Eritrea

Location

• Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan
• strategic geopolitical position along world's busiest shipping lanes

Population

Notable Population Centers

City	Population	Note
Asmara	563,930	Capital
Keren	74,800
Himora	46,100
Massawa	23,100
Assab	21,300
Mendefera	17,781
Barentu	15,891

Size

• 46,842 square miles
• 121,320 square kilometers
• slightly smaller than Pennsylvania

History

Eritrea won independence from Italian colonial control in 1941, but the UN only established it as an autonomous region within the Ethiopian federation in 1952, after a decade of British administrative control. Ethiopia's full annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a violent 30-year conflict for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean fighters defeating government forces. Eritreans overwhelmingly approved independence in a 1993 referendum. ISAIAS Afwerki has been Eritrea's only president since independence; his rule, particularly since 2001, has been characterized by highly autocratic and repressive actions. His government has created a highly militarized society by instituting an unpopular program of mandatory conscription into national service -- divided between military and civilian service -- of indefinite length. A two-and-a-half-year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices in 2000. Ethiopia rejected a subsequent 2007 Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) demarcation. More than a decade of a tense “no peace, no war” stalemate ended in 2018 when the newly elected Ethiopian prime minister accepted the EEBC’s 2007 ruling, and the two countries signed declarations of peace and friendship. Eritrean leaders then engaged in intensive diplomacy around the Horn of Africa, bolstering regional peace, security, and cooperation, as well as brokering rapprochements between governments and opposition groups. In 2018, the UN Security Council lifted an arms embargo that had been imposed on Eritrea since 2009, after the UN Somalia-Eritrea Monitoring Group reported they had not found evidence of Eritrean support in recent years for al-Shabaab. The country’s rapprochement with Ethiopia led to a resumption of economic ties, but the level of air transport, trade, and tourism have remained roughly the same since late 2020. The Eritrean economy remains agriculture-dependent, and the country is still one of Africa’s poorest nations. Eritrea faced new international condemnation and US sanctions in mid-2021 for its participation in the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray Regional State, where Eritrean forces were found to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. As most Eritrean troops were departing northern Ethiopia in January 2023, ISAIAS began a series of diplomatic engagements aimed at bolstering Eritrea’s foreign partnerships and regional influence. Despite the country's improved relations with its neighbors, ISAIAS has not let up on repression, and conscription and militarization continue.

Climate

hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually, heaviest June to September); semiarid in western hills and lowlands

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

Languages

Tigrinya (official), Arabic (official), English (official), Tigre, Kunama, Afar, other Cushitic languages

Religions

Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran, Sunni Muslim

Government

presidential republic

• Constitution: history: ratified by the Constituent Assembly 23 May 1997 (never implemented)amendment process: proposed by the president of Eritrea or by assent of at least one half of the National Assembly membership; passage requires at least an initial three-quarters majority vote by the Assembly and, after one year, final passage by at least four-fifths majority vote by the Assembly
• Political Parties and Leaders: n/a
• Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
• Legal System: mixed system of civil, customary, and Islamic religious law
• Executive Branch: chief of state: President ISAIAS Afwerki (since 24 May 1993)head of government: President ISAIAS Afwerki (since 8 June 1993)cabinet: State Council appointed by the presidentelection/appointment process: president indirectly elected by the National Assembly for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term), according to the constitutionmost recent election date: 24 May 1993, following independence from Ethiopiaelection results: 1993: ISAIAS Afwerki elected president by the transitional National Assembly; percent of National Assembly vote - ISAIAS Afwerki (PFDJ) 95%, other 5%expected date of next election: postponed indefinitelynote: the president is both chief of state and head of government and is head of the State Council and National Assembly
• Judicial Branch: highest court(s): High Court (consists of 20 judges and organized into civil, commercial, criminal, labor, administrative, and customary sections)judge selection and term of office: High Court judges appointed by the presidentsubordinate courts: regional/zonal courts; community courts; special courts; sharia courts (for issues dealing with Muslim marriage, inheritance, and family); military courts
• Legislative Branch: legislature name: National Assembly (Hagerawi Baito)legislative structure: unicameralnumber of seats: 150 (all indirectly elected)scope of elections: full renewalterm in office: 4 yearsmost recent election date: 2/1/1994note: in 1997, after the new constitution was adopted, the government formed a Transitional National Assembly to serve as the country's legislative body until countrywide elections to form a National Assembly could be held; the constitution stipulates that once past the transition stage, all National Assembly members will be elected by secret ballot of all eligible voters; National Assembly elections scheduled for December 2001 were postponed indefinitely due to the war with Ethiopia; as of 2025, no sitting legislative body exists

Demographic Profile

n/a

Economy

• largely agrarian economy with a significant mining sector; substantial fiscal surplus due to tight controls; high and vulnerable debts; increased Ethiopian trade and shared port usage decreasing prices; financial and economic data integrity challenges
• Budget: revenues: $633 million (2018 est.)expenditures: $549 million (2018 est.)
• Credit Rating: n/a
• Natural Resources: gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish
• Industries: food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles, light manufacturing, salt, cement
• Agricultural Products: sorghum, milk, barley, vegetables, root vegetables, cereals, pulses, wheat, beef, maize (2023)note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
• Land Use: agricultural land: 62.7% (2022 est.)arable land: 5.7% (2022 est.)permanent crops: 0% (2022 est.)permanent pasture: 57% (2022 est.)forest: 8.7% (2022 est.)other: 28.6% (2022 est.)
• Labor Force by Occupation: n/a
• Imports
• Imported Commodities: trucks, sorghum, construction vehicles, wheat flours, other foods (2023)note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
• Import Partners: China 32%, UAE 27%, Turkey 9%, USA 7%, Italy 5% (2023)note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
• Exports
• Exported Commodities: copper ore, zinc ore, gold, garments, liquor (2023)note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars
• Export Partners: China 67%, UAE 26%, Philippines 5%, Italy 1%, Croatia 1% (2023)note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports