Libya (2007) | Eritrea (2003) | |
Administrative divisions | 25 municipalities (baladiyat, singular - baladiyah); Ajdabiya, Al 'Aziziyah, Al Fatih, Al Jabal al Akhdar, Al Jufrah, Al Khums, Al Kufrah, An Nuqat al Khams, Ash Shati', Awbari, Az Zawiyah, Banghazi, Darnah, Ghadamis, Gharyan, Misratah, Murzuq, Sabha, Sawfajjin, Surt, Tarabulus, Tarhunah, Tubruq, Yafran, Zlitan; note - the 25 municipalities may have been replaced by 13 regions | 6 regions (regions, singular - region); Central, Anelba, Southern Red Sea, Northern Red Sea, Southern, Gash-Barka |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 33.4% (male 1,029,096/female 985,606)
15-64 years: 62.4% (male 1,940,287/female 1,827,429) 65 years and over: 4.2% (male 124,892/female 129,604) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 44.7% (male 977,447; female 972,068)
15-64 years: 52% (male 1,121,077; female 1,147,109) 65 years and over: 3.3% (male 71,620; female 72,933) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | wheat, barley, olives, dates, citrus, vegetables, peanuts, soybeans; cattle | sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sisal; livestock, goats; fish |
Airports | 141 (2007) | 18 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 60
over 3,047 m: 23 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 23 914 to 1,523 m: 6 under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
total: 4
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 81
over 3,047 m: 5 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 15 914 to 1,523 m: 41 under 914 m: 18 (2007) |
total: 14
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
Area | total: 1,759,540 sq km
land: 1,759,540 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 121,320 sq km
land: 121,320 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Alaska | slightly larger than Pennsylvania |
Background | The Italians supplanted the Ottoman Turks from the area around Tripoli in 1911 and did not relinquish their hold until 1943 when defeated in World War II. Libya then passed to UN administration and achieved independence in 1951. Following a 1969 military coup, Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI began to espouse his own political system, the Third Universal Theory. The system is a combination of socialism and Islam derived in part from tribal practices and is supposed to be implemented by the Libyan people themselves in a unique form of "direct democracy." QADHAFI has always seen himself as a revolutionary and visionary leader. He used oil funds during the 1970s and 1980s to promote his ideology outside Libya, supporting subversives and terrorists abroad to hasten the end of Marxism and capitalism. In addition, beginning in 1973, he engaged in military operations in northern Chad's Aozou Strip - to gain access to minerals and to use as a base of influence in Chadian politics - but was forced to retreat in 1987. UN sanctions in 1992 isolated QADHAFI politically following the downing of Pan AM Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Libyan support for terrorism appeared to have decreased after the imposition of sanctions. During the 1990s, QADHAFI also began to rebuild his relationships with Europe. UN sanctions were suspended in April 1999 and finally lifted in September 2003 after Libya resolved the Lockerbie case. In December 2003, Libya announced that it had agreed to reveal and end its programs to develop weapons of mass destruction, and QADHAFI has made significant strides in normalizing relations with western nations since then. He has received various Western European leaders as well as many working-level and commercial delegations, and made his first trip to Western Europe in 15 years when he traveled to Brussels in April 2004. QADHAFI also resolved in 2004 some of the outstanding cases against his government for terrorist activities in the 1980s by compensating some families of victims of the Pan Am 103, French airliner UTA, and La Belle disco bombings. The US resumed full diplomatic relations with Libya in May 2006 and rescinded Libya's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism in June. | 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. Eritrea currently hosts a UN peacekeeping operation that is monitoring the border region. An international commission, organized to resolve the border dispute, posted its findings in 2002 but final demarcation is on hold due to Ethiopian objections. |
Birth rate | 26.09 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 39.44 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $35.85 billion
expenditures: $16.27 billion (2006 est.) |
revenues: $206.4 million
expenditures: $615.7 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | name: Tripoli
geographic coordinates: 32 53 N, 13 10 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Asmara (formerly Asmera) |
Climate | Mediterranean along coast; dry, extreme desert interior | 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 |
Coastline | 1,770 km | 2,234 km total; mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea 1,083 km |
Constitution | none; note - following the September 1969 military overthrow of the Libyan government, the Revolutionary Command Council replaced the existing constitution with the Constitutional Proclamation in December 1969; in March 1977, Libya adopted the Declaration of the Establishment of the People's Authority | the transitional constitution, decreed on 19 May 1993, was replaced by a new constitution adopted on 23 May 1997, but not yet implemented |
Country name | conventional long form: Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
conventional short form: Libya local long form: Al Jumahiriyah al Arabiyah al Libiyah ash Shabiyah al Ishtirakiyah al Uzma local short form: none |
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 |
Currency | - | nakfa (ERN) |
Death rate | 3.47 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 13.23 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $4.492 billion (2006 est.) | $311 million (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires ad Interim William B. MILAM
embassy: Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel, Souq At-Tlat Al-Qadim, Tripoli mailing address: US Embassy, 8850 Tripoli Place, Washington, DC 20521-8850 telephone: [218] 21-335-1848 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Donald J. McCONNELL
embassy: Franklin D. Roosevelt Street, Asmara mailing address: P. O. Box 211, Asmara telephone: [291] (1) 120004 FAX: [291] (1) 127584 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Ali Suleiman AUJALI
chancery: 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Suite 705, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 944-9601 FAX: [1] (202) 944-9060 |
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 consulate(s) general: Oakland (California) |
Disputes - international | Libya has claimed more than 32,000 sq km in southeastern Algeria and about 25,000 sq km in the Tommo region of Niger in a currently dormant dispute; various Chadian rebels from the Aozou region reside in southern Libya | Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by 2002 independent boundary commission delimitation decision, but demarcation, scheduled to begin in 2003, has been hampered by technical delays and Ethiopian concerns that the decision ignored "human geography" and awarded Badme, the focus of the 1998-2000 war, to Eritrea, demarcation of the boundary has been postponed indefinately; UN Peacekeeping Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) monitors a 25 km wide Temporary Security Zone in Eritrea until the demarcation; Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting Sudanese rebel groups; Eritrea protests Yemeni fishing around the Hanish Islands awarded to Eritrea by the ICJ in 1999 |
Economic aid - recipient | ODA, $24.44 million (2005 est.) | $77 million (1999) |
Economy - overview | The Libyan economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which contribute about 95% of export earnings, about one-quarter of GDP, and 60% of public sector wages. Substantial revenues from the energy sector coupled with a small population give Libya one of the highest per capita GDPs in Africa, but little of this income flows down to the lower orders of society. Libyan officials in the past four years have made progress on economic reforms as part of a broader campaign to reintegrate the country into the international fold. This effort picked up steam after UN sanctions were lifted in September 2003 and as Libya announced in December 2003 that it would abandon programs to build weapons of mass destruction. Almost all US unilateral sanctions against Libya were removed in April 2004, helping Libya attract more foreign direct investment, mostly in the energy sector. Libyan oil and gas licensing rounds continue to draw high international interest; the National Oil Company set a goal of nearly doubling oil production to 3 billion bbl/day by 2010. Libya faces a long road ahead in liberalizing the socialist-oriented economy, but initial steps - including applying for WTO membership, reducing some subsidies, and announcing plans for privatization - are laying the groundwork for a transition to a more market-based economy. The non-oil manufacturing and construction sectors, which account for more than 20% of GDP, have expanded from processing mostly agricultural products to include the production of petrochemicals, iron, steel, and aluminum. Climatic conditions and poor soils severely limit agricultural output, and Libya imports about 75% of its food. Libya's primary agricultural water source remains the Great Manmade River Project, but significant resources are being invested in desalinization research to meet growing water demands. | Since independence from Ethiopia on 24 May 1993, Eritrea has faced the economic problems of a small, desperately poor country. Like the economies of many African nations, the economy is largely based on subsistence agriculture, with 80% of the population involved in farming and herding. The Ethiopian-Eritrea war in 1998-2000 severely hurt Eritrea's economy. GDP growth fell to zero in 1999 and to -1% in 2000. The May 2000 Ethiopian offensive into northern Eritrea caused some $600 million in property damage and loss, including losses of $225 million in livestock and 55,000 homes. The attack prevented planting of crops in Eritrea's most productive region, causing food production to drop by 62%. Even during the war, Eritrea developed its transportation infrastructure, asphalting new roads, improving its ports, and repairing war damaged roads and bridges. Since the war ended, the government has maintained a firm grip on the economy, expanding the use of the military and party-owned businesses to complete Eritrea's development agenda. Erratic rainfall and the delayed demobilization of agriculturalists from the military kept cereal production well below normal, holding down growth in 2002. Eritrea's economic future depends upon its ability to master social problems such as illiteracy, unemployment, and low skills, and to open its economy to private enterprise so the diaspora's money and expertise can foster economic growth. |
Electricity - consumption | 18.18 billion kWh (2005) | 205.1 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh NA kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh NA kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 21.15 billion kWh (2005) | 220.5 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Sabkhat Ghuzayyil -47 m
highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 m |
lowest point: near Kulul within the Denakil depression -75 m
highest point: Soira 3,018 m |
Environment - current issues | desertification; very limited natural fresh water resources; the Great Manmade River Project, the largest water development scheme in the world, is being built to bring water from large aquifers under the Sahara to coastal cities | deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Berber and Arab 97%, other 3% (includes Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, and Tunisians) | ethnic Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%, other 3% |
Exchange rates | Libyan dinars per US dollar - 1.3108 (2006), 1.3084 (2005), 1.305 (2004), 1.2929 (2003), 1.2707 (2002) | nakfa (ERN) per US dollar - 9.5 (January 2000), 7.6 (January 1999), 7.2 (March 1998 est.) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Revolutionary Leader Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI (since 1 September 1969); note - holds no official title, but is de facto chief of state
head of government: Secretary of the General People's Committee (Prime Minister) al-Baghdadi Ali al-MAHMUDI (since 5 March 2006) cabinet: General People's Committee established by the General People's Congress elections: national elections are indirect through a hierarchy of people's committees; head of government elected by the General People's Congress; election last held March 2006 (next to be held NA) election results: NA |
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; members appointed by the president elections: president elected by the National Assembly; election last held 8 June 1993 (next election date uncertain as the National Assembly did not hold a presidential election in December 2001 as anticipated) election results: ISAIAS Afworki elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - ISAIAS Afworki 95% |
Exports | 1.326 million bbl/day (2004) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas, chemicals | livestock, sorghum, textiles, food, small manufactures (2000) |
Exports - partners | Italy 37.1%, Germany 14.6%, Spain 7.7%, US 6.1%, France 5.6%, Turkey 5.4% (2006) | Italy 36.9%, Germany 16.7%, France 10.3%, US 5.4%, Netherlands 5.2% (2002) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | plain green; green is the traditional color of Islam (the state religion) | 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 |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $3.3 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 2.2%
industry: 79.5% services: 18.3% (2006 est.) |
agriculture: 17%
industry: 29% services: 54% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $700 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.8% (2006 est.) | 2% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 25 00 N, 17 00 E | 15 00 N, 39 00 E |
Geography - note | more than 90% of the country is desert or semidesert | 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 |
Heliports | 2 (2007) | - |
Highways | - | total: 4,010 km
paved: 874 km unpaved: 3,136 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | 1,233 bbl/day (2004) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | machinery, semi-finished goods, food, transport equipment, consumer products | machinery, petroleum products, food, manufactured goods (2000) |
Imports - partners | Italy 18.9%, Germany 7.8%, China 7.6%, Tunisia 6.3%, France 5.8%, Turkey 5.3%, US 4.7%, South Korea 4.3%, UK 4% (2006) | Italy 27.1%, US 15.7%, Germany 7.2%, Ukraine 5.8%, Turkey 5.5%, France 4.5%, Netherlands 4% (2002) |
Independence | 24 December 1951 (from UN trusteeship) | 24 May 1993 (from Ethiopia) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | NA% |
Industries | petroleum, iron and steel, food processing, textiles, handicrafts, cement | food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles |
Infant mortality rate | total: 22.82 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 25.07 deaths/1,000 live births female: 20.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
total: 76.32 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 83.78 deaths/1,000 live births female: 68.64 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.7% (2006 est.) | 15% (2001) |
International organization participation | ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AMU, AU, CAEU, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer) | ACP, AfDB, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS (associate), IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 5 (2001) |
Irrigated land | 4,700 sq km (2003) | 220 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court | or High Court, regional, subregional, and village courts; also have military and special courts |
Labor force | 1.748 million (2006 est.) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 17%
industry: 23% services: 59% (2004 est.) |
agriculture 80%, industry and services 20% |
Land boundaries | total: 4,348 km
border countries: Algeria 982 km, Chad 1,055 km, Egypt 1,115 km, Niger 354 km, Sudan 383 km, Tunisia 459 km |
total: 1,626 km
border countries: Djibouti 109 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km |
Land use | arable land: 1.03%
permanent crops: 0.19% other: 98.78% (2005) |
arable land: 3.87%
permanent crops: 0.02% other: 96.11% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Arabic, Italian, English, all are widely understood in the major cities | Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages |
Legal system | based on Italian and French civil law systems and Islamic law; separate religious courts; no constitutional provision for judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | primary basis is the Ethiopian legal code of 1957, with revisions; new civil, commercial, and penal codes have not yet been promulgated; also relies on customary and post-independence-enacted laws and, for civil cases involving Muslims, Sharia law |
Legislative branch | unicameral General People's Congress (approximately 2,700 seats; members elected indirectly through a hierarchy of people's committees) | 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, that 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 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 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 76.88 years
male: 74.64 years female: 79.23 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 53.18 years
male: 51.48 years female: 54.92 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 82.6% male: 92.4% female: 72% (2003 est.) |
definition: NA
total population: 58.6% male: 69.9% female: 47.6% (2003 est.) |
Location | Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Tunisia | Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
note: Gulf of Sidra closing line - 32 degrees, 30 minutes north exclusive fishing zone: 62 nm |
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 17 ships (1000 GRT or over) 67,200 GRT/85,931 DWT
by type: cargo 11, liquefied gas 3, petroleum tanker 2, roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: 3 (Kuwait 1, Norway 1, Syria 1) registered in other countries: 4 (Malta 3, Tunisia 1) (2007) |
total: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 19,100 GRT/23,399 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 2, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1 (2002 est.) |
Military branches | Armed Peoples on Duty (APOD, Army), Libyan Arab Navy, Libyan Arab Air Force (Al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Jamahiriya al-Arabia al-Libyya, LAAF) (2007) | Army, Navy, Air Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $95.75 million (FY02) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 3.9% (2005 est.) | 12% (FY02) |
National holiday | Revolution Day, 1 September (1969) | Independence Day, 24 May (1993) |
Nationality | noun: Libyan(s)
adjective: Libyan |
noun: Eritrean(s)
adjective: Eritrean |
Natural hazards | hot, dry, dust-laden ghibli is a southern wind lasting one to four days in spring and fall; dust storms, sandstorms | frequent droughts; locust swarms |
Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, gypsum | gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | -13.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: UNHCR began repatriating about 150,000 Eritrean refugees from Sudan in 2001 following the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2000 (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | condensate 882 km; gas 3,481 km; oil 6,916 km (2006) | - |
Political parties and leaders | none | People's Front for Democracy and Justice or PFDJ, the only party recognized by the government [ISAIAS Afworki]; note - a National Assembly committee drafted a law on political parties in January 2001, but the full National Assembly has not yet debated or voted on it |
Political pressure groups and leaders | various Arab nationalist movements with almost negligible memberships may be functioning clandestinely, as well as some Islamic elements; an anti-QADHAFI Libyan exile movement exists, primarily based in London, but has little influence | Eritrean Islamic Jihad or EIJ [leader NA] (also including Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement or EIJM (also known as the Abu Sihel Movement) [leader NA]); Eritrean Islamic Salvation or EIS (also known as the Arafa Movement) [leader NA]; Eritrean Liberation Front or ELF [ABDULLAH Muhammed]; Eritrean National Alliance or ENA (a coalition including EIJ, EIS, ELF, and a number of ELF factions) [HERUY Tedla Biru]; Eritrean Public Forum or EPF [ARADOM Iyob] |
Population | 6,036,914
note: includes 166,510 non-nationals (July 2007 est.) |
4,362,254 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 7.4% (2005 est.) | 53% (1993/94) |
Population growth rate | 2.262% (2007 est.) | 1.28% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Assab (Aseb), Massawa (Mits'iwa) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 16, FM 3, shortwave 3 (2001) | AM 2, FM NA, shortwave 2 (2000) |
Railways | 0 km
note: Libya is working on seven lines totaling 2,757 km of 1.435-m gauge track; it hopes to have trains running by 2008 (2006) |
total: 306 km
narrow gauge: 306 km 0.950-m gauge note: railway is being rebuilt (2002) |
Religions | Sunni Muslim 97%, other 3% | Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.044 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.062 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.964 male(s)/female total population: 1.052 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.98 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: telecommunications system is being modernized; mobile cellular telephone system became operational in 1996
domestic: microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, cellular, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations international: country code - 218; satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat, NA Arabsat, and NA Intersputnik; submarine cables to France and Italy; microwave radio relay to Tunisia and Egypt; tropospheric scatter to Greece; participant in Medarabtel (1999) |
general assessment: inadequate
domestic: very inadequate; most telephones are in Asmara; government is seeking international tenders to improve the system (2002) international: NA; note - international connections exist |
Telephones - main lines in use | 483,000 (2006) | 30,000 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 3.928 million (2006) | NA; note - mobile cellular service was introduced in May 2001 |
Television broadcast stations | 12 (plus 1 repeater) (1999) | 1 (2000) |
Terrain | mostly barren, flat to undulating plains, plateaus, depressions | 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 |
Total fertility rate | 3.21 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 5.74 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 30% (2004 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | - | none |