est shipping
lanes; Eritrea retained the entire coastline of Ethiopia along the Red
Sea upon de jure independence from Ethiopia on 27 April 1993

@Eritrea:People

Population: 3,578,709 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 43% (female 763,416; male 774,922)
15-64 years: 54% (female 965,124; male 965,435)
65 years and over: 3% (female 52,950; male 56,862) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 9.04% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 44.34 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 15.67 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: NA migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
note: repatriation of up to a half million Eritrean refugees in Sudan
is now underway; 100,000 are expected to return during 1995

Infant mortality rate: 120.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 50 years
male: 48.28 years
female: 51.78 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.53 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Eritrean(s)
adjective: Eritrean

Ethnic divisions: ethnic Tigrays 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%,
Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%

Religions: Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant

Languages: Tigre and Kunama, Cushitic dialects, Tigre, Nora Bana,
Arabic

Labor force: NA

@Eritrea:Government

Names:
conventional long form: State of Eritrea
conventional short form: Eritrea
local long form: none
local short form: none
former: Eritrea Autonomous Region in Ethiopia

Digraph: ER

Type: transitional government
note: on 29 May 1991 ISAIAS Afworke, secretary general of the Peoples'
Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), which then served and still
serves as the country's legislative body, announced the formation of
the Provisional Government in Eritrea (PGE) in preparation for the
23-25 April 1993 referendum on independence for the autonomous region
of Eritrea; the result was a landslide vote for independence which was
proclaimed on 27 April 1993

Capital: Asmara (formerly Asmera)

Administrative divisions: 9 provinces; Akole Guzay, Baraka, Danakil,
Hamasen, Sahil, Samhar, Senhit, Seraye, Sahil

Independence: 27 May 1993 (from Ethiopia; formerly the Eritrea
Autonomous Region)

National holiday: National Day (independence from Ethiopia), 24 May
(1993)

Constitution: transitional "constitution" decreed 19 May 1993

Legal system: NA

Suffrage: NA

Execu