Background information
Official name: The State of Eritrea
Capital and largest city: Asmara
National languages: Tigrinya, Beja, Arabic, Tigre, Kunama, Saho, Bilen, Nara, Afar
Population: 6,343,956 (2024 estimate)
Life expectancy: 66.44 years
President: Isaias Afwerki (since 1993)
Parliament: 150 seats
Ethnicity/race: nine recognized ethnic groups: Tigrinya 55%, Tigre 30%, Saho 4%, Kunama 2%, Rashaida 2%, Bilen 2%, other (Afar, Beni Amir, Nera) 5% (2010 est.)
National Holiday: Independence Day, May 24
Religions: Islam, Christianity
Literacy rate: 68.9% (2011 estimate)
Real GDP per capita: $1,600 (2017 estimate)
Inflation:9% (2017 estimate)
Unemployment: 5.97% (2022 estimate)
Arable land:6.8% (2018 estimate)
Agriculture: Sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sisal; livestock, goats; fish
Labor force: 2.955 billion (2012); agriculture 80%, industry and services 20%
Industries: food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles, salt, cement, commercial ship repair
Natural resources: gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish
Exports: $496.2 million (2013 est.): livestock, sorghum, textiles, food, small manufactures
Imports: $1.027 billion (2013 est.): machinery, petroleum products, food, manufactured goods
Major trading partners: Australia, France, Malaysia, Italy, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Germany, China, Brazil, U.S., Turkey (2006)
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 60,000 (2012); mobile cellular: 305,300 (2012)
Broadcast media: government controls broadcast media with private ownership prohibited; 1 state-owned TV station; state-owned radio operates 2 networks; purchases of satellite dishes and subscriptions to international broadcast media are permitted (2007)
Internet hosts: 701 (2012)
Internet users: 200,000 (2008).
Transportation: Railways: total: 306 km (2008)
Highways: total: 4,010 km; paved: 874 km; unpaved: 3,136 km (2000 estimate)
Ports and harbors: Assab, Massawa
Airports: 13 (2013)
Summary
Situated strategically along the Horn of Africa’s Red Sea, Eritrea is a small coastal nation bordered by Sudan, Ethiopia, and Djibouti.
The six administrative regions of Eritrea, referred to as “zobas,” differ in terms of population, size, and socioeconomic status.
Eritrea regained self-rule in 1991 and full independence in 1993 following a protracted liberation war with neighbouring Ethiopia.
The nation experienced seven years of development, reconstruction, and stabilization prior to the 1998 start of the border conflict with Ethiopia.
Although the majority of the fighting ended in 2000 and Eritrea won a 2002 ruling by the UN Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), the border area remained militarized, and in 2009 and 2011 the UN Security Council imposed sanctions.
For nearly 20 years, Eritrea was in a state of mobilization.
The country saw a change in its external environment in 2018 when Ethiopia signed a peace treaty with Eritrea after accepting the ruling of the EEBC.
Eritrea started restoring diplomatic ties with its neighbors. The UN Security Council removed a range of international sanctions against Eritrea in November 2018.
