Total Area:121,320 sq km Land Borders:Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan
Population: 4,786,994
Life Expectancy: 59 years HIV % Total Poulation:2.7%
Ethnic Groups: ethnic Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%, other 3%
Languages:Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
President:ISAIAS Afworki GDP - Per Capita: $1,000
Eritrea was awarded to Ethiopia in 1952 as part of a federation. Ethiopia's annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a 30-year struggle for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean rebels defeating governmental forces; independence was overwhelmingly approved in a 1993 referendum. A two-and-a-half-year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices in December 2000. Eritrea currently hosts a UN peacekeeping operation that is monitoring a 25 km-wide Temporary Security Zone on the border with Ethiopia. An international commission, organized to resolve the border dispute, posted its findings in 2002 but final demarcation is on hold due to Ethiopian objections.