o 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

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: near Kulul within the Denakil depression -75 m
highest point: Soira 3,018 m

Natural resources:

gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish

Land use:

arable land: 4.78%
permanent crops: 0.03%
other: 95.19% (2005)

Irrigated land:

210 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

6.3 cu km (2001)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 0.3 cu km/yr (3%/0%/97%)
per capita: 68 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

frequent droughts; locust swarms

Environment - current issues:

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,
Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

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

People
Eritrea

Population:

5,502,026 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 43% (male 1,188,496/female 1,178,520)
15-64 years: 53.4% (male 1,437,653/female 1,502,449)
65 years and over: 3.5% (male 89,634/female 105,274) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 18.3 years
male: 17.9 years
female: 18.7 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

2.631% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

34.94 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

8.63 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

NA (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 44.34 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 50.09 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 38.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total po