Eritrea (2001) | Armenia (2008) | |
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Administrative divisions | 8 provinces (singular - awraja); Akale Guzay, Barka, Denkel, Hamasen, Sahil, Semhar, Senhit, Seraye
note: in May 1995 the National Assembly adopted a resolution stating that the administrative structure of Eritrea, which had been established by former colonial powers, would consist of only six provinces when the new constitution, then being drafted, became effective in 1997; the new provinces, the names of which had not been recommended by the US Board on Geographic Names for recognition by the US Government, pending acceptable definition of the boundaries, were: Anseba, Debub, Debubawi Keyih Bahri, Gash-Barka, Maakel, and Semanawi Keyih Bahri; more recently, it has been reported that these provinces have been redesignated regions and renamed Southern Red Sea, Northern Red Sea, Anseba, Gash-Barka, Southern, and Central |
11 provinces (marzer, singular - marz); Aragatsotn, Ararat, Armavir, Geghark'unik', Kotayk', Lorri, Shirak, Syunik', Tavush, Vayots' Dzor, Yerevan |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
42.85% (male 922,691; female 918,916) 15-64 years: 53.87% (male 1,147,927; female 1,167,705) 65 years and over: 3.28% (male 71,232; female 69,798) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 19.5% (male 307,610/female 271,381)
15-64 years: 69.3% (male 962,126/female 1,098,192) 65 years and over: 11.2% (male 132,705/female 199,636) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sisal; livestock, goats; fish | fruit (especially grapes), vegetables; livestock |
Airports | 20 (2000 est.) | 12 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
2 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 10
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
18 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007) |
Area | total:
121,320 sq km land: 121,320 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 29,800 sq km
land: 28,400 sq km water: 1,400 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Pennsylvania | slightly smaller than Maryland |
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 two and a half year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices on 12 December 2000. | Armenia prides itself on being the first nation to formally adopt Christianity (early 4th century). Despite periods of autonomy, over the centuries Armenia came under the sway of various empires including the Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Persian, and Ottoman. During World War I in the western portion of Armenia, Ottoman Turkey instituted a policy of forced resettlement coupled with other harsh practices that resulted in an estimated 1 million Armenian deaths. The eastern area of Armenia was ceded by the Ottomans to Russia in 1828; this portion declared its independence in 1918, but was conquered by the Soviet Red Army in 1920. Armenian leaders remain preoccupied by the long conflict with Muslim Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily Armenian-populated region, assigned to Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s by Moscow. Armenia and Azerbaijan began fighting over the area in 1988; the struggle escalated after both countries attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By May 1994, when a cease-fire took hold, Armenian forces held not only Nagorno-Karabakh but also a significant portion of Azerbaijan proper. The economies of both sides have been hurt by their inability to make substantial progress toward a peaceful resolution. Turkey imposed an economic blockade on Armenia and closed the common border because of the Armenian separatists' control of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas. |
Birth rate | 42.52 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 12.34 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$283.9 million expenditures: $351.6 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.) |
revenues: $1.648 billion
expenditures: $1.645 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2007 est.) |
Capital | Asmara (formerly Asmera) | name: Yerevan
geographic coordinates: 40 10 N, 44 30 E time difference: UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
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 | highland continental, hot summers, cold winters |
Coastline | 2,234 km total; mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea 1,083 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | the transitional constitution, decreed on 19 May 1993, was replaced by a new constitution adopted on 23 May 1997, but not yet implemented | adopted by nationwide referendum 5 July 1995; amendments adopted through a nationwide referendum 27 November 2005 |
Country name | 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 |
conventional long form: Republic of Armenia
conventional short form: Armenia local long form: Hayastani Hanrapetut'yun local short form: Hayastan former: Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, Armenian Republic |
Currency | nakfa (ERN) | - |
Death rate | 12.07 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 8.29 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $281 million (2000 est.) | $1.372 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
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: [291] (1) 120004 FAX: [291] (1) 127584 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Joseph S. PENNINGTON
embassy: 1 American Ave., Yerevan 0082 mailing address: American Embassy Yerevan, US Department of State, 7020 Yerevan Place, Washington, DC 20521-7020 telephone: [374](10) 464-700 FAX: [374](10) 464-742 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador GIRMA Asmerom chancery: 1708 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 319-1991 FAX: [1] (202) 319-1304 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Tatoul MARKARIAN
chancery: 2225 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 319-1976 FAX: [1] (202) 319-2982 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles |
Disputes - international | as a result of the 12 December 2000 peace agreement ending a two-year war with Ethiopia, the UN will administer a 25-km wide temporary security zone within Eritrea until a joint boundary commission delimits and demarcates a final boundary | Armenia supports ethnic Armenian secessionists in Nagorno-Karabakh and since the early 1990s, has militarily occupied 16% of Azerbaijan - Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) continues to mediate dispute; over 800,000 mostly ethnic Azerbaijanis were driven from the occupied lands and Armenia; about 230,000 ethnic Armenians were driven from their homes in Azerbaijan into Armenia; Azerbaijan seeks transit route through Armenia to connect to Naxcivan exclave; border with Turkey remains closed over Nagorno-Karabakh dispute; ethnic Armenian groups in Javakheti region of Georgia seek greater autonomy; Armenians continue to emigrate, primarily to Russia, seeking employment |
Economic aid - recipient | $77 million (1999) | ODA, $180 million (2007) |
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 substantially augmented by worker remittances from abroad. Government revenues come from custom duties and taxes on income and sales. Road construction is a top domestic priority. In the long term, Eritrea may benefit from the development of offshore oil, offshore fishing, and tourism. Eritrea's economic future depends on its ability to master fundamental social and economic problems, e.g., by reducing illiteracy, promoting job creation, expanding technical training, attracting foreign investment, and streamlining the bureaucracy. Eritrea's agriculture over the last two years was severely weakened by war and drought, and many farmlands must wait to be demined. Another major difficulty is the ports, which prior to the war were Ethiopia's preferred outlets but since have seen trade dry up. | Since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia has made progress in implementing many economic reforms including privatization, price reforms, and prudent fiscal policies. The conflict with Azerbaijan over the ethnic Armenian-dominated region of Nagorno-Karabakh contributed to a severe economic decline in the early 1990s. By 1994, however, the Armenian Government launched an ambitious IMF-sponsored economic liberalization program that resulted in positive growth rates. Economic growth has averaged over 13% in recent years. Armenia has managed to reduce poverty, slash inflation, stabilize its currency, and privatize most small- and medium-sized enterprises. Under the old Soviet central planning system, Armenia developed a modern industrial sector, supplying machine tools, textiles, and other manufactured goods to sister republics, in exchange for raw materials and energy. Armenia has since switched to small-scale agriculture and away from the large agroindustrial complexes of the Soviet era. Nuclear power plants built at Metsamor in the 1970s were closed following the 1988 Spitak Earthquake, though they sustained no damage. One of the two reactors was re-opened in 1995, but the Armenian government is under international pressure to close it due to concerns that the Soviet era design lacks important safeguards. Metsamor provides 40 percent of the country's electricity - hydropower accounts for about one-fourth. Economic ties with Russia remain close, especially in the energy sector. The electricity distribution system was privatized in 2002 and bought by Russia's RAO-UES in 2005. Construction of a pipeline to deliver natural gas from Iran to Armenia is halfway completed and is scheduled to be commissioned by January 2009. Armenia has some mineral deposits (copper, gold, bauxite). Pig iron, unwrought copper, and other nonferrous metals are Armenia's highest valued exports. Armenia's severe trade imbalance has been offset somewhat by international aid, remittances from Armenians working abroad, and foreign direct investment. Armenia joined the WTO in January 2003. The government made some improvements in tax and customs administration in recent years, but anti-corruption measures will be more difficult to implement. Despite strong economic growth, Armenia's unemployment rate remains high. Armenia will need to pursue additional economic reforms in order to improve its economic competitiveness and to build on recent improvements in poverty and unemployment, especially given its economic isolation from two of its nearest neighbors, Turkey and Azerbaijan. |
Electricity - consumption | 153.5 million kWh (1999) | 5.454 billion kWh (2006) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh NA kWh (1999) | 754.5 million kWh; note - exports an unknown quantity to Georgia; includes exports to Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan (2006) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh NA kWh (1999) | 354.9 million kWh; note - imports an unknown quantity from Iran (2006) |
Electricity - production | 165 million kWh (1999) | 5.941 billion kWh (2006) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
near Kulul within the Denakil depression -75 m highest point: Soira 3,018 m |
lowest point: Debed River 400 m
highest point: Aragats Lerrnagagat' 4,090 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare | soil pollution from toxic chemicals such as DDT; the energy crisis of the 1990s led to deforestation when citizens scavenged for firewood; pollution of Hrazdan (Razdan) and Aras Rivers; the draining of Sevana Lich (Lake Sevan), a result of its use as a source for hydropower, threatens drinking water supplies; restart of Metsamor nuclear power plant in spite of its location in a seismically active zone |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants |
Ethnic groups | ethnic Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3% | Armenian 97.9%, Yezidi (Kurd) 1.3%, Russian 0.5%, other 0.3% (2001 census) |
Exchange rates | nakfa per US dollar = 9.5 (January 2000), 7.6 (January 1999), 7.2 (March 1998 est.) | drams per US dollar - 344.06 (2007), 414.69 (2006), 457.69 (2005), 533.45 (2004), 578.76 (2003) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President ISAIAS Afworki (since 8 June 1993); note - the president is both the 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); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government and is head of the State Council and National Assembly cabinet: State Council is the collective executive authority elections: president elected by the National Assembly; election last held 8 June 1993 (next tentatively scheduled for December 2001) election results: ISAIAS Afworki elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - ISAIAS Afworki 95% |
chief of state: President Robert KOCHARIAN (since 30 March 1998)
head of government: Prime Minister Serzh SARGSYAN (since 4 April 2007) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 19 February 2008 (next to be held February 2013); prime minister appointed by the president based on majority or plurality support in parliament; the prime minister and Council of Ministers must resign if the National Assembly refuses to accept their program election results: Serzh SARGSYAN elected president; percent of vote - Serzh SARGSYAN 52.9%, Levon TER-PETROSSIAN 21.5%, Artur BAGHDASARIAN 16.7%; note - president elect Serzh SARGSYAN is due to take office 9 April 2008 |
Exports | $26 million (f.o.b., 1999) | 0 bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | livestock, sorghum, textiles, food, small manufactures | diamonds, mineral products, foodstuffs, energy |
Exports - partners | Sudan 27.2%, Ethiopia 26.5%, Japan 13.2%, UAE 7.3%, Italy 5.3% (1998) | Germany 18.3%, Netherlands 14.1%, Belgium 13.3%, Russia 13.1%, Israel 7%, US 6.1%, Georgia 5.1%, Iran 4.9% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
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 | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, and orange |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $2.9 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
16% industry: 27% services: 57% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 17.2%
industry: 36.4% services: 46.4% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $710 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | -1% (2000 est.) | 13.7% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 15 00 N, 39 00 E | 40 00 N, 45 00 E |
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 on 24 May 1993 | landlocked in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains; Sevana Lich (Lake Sevan) is the largest lake in this mountain range |
Highways | total:
3,850 km paved: 810 km unpaved: 3,040 km (2000) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 41.3% (2004) |
Illicit drugs | - | illicit cultivation of small amount of cannabis for domestic consumption; minor transit point for illicit drugs - mostly opium and hashish - moving from Southwest Asia to Russia and to a lesser extent the rest of Europe |
Imports | $560 million (c.i.f., 1999) | 41,240 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | machinery, petroleum products, food, manufactured goods | natural gas, petroleum, tobacco products, foodstuffs, diamonds |
Imports - partners | Italy 17.4%, UAE 16.2%, Germany 5.7%, UK 4.5%, Korea 4.4% (1998) | Russia 21.8%, Ukraine 7.8%, Belgium 7.6%, Turkmenistan 7.1%, Italy 6.1%, Germany 5.7%, Iran 5.7%, Israel 4.8%, US 4.5%, Georgia 4.1% (2006) |
Independence | 24 May 1993 (from Ethiopia) | 21 September 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 2.6% (2007 est.) |
Industries | food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles | diamond-processing, metal-cutting machine tools, forging-pressing machines, electric motors, tires, knitted wear, hosiery, shoes, silk fabric, chemicals, trucks, instruments, microelectronics, jewelry manufacturing, software development, food processing, brandy |
Infant mortality rate | 75.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 21.69 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 26.69 deaths/1,000 live births female: 15.91 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 14% (2000 est.) | 6.6% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO | ACCT (observer), ADB, BSEC, CE, CIS, CSTO, EAEC (observer), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, MIGA, NAM (observer), OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 4 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 280 sq km (1993 est.) | 2,860 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; 10 provincial courts; 29 district courts | Constitutional Court; Court of Cassation (Appeals Court) |
Labor force | NA | 1.2 million (2007 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 80%, industry and services 20% | agriculture: 46.2%
industry: 15.6% services: 38.2% (2006 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
1,630 km border countries: Djibouti 113 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km |
total: 1,254 km
border countries: Azerbaijan-proper 566 km, Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave 221 km, Georgia 164 km, Iran 35 km, Turkey 268 km |
Land use | arable land:
12% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 49% forests and woodland: 6% other: 32% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 16.78%
permanent crops: 2.01% other: 81.21% (2005) |
Languages | Afar, Amharic, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages | Armenian 97.7%, Yezidi 1%, Russian 0.9%, other 0.4% (2001 census) |
Legal system | operates on the basis of transitional laws that incorporate pre-independence statutes of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, revised Ethiopian laws, customary laws, and post independence enacted laws | based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral National 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; parliamentary elections are now scheduled for NA December 2001 |
unicameral National Assembly (Parliament) or Azgayin Zhoghov (131 seats; members elected by popular vote, 90 members elected by party list and 41 by direct vote; to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 12 May 2007 (next to be held in the spring of 2012) election results: percent of vote by party - HHK 49.6%, Prosperous Armenia 19%, ARF (Dashnak) 12.2%, Rule of Law 6.1%, Heritage Party 5.3%, other 7.8%; seats by party - HHK 65, Prosperous Armenia 25, ARF (Dashnak) 16, Rule of Law 8, Heritage Party 7, Dashink 1, independent 9 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
56.18 years male: 53.73 years female: 58.71 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 72.12 years
male: 68.52 years female: 76.29 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
NA total population: 25% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.4% male: 99.7% female: 99.2% (2001 census) |
Location | Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan | Southwestern Asia, east of Turkey |
Map references | Africa | Asia |
Maritime claims | territorial sea:
12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total:
5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,069 GRT/19,549 DWT ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 1, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1 (2000 est.) |
- |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force | Armed Forces: Ground Forces, Nagorno-Karabakh Self Defense Force (NKSDF), Air Force, Air Defense Force (2006) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $160 million (2000 est.) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 29.4% (2000 est.) | 6.5% (FY01) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 24 May (1993) | Independence Day, 21 September (1991) |
Nationality | noun:
Eritrean(s) adjective: Eritrean |
noun: Armenian(s)
adjective: Armenian |
Natural hazards | frequent droughts; locust swarms | occasionally severe earthquakes; droughts |
Natural resources | gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish | small deposits of gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc, bauxite |
Net migration rate | 7.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
note: according to the UNHCR, about 150,000 Eritrean refugees in Sudan have registered for voluntary repatriation, following the restoration of diplomatic relations between Eritrea and Sudan in January 2000 |
-5.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 2,036 km (2007) |
Political parties and leaders | People's Front for Democracy and Justice or PFDJ, the only party recognized by the government [ISAIAS Afworki, PETROS Solomon]; note - the National Assembly has appointed a committee to draft a law on political parties | Armenian National Movement or ANM [Ararat ZURABYAN]; Armenian People's Party [Tigran KARAPETYAN]; Armenian Ramkavar Azadagan Party Alliance or HRAK (includes former Dashink Party, National Revival Party, and Ramkavar Liberal Party); Armenian Revolutionary Federation ("Dashnak" Party) or ARF [Hrant MARKARYAN]; Heritage Party [Raffi HOVHANNISYAN]; National Democratic Party [Shavarsh KOCHARIAN]; National Democratic Union or NDU [Vazgen MANUKIAN]; National Unity Party [Artashes GEGHAMYAN]; People's Party of Armenia [Stepan DEMIRCHYAN]; Prosperous Armenia [Gagik TSAROUKYAN]; Republic Party [Aram SARKISYAN]; Republican Party of Armenia or HHK [Serzh SARGSYAN]; Rule of Law Party (Orinats Yerkir) [Artur BAGHDASARYAN]; Union of Constitutional Rights [Hrant KHACHATURYAN]; United Labor Party [Gurgen ARSENYAN] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Eritrean Islamic Jihad or EIJ; Eritrean Liberation Front or ELF [ABDULLAH Muhammed]; Eritrean Liberation Front-Revolutionary Council or ELF-RC [Ahmed NASSER]; Eritrean Liberation Front-United Organization or ELF-UO [Mohammed Said NAWD] | Yerkrapah Union [Manvel GRIGORIAN], Aylentrank (Impeachment) [Nikol PASHINYAN] |
Population | 4,298,269 (July 2001 est.) | 2,971,650 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 26.5% (2006 est.) |
Population growth rate | 3.84% (2001 est.) | -0.129% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Assab (Aseb), Massawa (Mits'iwa) | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 1, shortwave 2 (2000) | AM 9, FM 16, shortwave 1 (2006) |
Radios | 345,000 (1997) | - |
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 |
total: 839 km
broad gauge: 839 km 1.520-m gauge (828 km electrified) note: some lines are out of service (2006) |
Religions | Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant | Armenian Apostolic 94.7%, other Christian 4%, Yezidi (monotheist with elements of nature worship) 1.3% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.02 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.16 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.133 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.876 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.665 male(s)/female total population: 0.894 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
NA domestic: very inadequate; most telephones are in Asmara; government is seeking international tenders to improve the system international: NA |
general assessment: telecommunications investments have made major inroads in modernizing and upgrading the outdated telecommunications network inherited from the Soviet era; now 100% privately owned and undergoing modernization and expansion; mobile-cellular services monopoly terminated in late 2004 and a second provider began operations in mid-2005
domestic: reliable modern landline and mobile-cellular services are available across Yerevan in major cities and towns; significant, but ever-shrinking gaps remain in mobile-cellular coverage in rural areas international: country code - 374; Yerevan is connected to the Trans-Asia-Europe fiber-optic cable through Iran; additional international service is available by microwave radio relay and landline connections to the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and through the Moscow international switch and by satellite to the rest of the world; satellite earth stations - 3 (2007) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 23,578 (2000) | 594,400 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 318,000 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2000) | 48 (private television stations alongside 2 public networks; major Russian channels widely available) (2006) |
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 | Armenian Highland with mountains; little forest land; fast flowing rivers; good soil in Aras River valley |
Total fertility rate | 5.87 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.34 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 7.1% (2007 est.) |
Waterways | none | - |