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Compare Eritrea (2001) - Russia (2001)

Compare Eritrea (2001) z Russia (2001)

 Eritrea (2001)Russia (2001)
 EritreaRussia
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
49 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast), 21 republics* (respublik, singular - respublika), 10 autonomous okrugs**(avtonomnykh okrugov, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 6 krays*** (krayev, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (singular - gorod)****, and 1 autonomous oblast*****(avtonomnaya oblast'); Adygeya (Maykop)*, Aginskiy Buryatskiy (Aginskoye)**, Altay (Gorno-Altaysk)*, Altayskiy (Barnaul)***, Amurskaya (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'skaya, Astrakhanskaya, Bashkortostan (Ufa)*, Belgorodskaya, Bryanskaya, Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude)*, Chechnya (Groznyy)*, Chelyabinskaya, Chitinskaya, Chukotskiy (Anadyr')**, Chuvashiya (Cheboksary)*, Dagestan (Makhachkala)*, Evenkiyskiy (Tura)**, Ingushetiya (Nazran')*, Irkutskaya, Ivanovskaya, Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik)*, Kaliningradskaya, Kalmykiya (Elista)*, Kaluzhskaya, Kamchatskaya (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk)*, Kareliya (Petrozavodsk)*, Kemerovskaya, Khabarovskiy***, Khakasiya (Abakan)*, Khanty-Mansiyskiy (Khanty-Mansiysk)**, Kirovskaya, Komi (Syktyvkar)*, Koryakskiy (Palana)**, Kostromskaya, Krasnodarskiy***, Krasnoyarskiy***, Kurganskaya, Kurskaya, Leningradskaya, Lipetskaya, Magadanskaya, Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola)*, Mordoviya (Saransk)*, Moskovskaya, Moskva (Moscow)****, Murmanskaya, Nenetskiy (Nar'yan-Mar)**, Nizhegorodskaya, Novgorodskaya, Novosibirskaya, Omskaya, Orenburgskaya, Orlovskaya (Orel), Penzenskaya, Permskaya, Komi-Permyatskiy (Kudymkar)**, Primorskiy (Vladivostok)***, Pskovskaya, Rostovskaya, Ryazanskaya, Sakha (Yakutsk)*, Sakhalinskaya (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samarskaya, Sankt-Peterburg (Saint Petersburg)****, Saratovskaya, Severnaya Osetiya-Alaniya [North Ossetia] (Vladikavkaz)*, Smolenskaya, Stavropol'skiy***, Sverdlovskaya (Yekaterinburg), Tambovskaya, Tatarstan (Kazan')*, Taymyrskiy (Dudinka)**, Tomskaya, Tul'skaya, Tverskaya, Tyumenskaya, Tyva (Kyzyl)*, Udmurtiya (Izhevsk)*, Ul'yanovskaya, Ust'-Ordynskiy Buryatskiy (Ust'-Ordynskiy)**, Vladimirskaya, Volgogradskaya, Vologodskaya, Voronezhskaya, Yamalo-Nenetskiy (Salekhard)**, Yaroslavskaya, Yevreyskaya*****; note - when using a place name with an adjectival ending 'skaya' or 'skiy,' the word Oblast' or Avonomnyy Okrug or Kray should be added to the place name

note:
the autonomous republics of Chechnya and Ingushetiya were formerly the autonomous republic of Checheno-Ingushetia (the boundary between Chechnya and Ingushetia has yet to be determined); administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)
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:
17.41% (male 12,915,026; female 12,405,341)

15-64 years:
69.78% (male 49,183,000; female 52,320,962)

65 years and over:
12.81% (male 5,941,944; female 12,703,924) (2001 est.)
Agriculture - products sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sisal; livestock, goats; fish grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits; beef, milk
Airports 20 (2000 est.) 2,743 (2000 est.)
Airports - with paved runways total:
2

over 3,047 m:
1

2,438 to 3,047 m:
1 (2000 est.)
total:
471

over 3,047 m:
56

2,438 to 3,047 m:
178

1,524 to 2,437 m:
76

914 to 1,523 m:
69

under 914 m:
92 (2000 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:
5

914 to 1,523 m:
7

under 914 m:
2 (2000 est.)
total:
2,272

over 3,047 m:
28

2,438 to 3,047 m:
118

1,524 to 2,437 m:
204

914 to 1,523 m:
324

under 914 m:
1,598 (2000 est.)
Area total:
121,320 sq km

land:
121,320 sq km

water:
0 sq km
total:
17,075,200 sq km

land:
16,995,800 sq km

water:
79,400 sq km
Area - comparative slightly larger than Pennsylvania slightly less than 1.8 times the size of the US
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. The defeat of the Russian Empire in World War I led to the seizure of power by the communists and the formation of the USSR. The brutal rule of Josef STALIN (1924-53) strengthened Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives. The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into 15 independent republics. Since then, Russia has struggled in its efforts to build a democratic political system and market economy to replace the strict social, political, and economic controls of the communist period.
Birth rate 42.52 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) 9.35 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Budget revenues:
$283.9 million

expenditures:
$351.6 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)
revenues:
$40 billion

expenditures:
$33.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
Capital Asmara (formerly Asmera) Moscow
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 ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast
Coastline 2,234 km total; mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea 1,083 km 37,653 km
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 12 December 1993
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:
Russian Federation

conventional short form:
Russia

local long form:
Rossiyskaya Federatsiya

local short form:
Rossiya

former:
Russian Empire, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Currency nakfa (ERN) Russian ruble (RUR)
Death rate 12.07 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) 13.85 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Debt - external $281 million (2000 est.) $163 billion (2000 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 James F. COLLINS

embassy:
Novinskiy Bul'var 19/23, 121099 Moscow

mailing address:
APO AE 09721

telephone:
[7] (095) 728-5000

FAX:
[7] (095) 728-5203

consulate(s) general:
Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg
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 Yuriy Viktorovich USHAKOV

chancery:
2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007

telephone:
[1] (202) 298-5700, 5701, 5704, 5708

FAX:
[1] (202) 298-5735

consulate(s) general:
New York, San Francisco, and Seattle
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 dispute over at least two small sections of the boundary with China remains to be settled, despite 1997 boundary agreement; islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan; Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan; Estonian and Russian negotiators reached a technical border agreement in December 1996, which has not been signed or ratified by Russia as of February 2001; draft treaty delimiting the boundary with Latvia has not been signed; 1997 border agreement with Lithuania not yet ratified; has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other nation; Svalbard is the focus of a maritime boundary dispute between Norway and Russia
Economic aid - recipient $77 million (1999) $8.523 billion (1995)
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. A decade after the implosion of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia is still struggling to establish a modern market economy and achieve strong economic growth. In contrast to its trading partners in Central Europe - which were able to overcome the initial production declines that accompanied the launch of market reforms within three to five years - Russia saw its economy contract for five years, as the executive and legislature dithered over the implementation of many of the basic foundations of a market economy. Russia achieved a slight recovery in 1997, but the government's stubborn budget deficits and the country's poor business climate made it vulnerable when the global financial crisis swept through in 1998. The crisis culminated in the August depreciation of the ruble, a debt default by the government, and a sharp deterioration in living standards for most of the population. The economy rebounded in 1999 and 2000, buoyed by the competitive boost from the weak ruble and a surging trade surplus fueled by rising world oil prices. This recovery, along with a renewed government effort in 2000 to advance lagging structural reforms, have raised business and investor confidence over Russia's prospects in its second decade of transition. Yet serious problems persist. Russia remains heavily dependent on exports of commodities, particularly oil, natural gas, metals, and timber, which account for over 80% of exports, leaving the country vulnerable to swings in world prices. Russia's agricultural sector remains beset by uncertainty over land ownership rights, which has discouraged needed investment and restructuring. Another threat is negative demographic trends, fueled by low birth rates and a deteriorating health situation - including an alarming rise in AIDS cases - that have contributed to a nearly 2% drop in the population since 1992. Russia's industrial base is increasingly dilapidated and must be replaced or modernized if the country is to achieve sustainable economic growth. Other problems include widespread corruption, capital flight, and brain drain.
Electricity - consumption 153.5 million kWh (1999) 728.2 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports 0 kWh NA kWh (1999) 20 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports 0 kWh NA kWh (1999) 6 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production 165 million kWh (1999) 798.065 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source fossil fuel:
100%

hydro:
0%

nuclear:
0%

other:
0% (1999)
fossil fuel:
66.31%

hydro:
19.79%

nuclear:
13.9%

other:
0% (1999)
Elevation extremes lowest point:
near Kulul within the Denakil depression -75 m

highest point:
Soira 3,018 m
lowest point:
Caspian Sea -28 m

highest point:
Gora El'brus 5,633 m
Environment - current issues deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major cities; industrial, municipal, and agricultural pollution of inland waterways and sea coasts; deforestation; soil erosion; soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals; scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination; ground water contamination from toxic waste
Environment - international agreements party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species

signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:
Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Ethnic groups ethnic Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3% Russian 81.5%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 3%, Chuvash 1.2%, Bashkir 0.9%, Byelorussian 0.8%, Moldavian 0.7%, other 8.1%
Exchange rates nakfa per US dollar = 9.5 (January 2000), 7.6 (January 1999), 7.2 (March 1998 est.) Russian rubles per US dollar - 28.3592 (January 2001), 28.1292 (2000), 24.6199 (1999), 9.7051 (1998), 5,785 (1997), 5,121 (1996)

note:
the post-1 January 1998 ruble is equal to 1,000 of the pre-1 January 1998 rubles
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 Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (acting president since 31 December 1999, president since 7 May 2000)

head of government:
Premier Mikhail Mikhaylovich KASYANOV (since 7 May 2000); First Deputy Premier Aleksey Leonidovich KUDRIN (since 18 May 2000), Deputy Premiers Aleksey Vasilyevich GORDEYEV (since 20 May 2000), Viktor Borisovich KHRISTENKO (since 31 May 1999), Ilya Iosifovich KLEBANOV (since 31 May 1999), Valentina Ivanovna MATVIYENKO (since 22 September 1998)

cabinet:
Ministries of the Government or "Government" composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers, and other agency heads; all are appointed by the president

note:
there is also a Presidential Administration (PA) that provides staff and policy support to the president, drafts presidential decrees, and coordinates policy among government agencies; a Security Council also reports directly to the president

elections:
president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 26 March 2000 (next to be held NA 2004); note - no vice president; if the president dies in office, cannot exercise his powers because of ill health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier succeeds him; the premier serves as acting president until a new presidential election is held, which must be within three months; premier appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma

election results:
Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN elected president; percent of vote - PUTIN 52.9%, Gennadiy Aadreyevich ZYUGANOV 29.2%, Grigoriy Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY 5.8%
Exports $26 million (f.o.b., 1999) $105.1 billion (2000 est.)
Exports - commodities livestock, sorghum, textiles, food, small manufactures petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures
Exports - partners Sudan 27.2%, Ethiopia 26.5%, Japan 13.2%, UAE 7.3%, Italy 5.3% (1998) US 8.8%, Germany 8.5%, Ukraine 6.5%, Belarus 5.1%, Italy 5%, Netherlands 4.8% (1999)
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 white (top), blue, and red
GDP purchasing power parity - $2.9 billion (2000 est.) purchasing power parity - $1.12 trillion (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture:
16%

industry:
27%

services:
57% (2000 est.)
agriculture:
7%

industry:
34%

services:
59% (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $710 (2000 est.) purchasing power parity - $7,700 (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate -1% (2000 est.) 6.3% (2000 est.)
Geographic coordinates 15 00 N, 39 00 E 60 00 N, 100 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 largest country in the world in terms of area but unfavorably located in relation to major sea lanes of the world; despite its size, much of the country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry) for agriculture
Highways total:
3,850 km

paved:
810 km

unpaved:
3,040 km (2000)
total:
952,000 km

paved:
752,000 km (including, in addition to about 336,000 km of conventionally paved roads, about 416,000 km of roads, the surfaces of which have been stabilized with gravel or other coarse aggregates, making them trafficable in wet weather)

unpaved:
200,000 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1998)
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%:
NA%

highest 10%:
NA%
lowest 10%:
1.7%

highest 10%:
38.7% (1998)
Illicit drugs - limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy and producer of amphetamine, mostly for domestic consumption; government has active eradication program; increasingly used as transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian opiates and cannabis and Latin American cocaine to Western Europe, possibly to the US, and growing domestic market; major source of heroin precursor chemicals; corruption and organized crime are major concerns; heroin an increasing threat in domestic drug market
Imports $560 million (c.i.f., 1999) $44.2 billion (2000 est.)
Imports - commodities machinery, petroleum products, food, manufactured goods machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines, meat, grain, sugar, semifinished metal products
Imports - partners Italy 17.4%, UAE 16.2%, Germany 5.7%, UK 4.5%, Korea 4.4% (1998) Germany 13.8%, Belarus 10.7%, Ukraine 8.3%, US 7.9%, Kazakhstan 4.6%, Italy 3.8% (1999)
Independence 24 May 1993 (from Ethiopia) 24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Industrial production growth rate NA% 8.8% (2000 est.)
Industries food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil, gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling mills to high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; shipbuilding; road and rail transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery, tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer durables, textiles, foodstuffs, handicrafts
Infant mortality rate 75.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) 20.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 14% (2000 est.) 20.6% (2000 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 APEC, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BSEC, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN (observer), CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ESCAP, G- 8, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNOMIG, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 4 (2000) 35 (2000)
Irrigated land 280 sq km (1993 est.) 40,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Judicial branch Supreme Court; 10 provincial courts; 29 district courts Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Superior Court of Arbitration; judges for all courts are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president
Labor force NA 66 million (1997)
Labor force - by occupation agriculture 80%, industry and services 20% agriculture 15%, industry 30%, services 55% (1999 est.)
Land boundaries total:
1,630 km

border countries:
Djibouti 113 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km
total:
19,961 km

border countries:
Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China (southeast) 3,605 km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 294 km, Finland 1,313 km, Georgia 723 km, Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 19 km, Latvia 217 km, Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 227 km, Mongolia 3,485 km, Norway 167 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 206 km, Ukraine 1,576 km
Land use arable land:
12%

permanent crops:
1%

permanent pastures:
49%

forests and woodland:
6%

other:
32% (1998 est.)
arable land:
8%

permanent crops:
0%

permanent pastures:
4%

forests and woodland:
46%

other:
42% (1993 est.)
Languages Afar, Amharic, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages Russian, other
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; judicial review of legislative acts
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
bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (178 seats; as of July 2000, members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 89 federal administrative units - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; members serve four-year terms) and the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats; half elected by proportional representation from party lists winning at least 5% of the vote, and half from single-member constituencies; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms)

elections:
State Duma - last held 19 December 1999 (next to be held NA December 2003)

election results:
State Duma - percent of vote received by parties clearing the 5% threshold entitling them to a proportional share of the 225 party list seats - KPRF 24.29%, Unity 23.32%, OVR 13.33%, Union of Right Forces 8.52%, LDPR 5.98%, Yabloko 5.93%; seats by party - KPRF 113, Unity 72, OVR 67, Union of Rightist Forces 29, LDPR 17, Yabloko 21, other 16, independents 106, repeat election required 8, vacant 1
Life expectancy at birth total population:
56.18 years

male:
53.73 years

female:
58.71 years (2001 est.)
total population:
67.34 years

male:
62.12 years

female:
72.83 years (2001 est.)
Literacy definition:
NA

total population:
25%

male:
NA%

female:
NA%
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write

total population:
98%

male:
100%

female:
97% (1989 est.)
Location Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan Northern Asia (that part west of the Urals is sometimes included with Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean
Map references Africa Asia
Maritime claims territorial sea:
12 NM
continental shelf:
200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

exclusive economic zone:
200 NM

territorial sea:
12 NM
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.)
total:
878 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,314,485 GRT/5,344,958 DWT

ships by type:
barge carrier 1, bulk 20, cargo 543, chemical tanker 4, combination bulk 21, combination ore/oil 7, container 31, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, passenger 35, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 164, refrigerated cargo 24, roll on/roll off 17, short-sea passenger 7

note:
includes a foreign-owned ship registered here as a flag of convenience: Reunion 1 (2000 est.)
Military branches Army, Navy, Air Force Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, Strategic Rocket Forces
Military expenditures - dollar figure $160 million (2000 est.) $NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 29.4% (2000 est.) NA%
Military manpower - availability - males age 15-49:
38,866,147 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service - males age 15-49:
30,337,743 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - military age - 18 years of age
Military manpower - reaching military age annually - males:
1,242,778 (2001 est.)
National holiday Independence Day, 24 May (1993) Russia Day, 12 June (1990)
Nationality noun:
Eritrean(s)

adjective:
Eritrean
noun:
Russian(s)

adjective:
Russian
Natural hazards frequent droughts; locust swarms permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development; volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands; volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka Peninsula
Natural resources gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish wide natural resource base including major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, and many strategic minerals, timber

note:
formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder exploitation of natural resources
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
0.98 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Pipelines - crude oil 48,000 km; petroleum products 15,000 km; natural gas 140,000 km (June 1993 est.)
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 Agrarian Party [Mikhail Ivanovich LAPSHIN]; Communist Party of the Russian Federation or KPRF [Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV]; Fatherland-All Russia or OVR [Yuriy Mikhailovich LUZHKOV]; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia or LDPR [Vladimir Volfovich ZHIRINOVSKIY]; Union of Right Forces [Anatoliy Borisovich CHUBAYS, Yegor Timurovich GAYDAR, Irina Mutsuovna KHAKAMADA, Boris Yefimovich NEMTSOV]; Unity [Sergey Kuzhugetovich SHOYGU]; Yabloko Bloc [Grigoriy Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY]

note:
some 150 political parties, blocs, and movements registered with the Justice Ministry as of the 19 December 1998 deadline to be eligible to participate in the 19 December 1999 Duma elections; of these, 36 political organizations actually qualified to run slates of candidates on the Duma party list ballot, 6 parties cleared the 5% threshold to win a proportional share of the 225 party seats in the Duma, 9 other organizations hold seats in the Duma: Bloc of Nikolayev and Academician Fedorov, Congress of Russian Communities, Movement in Support of the Army, Our Home Is Russia, Party of Pensioners, Power to the People, Russian All-People's Union, Russian Socialist Party, and Spiritual Heritage; primary political blocs include pro-market democrats - (Yabloko Bloc and Union of Right Forces), anti-market and/or ultranationalist (Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia)
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] NA
Population 4,298,269 (July 2001 est.) 145,470,197 (July 2001 est.)
Population below poverty line NA% 40% (1999 est.)
Population growth rate 3.84% (2001 est.) -0.35% (2001 est.)
Ports and harbors Assab (Aseb), Massawa (Mits'iwa) Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', Kaliningrad, Kazan', Khabarovsk, Kholmsk, Krasnoyarsk, Moscow, Murmansk, Nakhodka, Nevel'sk, Novorossiysk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Saint Petersburg, Rostov, Sochi, Tuapse, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Vostochnyy, Vyborg
Radio broadcast stations AM 2, FM 1, shortwave 2 (2000) AM 420, FM 447, shortwave 56 (1998)
Radios 345,000 (1997) 61.5 million (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:
149,000 km

note:
86,000 km are in common carrier service; 63,000 km serve specific industries and are not available for common carrier use; 40,000 km of the railway in common carrier use are electrified

broad gauge:
149,000 km 1.520-m gauge (1998)
Religions Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant Russian Orthodox, Muslim, other
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:
1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:
1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:
0.94 male(s)/female

65 years and over:
0.47 male(s)/female

total population:
0.88 male(s)/female (2001 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:
the telephone system has undergone significant changes in the 1990s; there are more than 1,000 companies licensed to offer communication services; access to digital lines has improved, particularly in urban centers; Internet and e-mail services are improving; Russia has made progress toward building the telecommunications infrastructure necessary for a market economy; however, a large demand for main line service remains unsatisfied

domestic:
cross-country digital trunk lines run from Saint Petersburg to Khabarovsk, and from Moscow to Novorossiysk; the telephone systems in 60 regional capitals have modern digital infrastructures; cellular services, both analog and digital, are available in many areas; in rural areas, the telephone services are still outdated, inadequate, and low density

international:
Russia is connected internationally by three undersea fiber-optic cables; digital switches in several cities provide more than 50,000 lines for international calls; satellite earth stations provide access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Orbita systems
Telephones - main lines in use 23,578 (2000) 30 million (1998)
Telephones - mobile cellular NA 2.5 million (October 2000)
Television broadcast stations 1 (2000) 7,306 (1998)
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 broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions
Total fertility rate 5.87 children born/woman (2001 est.) 1.27 children born/woman (2001 est.)
Unemployment rate NA% 10.5% (2000 est.), plus considerable underemployment
Waterways none 95,900 km (total routes in general use)

note:
routes with navigation guides serving the Russian River Fleet-95,900 km; routes with night navigational aids-60,400 km; man-made navigable routes-16,900 km (Jan 1994)
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