Land boundaries: total 1,630 km, Djibouti 113 km, Ethiopia 912 km,
Sudan 605 km
Coastline: 1,151 km (land and island coastline is 2,234 km)
Maritime claims: NA
International disputes: none
Climate: hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually); semiarid in western hills and lowlands; rainfall heaviest during June-September except on coastal desert
Terrain: dominated by extension of Ethiopian north-south trending highlands, descending on the east to a coastal desert plain, on the northwest to hilly terrain and on the southwest to flat-to-rolling plains
Natural resources: gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, probably oil
(petroleum geologists are prospecting for it), fish
Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 2% (coffee)
meadows and pastures: 40%
forest and woodland: 5%
other: 50%
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Environment:
current issues: famine; deforestation; desertification; soil erosion;
overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare
natural hazards: frequent droughts
international agreements: party to - Endangered Species; signed, but
not ratified - Desertification