. .
|
Eritrea Geography 1999
Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan Geographic coordinates: 15 00 N, 39 00 E Map references: Africa
Area:
Areacomparative: slightly larger than Pennsylvania
Land boundaries:
Coastline: 2,234 km total; mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea 1,083 km Maritime claims: NA 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
Elevation extremes:
Natural resources: gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, probably oil and natural gas (currently under exploration), fish
Land use:
Irrigated land: 280 sq km (1993 est.) Natural hazards: frequent droughts Environmentcurrent issues: deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare
Environmentinternational agreements:
Geographynote: 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
|