Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$151 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
13.4% (2004)
Transnational Issues Eritrea
Disputes - international:
Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by 2002 Ethiopia-Eritrea
Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision, but despite
international intervention, mutual animosities, accusations and
armed posturing prevail, preventing demarcation; Ethiopia refuses to
withdraw to the delimited boundary until technical errors made by
the EEBC that ignored "human geography" are addressed, including the
award of Badme, the focus of the 1998-2000 war; Eritrea insists that
the EEBC decision be implemented immediately without modifications;
since 2000, the UN Peacekeeping Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea
(UNMEE) monitors the 25km-wide Temporary Security Zone in Eritrea
until the demarcation; Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting Sudanese
rebel groups; Eritrea protests Yemeni fishing around the Hanish
Islands awarded to Eritrea by the ICJ in 1999
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 59,000 (border war with Ethiopia from 1998-2000; most IDPs
are near the central border region) (2004)
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Estonia
Introduction Estonia
Background:
After centuries of Danish, Swedish, German, and Russian rule,
Estonia attained independence in 1918. Forcibly incorporated into
the USSR in 1940, it regained its freedom in 1991, with the collapse
of the Soviet Union. Since the last Russian troops left in 1994,
Estonia has been free to promote economic and political ties with
Western Europe. It joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.