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)
constitutional republic
Independence date
28 July 1821 (from Spain)
Religions
Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant
Roman Catholic 81%, Seventh Day Adventist 1.4%, other Christian 0.7%, other 0.6%, unspecified or none 16.3% (2003 est.)
Languages
Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara, and a large number of minor Amazonian languages
nuevo sol (PEN) per US dollar - 2.9322 (2008 est.), 3.1731 (2007), 3.2742 (2006), 3.2958 (2005), 3.4132 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.500%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
Location
Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan
Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador
Area
117,600 km sq
1,285,216 km sq
Coastline
2,234 km
2,414 km
Climate
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
varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes
