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
25 December 1000 (crowning of King STEPHEN I, traditional founding date)
Religions
Roman Catholic 51.9%, Calvinist 15.9%, Lutheran 3%, Greek Catholic 2.6%, other Christian 1%, other or unspecified 11.1%, unaffiliated 14.5% (2001 census)
Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant
Languages
Hungarian 93.6%, other or unspecified 6.4% (2001 census)
Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
Exports
machinery and equipment 61.1%, other manufactures 28.7%, food products 6.5%, raw materials 2%, fuels and electricity 1.6% (2003)
External Debt
$170,000,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
forints (HUF) per US dollar - 171.8 (2008), 183.83 (2007), 210.39 (2006), 199.58 (2005), 202.75 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.750%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
10
0
Location
Central Europe, northwest of Romania
Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan
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
