(January 1999), 7.2 (March 1998 est.)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Eritrea Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 23,578 (2000)
Telephones - mobile cellular: NA
Telephone system: general assessment: NA
domestic: very inadequate; most telephones are in Asmara; government is seeking international tenders to improve the system
international: NA
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 1, shortwave 2 (2000)
Radios: 345,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 1 (2000)
Televisions: 1,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .er
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 4 (2000)
Internet users: 500 (2000)
Eritrea Transportation
Railways: total: 317 km
narrow gauge: 317 km 0.950-m gauge (1999)
note: links Ak'ordat and Asmara with the port of Massawa; nonoperational since 1978 except for about a 5 km stretch that was reopened in Massawa in 1994; rehabilitation of the remainder and of the rolling stock is under way
Highways: total: 3,850 km
paved: 810 km
unpaved: 3,040 km (2000)
Waterways: none
Ports and harbors: Assab (Aseb), Massawa (Mits'iwa)
Merchant marine: total: 5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,069
GRT/19,549 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 1, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1 (2000 est.)
Airports: 20 (2000 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 2
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 18
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 7
under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.)
Eritrea Military
Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $160 million (2000 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 29.4% (2000 est.)
Eritrea Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: as a result of the 12 December 2000 peace agreement ending a two-year war with Ethiopia, the UN will administer a 25-km wide temporary security zone within Eritrea until a joint boundary commission delimits and demarcates a final boundary
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@Estonia
Estonia Introduction
Background: After centuries of Swedish 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.
Estonia Geography
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: 45,226 sq km
land: 43,211 sq km
water: 2,015 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 339 km, Russia 294 km
Coastline: 3,794 km
Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: limits fixed in coordination with neighboring states
territorial sea: 12 NM
Climate: maritime, wet, moderate winters, cool summers
Terrain: marshy, lowlands
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m
highest point: Suur Munamagi 318 m
Natural resources: shale oil (kukersite), peat, phosphorite, amber, cambrian blue clay, limestone, dolomite, arable land
Land use: arable land: 25%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 11%
forests and woodland: 44%
other: 20% (1996 est.)
Irrigated land: 110 sq km (1996 est.)
Natural hazards: flooding occurs frequently in the spring
Environment - current issues: air heavily polluted with sulfur dioxide from oil-shale burning power plants in northeast; contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum products, chemicals at former Soviet military bases; Estonia has more than 1,400 natural and manmade lakes, the smaller of which in agricultural areas are heavily affected by organic waste; coastal sea water is polluted in many locations
Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution,
Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ship Pollution, Ozone Layer
Protection, Wetlands
signed,
