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Country overview:
Eritrea
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Official name:
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Hagere Eritrea (The State of Eritrea)
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Head of State:
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President Issaias Afwerki (assumed power May 1991; elected President
by Nation al Assembly Jun 8, 1993)
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Ruling party:
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People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) (formerly the
Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF)
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Flag:
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Area:
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125,000 square km
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Population:
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4,786,994 (July 2006 est.)
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Life expectancy:
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over all: 56.18 years; male:53.73 years; female:
58.71 years (2001 est.)
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Religions:
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Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant and
Indigenous believes
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Capital:
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Asmara
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Other Cities and population in 2002 (EIU estimates):
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Asmara
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500,000
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Assab
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70,000
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Keren
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70,000
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Mendefera
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65,000
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Masawa
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35,000
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Official language:
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There is no official language but the working language is
Tigrinya/Arabic
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Time:
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3+GMT
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Fiscal year:
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January 1st
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Measures:
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Metric system
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Electricity
supply:
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220V AC, 50 cycles
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Currency:
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Nakfa (Nk) = 100 cents; Exchange
rate: 15 Nakfa per US$1 (Jan 2005)
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GDP per capita:
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US$198 (2000)
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GDP real growth:
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3.50% (2000)
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Inflation:
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19.90% (2000)
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Major Intl.
Organizations:
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UN (FAO,
IBRD, ILO, IMF, IMO, WHO), OAU
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Internet country code:
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.er
(The
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers or
IANA for country top level domain names)
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Dialing code for Eritrea:
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IDD access code + 291 followed by area code (1 for Asmara,1 for
Masawa)
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Geography:
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Eritrea extends inland from the Red Sea coast of eastern Africa.
To the south, the country has a long frontier with Ethiopia, and
a short frontier with Djibouti. Sudan lies to the north and
west.
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Climate:
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Eritrea has two rain seasons with in the year in two different
regions while the Semhar/Coastal is wet-rain season, the other
regions hot and dry which includes Asmara, the dry season runs
from October-May with temperatures ranging from as low as 6
degrees C in December to 26 degrees C in March (light rain from
February-April). The rainy season runs from June-September with
average temperature 21 degrees C. Rainfall are less than 500mm
per year in lowland areas, increasing to 1,000mm in the
highlands. Average annual temperatures range from 17 degrees C
in the highlands to 30 degrees C in Massawa. The Danakil
depression in the south-east, which is more than 130 meters
below sea-level in places, experiences some of the highest
temperatures recorded, frequently exceeding 50 degrees C.
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Public holidays:
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Fixed dates
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Jan 1 (New Year's Day), Jan 7 (Lidet), Jan 19 (Epiphany), Mar 8
(International Women's Day), May 1 (Workers' Day), May 24
(Independence Day), Jun 20 (Martyrs' Day), Jul 16 (Mewlid Al
Neby), Sep 1 (Anniversary of the Armed Struggle), Sep
27(Meskel), Dec 25 (Christmas).
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Variable dates
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Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Easter.
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Travel Advisory and Visas:
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Visas may be obtained from the Eritrean Embassy in Washington
DC.Tourist visa requires 1 application, 1 photo, $25 fee (no
personal checks). Allow 3 working days for processing. For more
information, contact the Embassy of Eritrea, 1708 New Hampshire
Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009, (202/319-1991). Fax:
202-319-1304.
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| Average Daily
Temperature |
| Capital: |
Asmara |
| January: |
25.6°C / 78°F |
| July: |
34.4°C / 94°F |
| Annual
Rainfall: |
203.2mm / 8'' |
Boundaries |
| Ethiopia: |
912km |
| Sudan: |
605km |
| Djibouti: |
113km |
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For more details about Eritrea please visit www.projecteritrea.com
or www.eritreatoday.com and we are
updating this site check back again, we will post here soon more
information!
Sources: The World Factbook; EIU; Lexis-Nexis;CW;
CIA and
World Population Prospects.
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