Eritrea (2001) | Sudan (2002) | |
![]() | ![]() | |
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 |
26 states (wilayat, singular - wilayah); A'ali an Nil, Al Bahr al Ahmar, Al Buhayrat, Al Jazirah, Al Khartum, Al Qadarif, Al Wahdah, An Nil al Abyad, An Nil al Azraq, Ash Shamaliyah, Bahr al Jabal, Gharb al Istiwa'iyah, Gharb Bahr al Ghazal, Gharb Darfur, Gharb Kurdufan, Janub Darfur, Janub Kurdufan, Junqali, Kassala, Nahr an Nil, Shamal Bahr al Ghazal, Shamal Darfur, Shamal Kurdufan, Sharq al Istiwa'iyah, Sinnar, Warab |
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: 44.2% (male 8,385,554; female 8,023,847)
15-64 years: 53.6% (male 9,945,683; female 9,933,383) 65 years and over: 2.2% (male 447,214; female 354,617) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sisal; livestock, goats; fish | cotton, groundnuts (peanuts), sorghum, millet, wheat, gum arabic, sugarcane, cassava (tapioca), mangos, papaya, bananas, sweet potatoes, sesame; sheep, livestock |
Airports | 20 (2000 est.) | 65 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
2 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 12
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 (2002) |
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: 51 53
1,524 to 2,437 m: 16 914 to 1,523 m: 26 under 914 m: 17 11 (2002) |
Area | total:
121,320 sq km land: 121,320 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 2,505,810 sq km
land: 2.376 million sq km water: 129,810 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Pennsylvania | slightly more than one-quarter 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. | Military dictatorships favoring an Islamic-oriented government have dominated national politics since independence from the UK in 1956. Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war for all but 10 years of this period (1972-82). Since 1983, the war and war- and famine-related effects have led to more than 2 million deaths and over 4 million people displaced. The war pits the Arab/Muslim majority in Khartoum against the non-Muslim African rebels in the south. Since 1989, traditional northern Muslim parties have made common cause with the southern rebels and entered the war as a part of an anti-government alliance. |
Birth rate | 42.52 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 37.21 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$283.9 million expenditures: $351.6 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.) |
revenues: $1.6 billion
expenditures: $1.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
Capital | Asmara (formerly Asmera) | Khartoum |
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 | tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season (April to October) |
Coastline | 2,234 km total; mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea 1,083 km | 853 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 | 12 April 1973, suspended following coup of 6 April 1985; interim constitution of 10 October 1985 suspended following coup of 30 June 1989; new constitution implemented on 30 June 1998 partially suspended 12 December 1999 by President BASHIR |
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 the Sudan
conventional short form: Sudan local long form: Jumhuriyat as-Sudan local short form: As-Sudan former: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan |
Currency | nakfa (ERN) | Sudanese dinar (SDD) |
Death rate | 12.07 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 9.81 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $281 million (2000 est.) | $24.9 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 |
For security reasons, US officials at the US Embassy in Khartoum were relocated in February 1996 to the US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Cairo, Egypt, from where they make regular visits to Khartoum; the US Embassy in Khartoum is located on Sharia Abdul Latif Avenue; mailing address - P. O. Box 699, Khartoum; APO AE 09829; telephone - [249] (11) 774611 or 774700; FAX - [249] (11) 774137; the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya is located in the Interim Office Building on Mombasa Road, Nairobi; mailing address - P. O. Box 30137, Box 21A, Unit 64100, APO AE 09831; telephone - [254] (2) 751613; FAX - [254] (2) 743204; the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt is located at (North Gate) 8, Kamel El-Din Salah Street, Garden City, Cairo; mailing address - Unit 64900, APO AE 09839-4900; telephone - [20] (2) 3557371; FAX - [20] (2) 3573200 |
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 (vacant); Charge D'Affairs, Ad Interim Khidir Haroun AHMED (since April 2001)
chancery: 2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 338-8565 FAX: [1] (202) 667-2406 |
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 | Sudan agrees in 2002 to demarcate whole boundary with Ethiopia; Egypt and Sudan each claim to administer triangular areas which extend north and south of the 1899 Treaty boundary along the 22nd Parallel (the north "Hala'ib Triangle" is the largest with 20,580 sq km); in 2001, the two states agreed to discuss an "area of integration" and withdraw military forces in the overlapping areas; since colonial times, Kenya's administrative boundary has extended beyond its treaty boundary into Sudan creating the "Ilemi Triangle" |
Economic aid - recipient | $77 million (1999) | $187 million (1997) |
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. | Sudan has turned around a struggling economy with sound economic policies and infrastructure investments, but it still faces formidable economic problems. Starting in 1997 Sudan began implementing IMF macroeconomic reforms that have successfully stabilized inflation. In 1999 Sudan began exporting crude oil and in the last quarter of 1999 recorded its first trade surplus, along with monetary policy, has stabilized the exchange rate. Current oil production stands at 220,000 barrels per day, of which some 70% is exported and the rest refined mostly for domestic consumption. Increased oil production, revived light industry, and expanded export processing zones should maintain GDP growth at 5% in 2002. Agriculture production remains Sudan's most important sector, employing 80% of the work force and contributing 43% of GDP, but most farms remain rain-fed and susceptible to drought. Sudan is also constrained by its limited access to international credit; most of Sudan's $24.9 billion debt remains in arrears. The civil war, chronic instability, adverse weather, and weak world agricultural prices ensure that much of the population will remain at or below the poverty line for years. |
Electricity - consumption | 153.5 million kWh (1999) | 1,832.1 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh NA kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh NA kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 165 million kWh (1999) | 1.97 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 49%
hydro: 51% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
near Kulul within the Denakil depression -75 m highest point: Soira 3,018 m |
lowest point: Red Sea 0 m
highest point: Kinyeti 3,187 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare | inadequate supplies of potable water; wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion; desertification; periodic drought |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | ethnic Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3% | black 52%, Arab 39%, Beja 6%, foreigners 2%, other 1% |
Exchange rates | nakfa per US dollar = 9.5 (January 2000), 7.6 (January 1999), 7.2 (March 1998 est.) | Sudanese dinars per US dollar - 261.44 (January 2002), 258.70 (2001), 257.12 (2000), 252.55 (1999), 200.80 (1998), 157.57 (1997) |
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 Lt. Gen. Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 16 October 1993); First Vice President Ali Uthman Muhammad TAHA (since 17 February 1998), Second Vice President Moses MACHAR (since 12 February 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Lt. Gen. Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 16 October 1993); First Vice President Ali Uthman Muhammad TAHA (since 17 February 1998), Second Vice President Moses MACHAR (since 12 February 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president; note - the National Congress Party or NCP (formerly the National Islamic Front or NIF) dominates BASHIR's cabinet elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 13-23 December 2000 (next to be held NA 2005) election results: Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR reelected president; percent of vote - Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR 86.5%, Ja'afar Muhammed NUMAYRI 9.6%, three other candidates received less than a combined 4% of the vote; election widely viewed as rigged; all popular opposition parties boycotted elections because of a lack of guarantees for a free and fair poll note: BASHIR assumed supreme executive power in 1989 and retained it through several transitional governments in the early and mid-90s before being popularly elected for the first time in March 1996 |
Exports | $26 million (f.o.b., 1999) | $2.1 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Exports - commodities | livestock, sorghum, textiles, food, small manufactures | oil and petroleum products, cotton, sesame, livestock, groundnuts, gum arabic, sugar |
Exports - partners | Sudan 27.2%, Ethiopia 26.5%, Japan 13.2%, UAE 7.3%, Italy 5.3% (1998) | Japan 25%, China 19%, Saudi Arabia 14%, Germany 4%, (2000) |
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), white, and black with a green isosceles triangle based on the hoist side |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $2.9 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $49.3 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
16% industry: 27% services: 57% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 43%
industry: 17% services: 40% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $710 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,360 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | -1% (2000 est.) | 5.5% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 15 00 N, 39 00 E | 15 00 N, 30 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 Africa; dominated by the Nile and its tributaries |
Heliports | - | 2 (2002) |
Highways | total:
3,850 km paved: 810 km unpaved: 3,040 km (2000) |
total: 11,900 km
paved: 4,320 km unpaved: 7,580 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $560 million (c.i.f., 1999) | $1.6 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery, petroleum products, food, manufactured goods | foodstuffs, manufactured goods, refinery and transport equipment, medicines and chemicals, textiles, wheat |
Imports - partners | Italy 17.4%, UAE 16.2%, Germany 5.7%, UK 4.5%, Korea 4.4% (1998) | China 12%, Saudi Arabia 10%, UK 10%, Germany 7% (2000) |
Independence | 24 May 1993 (from Ethiopia) | 1 January 1956 (from Egypt and UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 8.5% (1999 est.) |
Industries | food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles | oil, cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, armaments, automobile/light truck assembly |
Infant mortality rate | 75.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 67.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 14% (2000 est.) | 10% (2001 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 | ABEDA, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 4 (2000) | 2 (2002) |
Irrigated land | 280 sq km (1993 est.) | 19,500 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; 10 provincial courts; 29 district courts | Supreme Court; Special Revolutionary Courts |
Labor force | NA | 11 million (1996 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 80%, industry and services 20% | agriculture 80%, industry and commerce 7%, government 13% (1998 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
1,630 km border countries: Djibouti 113 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km |
total: 7,687 km
border countries: Central African Republic 1,165 km, Chad 1,360 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 628 km, Egypt 1,273 km, Eritrea 605 km, Ethiopia 1,606 km, Kenya 232 km, Libya 383 km, Uganda 435 km |
Land use | arable land:
12% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 49% forests and woodland: 6% other: 32% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 7.03%
permanent crops: 0.08% other: 92.89% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Afar, Amharic, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages | Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English
note: program of "Arabization" in process |
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 English common law and Islamic law; as of 20 January 1991, the now defunct Revolutionary Command Council imposed Islamic law in the northern states; Islamic law applies to all residents of the northern states regardless of their religion; some separate religious courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
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 (360 seats; 270 popularly elected, 90 elected by supra assembly of interest groups known as National Congress; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 13-22 December 2000 (next to be held NA December 2004) election results: NCP 355, others 5 note: on 12 December 1999, BASHIR dismissed the National Assembly during an internal power struggle between the president and the speaker of the National Assembly Hassan al-TURABI |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
56.18 years male: 53.73 years female: 58.71 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 57.33 years
male: 56.22 years female: 58.5 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
NA total population: 25% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 46.1% male: 57.7% female: 34.6% (1995 est.) |
Location | Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan | Northern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | territorial sea:
12 NM |
contiguous zone: 18 NM
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation 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: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 39,545 GRT/51,195 DWT
ships by type: cargo 2, roll on/roll off 2 (2002 est.) |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force | Army, Navy, Air Force, Popular Defense Force Militia |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $160 million (2000 est.) | $581 million (2001 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 29.4% (2000 est.) | 2.5% (1999) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 8,739,982 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 5,380,917 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 398,294 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 24 May (1993) | Independence Day, 1 January (1956) |
Nationality | noun:
Eritrean(s) adjective: Eritrean |
noun: Sudanese (singular and plural)
adjective: Sudanese |
Natural hazards | frequent droughts; locust swarms | dust storms and periodic persistent droughts |
Natural resources | gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish | petroleum; small reserves of iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold, hydropower |
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 |
-0.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | - | refined products 815 km |
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 | the government allows political "associations" under a 1998 law revised in 2000; to obtain government approval parties must accept the constitution and refrain from advocating or using violence against the regime; approved parties include the National Congress Party or NCP [Ibrahim Ahmed UMAR], Popular National Congress or PNC [Hassan al-TURABI], and over 20 minor, pro-government parties |
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] | National Congress Party [Ibrahim Ahmed UMAR]; Popular National Congress [Hassan al-TURABI]; Umma [Sadiq al-MAHDI]; Democratic Unionist Party [Muhammed Uthman AL-MIRGHANI]; National Democratic Alliance [Muhammed Uthman AL-MIRGHANI, chairman]; Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army [Dr. John GARANG] |
Population | 4,298,269 (July 2001 est.) | 37,090,298 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 3.84% (2001 est.) | 2.73% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Assab (Aseb), Massawa (Mits'iwa) | Juba, Khartoum, Kusti, Malakal, Nimule, Port Sudan, Sawakin |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 1, shortwave 2 (2000) | AM 12, FM 1, shortwave 1 (1998) |
Radios | 345,000 (1997) | 7.55 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: 5,995 km
narrow gauge: 4,595 km 1.067-m gauge; 1,400 km 0.600-m gauge plantation line note: the 1.067-m line from Khartoum to Port Sudan carries over two-thirds of Sudan's rail traffic; the 0.600-m gauge system serves Sudan's cotton plantations with over 120 collecting stations (2001) |
Religions | Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant | Sunni Muslim 70% (in north), indigenous beliefs 25%, Christian 5% (mostly in south and Khartoum) |
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: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.26 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 17 years of age; universal, but noncompulsory |
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: large, well-equipped system by regional standards and being upgraded; cellular communications started in 1996 and have expanded substantially
domestic: consists of microwave radio relay, cable, radiotelephone communications, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Arabsat (2000) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 23,578 (2000) | 400,000 (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 20,000 (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2000) | 3 (1997) |
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 | generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in east and west |
Total fertility rate | 5.87 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 5.22 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 18.7% (2002 est.) |
Waterways | none | 5,310 km |