President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
President: Isaias Afewerki
Population
65,630,692
6,086,495
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
62.860 years
Capital City
Paris
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Asmara (population: 563,930)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.442
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
Literacy Rate
99%
58.6%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
2.6
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
22%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished in practice
Political System
republic
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
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
Religions
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
40
0
Location
Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain
Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan
Area
643,801 km sq
117,600 km sq
Coastline
0 km
2,234 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
