transitional government note: following a successful referendum on independence for the Autonomous Region of Eritrea on 23-25 April 1993, a National Assembly, composed entirely of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice or PFDJ, was established as a transitional legislature; a Constitutional Commission was also established to draft a constitution; ISAIAS Afworki was elected president by the transitional legislature; the constitution, ratified in May 1997, did not enter into effect, pending parliamentary and presidential elections; parliamentary elections were scheduled in December 2001, but were postponed indefinitely; currently the sole legal party is the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ)
Independence date
12 October 1968 (from Spain)
Religions
nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic, pagan practices
Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant
Languages
Spanish 67.6% (official), other 32.4% (includes French (official), Fang, Bubi) (1994 census)
Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
Exports
petroleum, methanol, timber, cocoa
External Debt
$1,051,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar 441.72 (2008 est.), 481.83 (2007), 522.4 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
0.100%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
Location
Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Cameroon and Gabon
Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan
Area
28,051 km sq
117,600 km sq
Coastline
296 km
2,234 km
Climate
tropical; always hot, humid
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
