Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 121,320 sq km
land: 121,320 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly larger than Pennsylvania
Land boundaries:
total: 1,626 km
border countries: Djibouti 109 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km
Coastline:
2,234 km total; mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea
1,083 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
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 in 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
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: near Kulul within the Denakil depression -75 m
highest point: Soira 3,018 m
Natural resources:
gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish