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government type:
transitional government note: following a successful referendum on independence for the autonomous region of eritrea on 23-25 april 1993. a national assembly. composed entirely of the people's front for democracy and justice or pfdj. was established as a transitional legislature; a constitutional commission was also established to draft a constitution; isaias afworki was elected president by the transitional legislature; the constitution. ratified in may 1997. did not enter into effect. pending parliamentary and presidential elections; parliamentary elections had been scheduled in december 2001. but were postponed indefinitely; currently the sole legal party is the people's front for democracy and justice (pfdj) capital: asmara administrative divisions: 6 regions (zobatat. singular - zoba); anseba. debub (southern). debubawi k'eyih bahri (southern red sea). gash barka. ma'akel (central). semenawi keyih bahri (northern red sea) independence: 24 may 1993 (from ethiopia) national holiday: independence day. 24 may (1993) constitution: a transitional constitution. decreed on 19 may 1993. was replaced by a new constitution adopted on 23 may 1997. but not yet implemented legal system: primary basis is the ethiopian legal code of 1957. with revisions; new civil. commercial. and penal codes have not yet been promulgated; also relies on customary and post-independence-enacted laws and. for civil cases involving muslims. sharia law suffrage: 18 years of age; universal executive branch: chief of state: president isaias afworki (since 8 june 1993); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government and is head of the state council and national assembly head of government: president isaias afworki (since 8 june 1993); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government and is head of the state council and national assembly cabinet: state council is the collective executive authority; members appointed by the president elections: president elected by the national assembly; election last held 8 june 1993 (next election date uncertain as the national assembly did not hold a presidential election in december 2001 as anticipated) election results: isaias afworki elected president; percent of national assembly vote - isaias afworki 95% legislative branch: unicameral national assembly (150 seats; term limits not established) elections: in may 1997. following the adoption of the new constitution. 75 members of the pfdj central committee (the old central committee of the eplf). 60 members of the 527-member constituent assembly. that had been established in 1997 to discuss and ratify the new constitution. and 15 representatives of eritreans living abroad were formed into a transitional national assembly to serve as the country's legislative body until countrywide elections to a national assembly were held; although only 75 of 150 members of the transitional national assembly were elected. the constitution stipulates that once past the transition stage. all members of the national assembly will be elected by secret ballot of all eligible voters; national assembly elections scheduled for december 2001 were postponed indefinitely judicial branch: high court - regional. subregional. and village courts; also have military and special courts political parties and leaders: people's front for democracy and justice or pfdj. the only party recognized by the government [isaias afworki]; note - a national assembly committee drafted a law on political parties in january 2001. but the full national assembly has not yet debated or voted on it political pressure groups and leaders: eritrean islamic jihad or eij [leader na] (also including eritrean islamic jihad movement or eijm (also known as the abu sihel movement) [leader na]); eritrean islamic salvation or eis (also known as the arafa movement) [leader na]; eritrean liberation front or elf [abdullah muhammed]; eritrean national alliance or ena (a coalition including eij. eis. elf. and a number of elf factions) [heruy tedla biru]; eritrean public forum or epf [aradom iyob] international organization participation: acp. afdb. au. comesa. fao. g-77. iaea. ibrd. icao. icct (signatory). icftu. ida. ifad. ifc. ifrcs (observer). igad. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iso (correspondent). itu. miga. nam. opcw. pca. un. unctad. unesco. unido. upu. wco. wftu. who. wipo. wmo. wtoo diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador girma asmerom chancery: 1708 new hampshire avenue nw. washington. dc 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 319-1991 fax: [1] (202) 319-1304 consulate(s) general: oakland (california) diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: ambassador scott h. delisi embassy: franklin d. roosevelt street. asmara mailing address: p. o. box 211. asmara telephone: [291] (1) 120004 fax: [291] (1) 127584 flag description: red isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) dividing the flag into two right triangles; the upper triangle is green. the lower one is blue; a gold wreath encircling a gold olive branch is centered on the hoist side of the red triangle economy - overview: since independence from ethiopia on 24 may 1993. eritrea has faced the economic problems of a small. desperately poor country. like the economies of many african nations. the economy is largely based on subsistence agriculture. with 80% of the population involved in farming and herding. the ethiopian-eritrea war in 1998-2000 severely hurt eritrea's economy. gdp growth fell to zero in 1999 and to -12.1% in 2000. the may 2000 ethiopian offensive into northern eritrea caused some $600 million in property damage and loss. including losses of $225 million in livestock and 55.000 homes. the attack prevented planting of crops in eritrea's most productive region. causing food production to drop by 62%. even during the war. eritrea developed its transportation infrastructure. asphalting new roads. improving its ports. and repairing war damaged roads and bridges. since the war ended. the government has maintained a firm grip on the economy. expanding the use of the military and party-owned businesses to complete eritrea's development agenda. erratic rainfall and the delayed demobilization of agriculturalists from the military kept cereal production well below normal. holding down growth in 2002-05. eritrea's economic future depends upon its ability to master social problems such as illiteracy. unemployment. and low skills. and to open its economy to private enterprise so the diaspora's money and expertise can foster economic growth. gdp (purchasing power parity): $4.471 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $1.244 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 2% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1.000 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 8.7% industry: 26.3% services: 65% (2005 est.) labor force: na labor force - by occupation: agriculture 80%. industry and services 20% unemployment rate: na (2003 est.) population below poverty line: 50% (2004 est.) household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: na highest 10%: na inflation rate (consumer prices): 15% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 26.8% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $248.8 million expenditures: $409.4 million. including capital expenditures of na (2005 est.) agriculture - products: sorghum. lentils. vegetables. corn. cotton. tobacco. coffee. sisal; livestock. goats; fish industries: food processing. beverages. clothing and textiles. salt. cement. commercial ship repair industrial production growth rate: na electricity - production: 270.9 million kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) electricity - consumption: 251.9 million kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 0 kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 0 kwh (2003) oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - consumption: 4.600 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: na (2001) oil - imports: na (2001) current account balance: $-278.7 million (2005 est.) exports: $33.58 million f.o.b. (2005 est.) exports - partners: malaysia 21.4%. italy 13.7%. eqypt 8.3%. india 7.8%. japan 6.4%. germany 5.3%. china 4.1%. uk 4% (2004) imports: $676.5 million f.o.b. (2005 est.) imports - partners: ireland 25.7%. us 17.9%. italy 16%. turkey 6.2% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $32.6 million (2005 est.) debt - external: $311 million (2000 est.) economic aid - recipient: $77 million (1999) currency (code): nakfa (ern) currency code: ern exchange rates: nakfa (ern) per us dollar - 14.5 (2005). 13.788 (2004). 13.878 (2003). 13.958 (2002). 11.31 (2001) fiscal year: calendar year telephones - main lines in use: 38.100 (2003) telephones - mobile cellular: na telephone system: general assessment: inadequate domestic: very inadequate; most telephones are in asmara; government is seeking international tenders to improve the system (2002) international: country code - 291; note - international connections exist radio broadcast stations: am 2. fm na. shortwave 2 (2000) radios: 345.000 (1997) television broadcast stations: 1 (2000) televisions: 1.000 (1997) internet country code: .er internet hosts: 1.047 (2004) internet service providers (isps): 5 (2001) internet users: 9.500 (2003) airports: 17 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 4 over 3.047 m: 2 2.438 to 3.047 m: 2 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 13 over 3.047 m: 1 2.438 to 3.047 m: 1 1.524 to 2.437 m: 5 914 to 1.523 m: 4 under 914 m: 2 (2005 est.) railways: total: 306 km narrow gauge: 306 km 0.950-m gauge (2004) roadways: total: 4.010 km paved: 874 km unpaved: 3.136 km (1999) merchant marine: total: 6 ships (1.000 grt or over) 16.069 grt/19.549 dwt by type: cargo 3. liquefied gas 1. petroleum tanker 1. roll on/roll off 1 registered in other countries: 1 (2005) ports and terminals: assab. massawa military branches: army. navy. air force military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary and compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 16 months (2004) manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: na (2005) military expenditures - dollar figure: $151 million (2004) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 13.4% (2004) 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)
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