, face strict exit control procedures and limited access to passports and visas, making them vulnerable to trafficking;
• Eritrean secondary school children are required to take part in public works projects during their summer breaks and must attend military and educational camp in their final year to obtain a high school graduation certificate and to gain access to higher education and some jobs;
• some Eritreans living in or near refugee camps, particularly in Sudan, are kidnapped by criminal groups and held for ransom in the Sinai Peninsula and Libya, where they are subjected to forced labor and abuse

tier rating:

• Tier 3 – Eritrea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
• the government failed to investigate or prosecute any trafficking offenses or to identify or protect any victims;
• while the government continued to warn citizens of the dangers of human trafficking through awareness-raising events and poster campaigns, authorities lacked an understanding of the crime, conflating trafficking with transnational migration;
• Eritrea is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2015)