Maritime claims: NA
International disputes: a dispute with Yemen over sovereignty of the Hanish Islands in the southern Red Sea has been submitted to arbitration under the auspices of the ICJ
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
lowest point: Kobar Sink -75 m
highest point: Soira 3,013 m
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 - Climate Change, Desertification
Geographic note: strategic geopolitical position along world's busiest shipping lanes; Eritrea retained the entire coastline of Ethiopia along the Red Sea upon de jure independence from Ethiopia on 27 April 1993
People ———