200,000 (2008) country comparison to the world: 140
Transportation ::Eritrea
Airports:
13 (2010) country comparison to the world: 152
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 4
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 (2010)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 9
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2010)
Heliports:
1 (2010)
Railways:
total: 306 km country comparison to the world: 120 narrow gauge: 306 km 0.950-m gauge (2008)
Roadways:
total: 4,010 km country comparison to the world: 157 paved: 874 km
unpaved: 3,136 km (2000)
Merchant marine:
total: 4 country comparison to the world: 132 by type: cargo 2, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1 (2010)
Ports and terminals:
Assab, Massawa
Military ::Eritrea
Military branches:
Eritrean Armed Forces: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force (2010)
Military service age and obligation:
18–40 years of age for male and female voluntary and compulsory military service; 16-month conscript service obligation (2006)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16–49: 1,307,012
females age 16–49: 1,319,682 (2010 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16–49: 864,608
females age 16–49: 920,104 (2010 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 64,489
female: 64,476 (2010 est.)
Military expenditures:
6.3% of GDP (2006 est.) country comparison to the world: 8
Transnational Issues ::Eritrea
Disputes - international:
Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by 2002 Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision but, neither party responded to the revised line detailed in the November 2006 EEBC Demarcation Statement; Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting eastern Sudanese rebel groups; in 2008 Eritrean troops move across the border on Ras Doumera peninsula and occupy Doumera Island with undefined sovereignty in the Red Sea
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 32,000 (border war with Ethiopia from 1998–2000; most IDPs are near the central border region) (2007)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Eritrea is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; each year, large numbers of migrant workers depart Eritrea in search of work, particularly in the Gulf States, where some likely become victims of forced labor, including in domestic servitude, or commercial sexual exploitation; thousands of Eritreans flee the country illegally, mostly to Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya where their illegal status makes them vulnerable to situations of human trafficking; the government remains complicit in conscripting children into military service
tier rating: Tier 3 - the Government of Eritrea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the Eritrean government does not operate with transparency and published neither data nor statistics regarding its efforts to combat human trafficking; it did not respond to requests to provide information for this report; the government made no known progress in prosecuting and punishing trafficking crimes over the reporting period and did not appear to provide any significant assistance to victims of trafficking during the reporting period (2009)
page last updated on January 12, 2011
======================================================================
@Estonia (Europe)
Introduction ::Estonia
Background:
After centuries of Danish, Swedish, German, and Russian rule, Estonia attained independence in 1918. Forcibly incorporated into the USSR in 1940 - an action never recognized by the US - 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.
Geography ::Estonia
Location:
Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland, between Latvia and Russia
Geographic coordinates:
59 00 N, 26 00 E
Map references:
Europe
Area:
total: 45,228 sq km country comparison to the world: 132 land: 42,388 sq km
water: 2,840 sq km
note: includes 1,520 islands in the Baltic Sea
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than New Hampshire and Vermont combined
Land boundaries:
total: 633 km
border countries: Latvia 343 km, Russia 290 km
Coastline:
3,794 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12
