Eritrea Location:
15°20'N, 38°55'E
Eritrea Geography:
Eritrea is located in East Africa, more specifically the Horn of Africa, and is bordered on the northeast and east by the Red Sea. The country is virtually bisected by one of the world's longest mountain ranges, the Great Rift Valley, with fertile lands to the west and the descent to desert in the East. Off the sandy and arid coastline is situated the Dahlak Archipelago and its fishing grounds. The land to the south, in the highlands, is slightly drier and cooler. Eritrea at the southern end of the Red Sea is the home of the fork in the rift.
The Afar Triangle or Danakil Depression of Eritrea is the probable location of a triple junction where three tectonic plates are pulling away from one another: the Arabian Plate, and the two parts of the African Plate (the Nubian and the Somalian) splitting along the East African Rift Zone (USGS). The highest point of the country, Amba Soira, is located in the centre of Eritrea, at 3 018 metres (9,902 ft) above sea level. In 2006, Eritrea announced it would become the first country in the world to turn its entire coast into an environmentally protected zone. The 1 347 km (837 mile) coastline, along with another 1 946 km (1,209-miles) of coast around its more than 350 islands, will come under governmental protection.
The main cities of the country are the capital city of Asmara and the port town of Asseb in the southeast, as well as the towns of Massawa to the east, and Keren to the north.
Eritrea People:
Population
- July 2005 estimate 4,401,000 (118th)
- 2002 census 4,298,269
- Density 37 /km2 (165th)
96 /sq mi
Eritrea Government:
A government is a body that has the power to make, and the authority enforce rules and laws within a civil, corporate, religious, academic, or other organization or group.[1] The governments can be classified in various ways: The classical way of classification is according to the number of people who hold the power (one, a few, or a majority). The more recent classification bases itself on the institutional organization (parliamentary or presidential systems) or the distribution and the degree of control exercised over the society.[1]
Government Transitional government
- President Isaias Afewerki
Eritrea Economy:
Like the economies of many other African nations, the economy is largely based on subsistence agriculture, with 80% of the population involved in farming and herding. The only natural disaster that sometimes affects Eritrea, drought, has often created trouble in the farming areas. [3]
The Eritrean-Ethiopian War severely hurt Eritrea's economy. GDP growth in 1999 fell to less than 1%, and GDP decreased by 8.2% in 2000. The May 2000 Ethiopian offensive into southern Eritrea caused some $600 million in property damage and loss, including losses of $225 million in livestock and 55,000 homes. The attack prevented planting of crops in Eritrea's most productive region, causing food production to drop by 62%.[27][28]
Even during the war, Eritrea developed its transportation infrastructure, asphalting new roads, improving its ports, and repairing war-damaged roads and bridges as a part of the Warsay Yika'alo Program. The most significant of these projects has been the building of a coastal highway of more than 500 km connecting Massawa with Asseb as well as the rehabilitation of the Eritrean Railway. The rail line now runs between the Port of Massawa and the capital Asmara.
Eritrea's economic future remains mixed. The cessation of Ethiopian trade, which mainly used Eritrean ports before the war, leaves Eritrea with a large economic hole to fill. Eritrea's economic future depends upon its ability to master fundamental social problems like illiteracy, and low skills.
Eritrea More Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eritrea | 
