Eritrea: Geography#
| Location | Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan |
|---|---|
| Geographic Coordinates | 15 00 N, 39 00 E 15.0,39.0 |
| Area | total: 117,600 sq km land: 101,000 sq km water: 16,600 sq km We are unable to verify those figures from Factbook, since the 6 main sources we used for checking give different figures as follows: Factbook: 117600 DBpedia: 117598 Geoname: 121320 Infoplease: 121320 Britannica: 121144 Wolfram: 117600 Attempted Explanation: Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to office nospam@TUGraz.at @global-geography.org |
| Land boundaries | total: 1,840 km border countries: Djibouti 125 km, Ethiopia 1,033 km, Sudan 682 km |
| Coastline | 2,234 km (mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea 1,083 km) |
| Elevation Extremes | lowest point: near Kulul within the Danakil Depression -75 m highest point: Soira 3,018 m |
| Highest Mountains | Due to difference in mountain rankings taken from two data sources we are listing here both lists : According to Wolfram: Emba Soira 3018 m According to Geonames: Dega 3047 m; Amba Mossino 3038 m; Soyra 3013 m; Amba Debra 2833 m; Adi-Hans 2820 m Attempted Explanation: Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to office nospam@TUGraz.at @global-geography.org |
| 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 |
| Natural Hazards | frequent droughts, rare earthquakes and volcanoes; locust swarms volcanism: Dubbi (elev. 1,625 m), which last erupted in 1861, was the country's only historically active volcano until Nabro (2,218 m) came to life on 12 June 2011 |
| Natural Resource | gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish |
| Land Use | arable land: 5.87% permanent crops: 0.02% other: 94.12% (2011) |
| Climate | hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually, heaviest June to September); semiarid in western hills and lowlands |
| Irrigated Land | 215.9 sq km (2003) |
| Renewable Water Resources | 6.3 cu km (2011) |
| Environment_CurrentIssues | deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Large Cities | Due to difference in city rankings taken from two data sources we are listing here both lists : According to Wolfram: Asmara; Asseb; Keren; Mitsiwa; Addi Ugri According to Geonames: Asmara; Keren; Massawa; Assab; Mendefera Attempted Explanation: Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to office nospam@TUGraz.at @global-geography.org Important Cities |
| Geography-note | 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 24 May 1993 |