Portugal (2004) | Eritrea (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 18 districts (distritos, singular - distrito) and 2 autonomous regions* (regioes autonomas, singular - regiao autonoma); Aveiro, Acores (Azores)*, Beja, Braga, Braganca, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Evora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisboa, Madeira*, Portalegre, Porto, Santarem, Setubal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, Viseu | 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 |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 16.7% (male 916,106; female 840,574)
15-64 years: 66.4% (male 3,454,970; female 3,535,108) 65 years and over: 16.9% (male 735,407; female 1,041,980) (2004 est.) |
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.) |
Agriculture - products | grain, potatoes, olives, grapes; sheep, cattle, goats, poultry, beef, dairy products | sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sisal; livestock, goats; fish |
Airports | 66 (2003 est.) | 20 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 42
over 3,047 m: 5 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 15 under 914 m: 10 (2004 est.) |
total:
2 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 23
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 22 (2004 est.) |
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.) |
Area | total: 92,391 sq km
land: 91,951 sq km water: 440 sq km note: includes Azores and Madeira Islands |
total:
121,320 sq km land: 121,320 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Indiana | slightly larger than Pennsylvania |
Background | Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986. | 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. |
Birth rate | 10.9 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 42.52 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $64.81 billion
expenditures: $69.09 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.) |
revenues:
$283.9 million expenditures: $351.6 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.) |
Capital | Lisbon | Asmara (formerly Asmera) |
Climate | maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south | 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 | 1,793 km | 2,234 km total; mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea 1,083 km |
Constitution | 25 April 1976; revised 30 October 1982, 1 June 1989, 5 November 1992, 3 September 1997, 12 December 2001, and 24 July 2004 | 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: Portuguese Republic
conventional short form: Portugal local long form: Republica Portuguesa local short form: Portugal |
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 | euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries |
nakfa (ERN) |
Death rate | 10.37 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 12.07 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $250.7 billion (2003 est.) | $281 million (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Adrienne S. O'NEAL
embassy: Avenida das Forcas Armadas, 1600-081 Lisbon mailing address: Apartado 4258, 1507 Lisboa Codex; PSC 83, APO AE 09726 telephone: [351] (21) 727-3300 FAX: [351] (21) 726-9109 consulate(s): Ponta Delgada (Azores) |
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 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Pedro Manuel Dos Reis Alves CATARINO
chancery: 2125 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 328-8610 FAX: [1] (202) 462-3726 consulate(s) general: Boston, New York, Newark (New Jersey), and San Francisco consulate(s): Los Angeles, New Bedford (Massachusetts), Providence (Rhode Island) |
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 |
Disputes - international | some Portuguese groups assert dormant claims to territories ceded to Spain around the town of Olivenza | 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 |
Economic aid - donor | ODA, $271 million (1995) | - |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $77 million (1999) |
Economy - overview | Portugal has become a diversified and increasingly service-based economy since joining the European Community in 1986. Over the past decade, successive governments have privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy, including the financial and telecommunications sectors. The country qualified for the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 and began circulating the euro on 1 January 2002 along with 11 other EU member economies. Economic growth has been above the EU average for much of the past decade, but fell back in 2001-03. GDP per capita stands at 70% of that of the leading EU economies. A poor educational system, in particular, has been an obstacle to greater productivity and growth. Portugal has been increasingly overshadowed by lower-cost producers in Central Europe and Asia as a target for foreign direct investment. The coalition government faces tough choices in its attempts to boost Portugal's economic competitiveness and to keep the budget deficit within the 3% EU ceiling. | 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. |
Electricity - consumption | 41.48 billion kWh (2001) | 153.5 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 3.479 billion kWh (2001) | 0 kWh NA kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 3.743 billion kWh (2001) | 0 kWh NA kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 44.32 billion kWh (2001) | 165 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Ponta do Pico (Pico or Pico Alto) on Ilha do Pico in the Azores 2,351 m |
lowest point:
near Kulul within the Denakil depression -75 m highest point: Soira 3,018 m |
Environment - current issues | soil erosion; air pollution caused by industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution, especially in coastal areas | deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Environmental Modification |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | homogeneous Mediterranean stock; citizens of black African descent who immigrated to mainland during decolonization number less than 100,000; since 1990 East Europeans have entered Portugal | ethnic Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3% |
Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999) | nakfa per US dollar = 9.5 (January 2000), 7.6 (January 1999), 7.2 (March 1998 est.) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Jorge SAMPAIO (since 9 March 1996)
head of government: Prime Minister Pedro SANTANA LOPES (since 17 July 2004); note - Prime Minister Jose Manuel DURAO BARROSO resigned 5 July 2004 to take over the Presidency of the European Commission; Prime Minister Pedro SANTANA LOPES and his government resigned 11 December 2004, but will stay on in a caretaker capacity until February 2005 elections cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister note: there is also a Council of State that acts as a consultative body to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 14 January 2001 (next to be held NA January 2006); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president election results: Jorge SAMPAIO reelected president; percent of vote - Jorge SAMPAIO (Socialist) 55.8%, Joaquim FERREIRA Do Amaral (Social Democrat) 34.5%, Antonio ABREU (Communist) 5.1% |
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% |
Exports | 28,830 bbl/day (2001) | $26 million (f.o.b., 1999) |
Exports - commodities | clothing and footwear, machinery, chemicals, cork and paper products, hides | livestock, sorghum, textiles, food, small manufactures |
Exports - partners | Spain 22.7%, Germany 15.2%, France 12.9%, UK 10.5%, US 5.8%, Italy 4.8%, Belgium 4.6% (2003) | Sudan 27.2%, Ethiopia 26.5%, Japan 13.2%, UAE 7.3%, Italy 5.3% (1998) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | two vertical bands of green (hoist side, two-fifths) and red (three-fifths) with the Portuguese coat of arms centered on the dividing line | 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 - $181.8 billion (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2.9 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 5.8%
industry: 30.7% services: 63.2% (2003) |
agriculture:
16% industry: 27% services: 57% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $18,000 (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $710 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | -1.3% (2003 est.) | -1% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 39 30 N, 8 00 W | 15 00 N, 39 00 E |
Geography - note | Azores and Madeira Islands occupy strategic locations along western sea approaches to Strait of Gibraltar | 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 |
Highways | total: 68,732 km
paved: 59,110 km (including 1441 km of expressways) unpaved: 9,622 km (2000) |
total:
3,850 km paved: 810 km unpaved: 3,040 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3.1%
highest 10%: 28.4% (1995 est.) |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | gateway country for Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market (especially from Brazil); transshipment point for hashish from North Africa to Europe; consumer of Southwest Asian heroin | - |
Imports | 357,300 bbl/day (2001) | $560 million (c.i.f., 1999) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum, textiles, agricultural products | machinery, petroleum products, food, manufactured goods |
Imports - partners | Spain 29.1%, Germany 14.7%, France 9.9%, Italy 6.4%, UK 4.9%, Netherlands 4.6% (2003) | Italy 17.4%, UAE 16.2%, Germany 5.7%, UK 4.5%, Korea 4.4% (1998) |
Independence | 1143 (Kingdom of Portugal recognized); 5 October 1910 (independent republic proclaimed) | 24 May 1993 (from Ethiopia) |
Industrial production growth rate | 0.4% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Industries | textiles and footwear; wood pulp, paper, and cork; metalworking; oil refining; chemicals; fish canning; wine; tourism | food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles |
Infant mortality rate | total: 5.13 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.6 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
75.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.3% (2003 est.) | 14% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, ONUB, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNMISET, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC | 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 |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 4 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 6,320 sq km (1998 est.) | 280 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal de Justica (judges appointed for life by the Conselho Superior da Magistratura) | Supreme Court; 10 provincial courts; 29 district courts |
Labor force | 5.409 million (2003) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 10%, industry 30%, services 60% (1999 est.) | agriculture 80%, industry and services 20% |
Land boundaries | total: 1,214 km
border countries: Spain 1,214 km |
total:
1,630 km border countries: Djibouti 113 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km |
Land use | arable land: 21.75%
permanent crops: 7.81% other: 70.44% (2001) |
arable land:
12% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 49% forests and woodland: 6% other: 32% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official - but locally used) | Afar, Amharic, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages |
Legal system | civil law system; the Constitutional Tribunal reviews the constitutionality of legislation; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | 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 |
Legislative branch | unicameral Assembly of the Republic or Assembleia da Republica (230 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 17 March 2002 (next to be held 20 February 2005); note - President SAMPAIO called for early elections after dissolving Parliament on 10 December 2004 because he lacked confidence in the four-month center-right government election results: percent of vote by party - PSD 40.1%, PS 37.8%, PP 8.7%, PCP/PEV 6.9%, The Left Bloc 2.7%; seats by party - PSD 105, PS 96, PP 14, PCP/PEV 12, The Left Bloc 3 |
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 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 77.35 years
male: 74.06 years female: 80.85 years (2004 est.) |
total population:
56.18 years male: 53.73 years female: 58.71 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 93.3% male: 95.5% female: 91.3% (2003 est.) |
definition:
NA total population: 25% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain | Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan |
Map references | Europe | Africa |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
territorial sea:
12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 122 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 872,557 GRT/1,236,025 DWT
by type: bulk 12, cargo 49, chemical tanker 19, container 8, liquefied gas 7, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger 6, petroleum tanker 7, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 5, short-sea/passenger 5, vehicle carrier 2 foreign-owned: Australia 1, Belgium 1, Cyprus 1, Denmark 7, Germany 21, Greece 2, Guadeloupe 1, Iceland 1, Italy 16, Japan 1, Malta 1, Norway 7, Panama 1, Spain 18, Switzerland 7, Ukraine 1, United Kingdom 1 registered in other countries: 24 (2004 est.) |
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 (PON; including Marines), Air Force (FAP), Republican Guard (including Fiscal Guard) | Army, Navy, Air Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $3,497.8 million (2003) | $160 million (2000 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.3% (2003) | 29.4% (2000 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 2,628,892 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 2,107,502 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 72,821 (2004 est.) | - |
National holiday | Portugal Day, 10 June (1580); note - also called Camoes Day, the day that revered national poet Luis de Camoes (1524-80) died | Independence Day, 24 May (1993) |
Nationality | noun: Portuguese (singular and plural)
adjective: Portuguese |
noun:
Eritrean(s) adjective: Eritrean |
Natural hazards | Azores subject to severe earthquakes | frequent droughts; locust swarms |
Natural resources | fish, forests (cork), iron ore, copper, zinc, tin, tungsten, silver, gold, uranium, marble, clay, gypsum, salt, arable land, hydropower | gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish |
Net migration rate | 3.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 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 |
Pipelines | gas 1,099 km; oil 8 km; refined products 174 km (2004) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Green Ecologist Party or PEV [Heloisa APOLONIA]; Popular Party or PP [Paulo PORTAS]; Portuguese Communist Party or PCP [Jeronimo de SOUSA]; Portuguese Socialist Party or PS [Jose SOCRATES Carvalho Pinto de Sousa]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Pedro Miguel SANTANA LOPES]; The Left Bloc or BE [Franciso Anacleto LOUCA] | 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 |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | 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] |
Population | 10,524,145 (July 2004 est.) | 4,298,269 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0.41% (2004 est.) | 3.84% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Aveiro, Funchal (Madeira Islands), Horta (Azores), Leixoes, Lisbon, Porto, Ponta Delgada (Azores), Praia da Vitoria (Azores), Setubal, Viana do Castelo | Assab (Aseb), Massawa (Mits'iwa) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 47, FM 172 (many are repeaters), shortwave 2 (1998) | AM 2, FM 1, shortwave 2 (2000) |
Radios | - | 345,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 2,850 km
broad gauge: 2,576 km 1.668-m gauge (623 km electrified) narrow gauge: 274 km 1.000-m gauge (2003) |
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 |
Religions | Roman Catholic 94%, Protestant (1995) | Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.09 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
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.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: Portugal's telephone system has achieved a state-of-the-art network with broadband, high-speed capabilities and a main line telephone density of 53%
domestic: integrated network of coaxial cables, open-wire, microwave radio relay, and domestic satellite earth stations international: country code - 351; 6 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat; tropospheric scatter to Azores; note - an earth station for Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region) is planned |
general assessment:
NA domestic: very inadequate; most telephones are in Asmara; government is seeking international tenders to improve the system international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 4,278,800 (2003) | 23,578 (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 9,341,400 (2003) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 62 (plus 166 repeaters)
note: includes Azores and Madeira Islands (1995) |
1 (2000) |
Terrain | mountainous north of the Tagus River, rolling plains in south | 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 | 1.46 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 5.87 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 6.4% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | 210 km (on Douro River from Porto) (2003) | none |