The 2003 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
Transportation Eritrea
Railways:
total: 306 km
narrow gauge: 306 km 0.950-m gauge
note: railway is being rebuilt (2002)
Highways:
total: 4,010 km
paved: 874 km
unpaved: 3,136 km (1999 est.)
Waterways:
none
Ports and harbors:
Assab (Aseb), Massawa (Mits'iwa)
Merchant marine:
total: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 19,100 GRT/23,399 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 2, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 1,
roll on/roll off 1 (2002 est.)
Airports:
18 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 4 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 14 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 2 (2002)
Military Eritrea
Military branches:
Army, Navy, Air Force
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$95.75 million (FY02)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
12% (FY02)
Transnational Issues Eritrea
Disputes - international:
Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by 2002 independent boundary
commission delimitation decision, but demarcation, scheduled to
begin in 2003, has been hampered by technical delays and Ethiopian
concerns that the decision ignored "human geography" and awarded
Badme, the focus of the 1998–2000 war, to Eritrea, demarcation of
the boundary has been postponed indefinately; UN Peacekeeping
Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) monitors a 25 km 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
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003
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@Estonia
Introduction Estonia
Background:
After centuries of Danish, Swedish, German, 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 received invitations to join NATO and the EU
in 2002.
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: 45,226 sq km
note: includes 1,520 islands in the Baltic Sea
water: 2,015 sq km
land: 43,211 sq km
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; flat in the north, hilly in the south
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m
highest point: Suur Munamagi 318 m
Natural resources:
oil shale, peat, phosphorite, clay, limestone, sand, dolomite,
arable land, sea mud
Land use: arable land: 26.5% permanent crops: 0.35% other: 73.15% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
40 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
sometimes flooding occurs in the spring
Environment - current issues:
air polluted with sulfur dioxide from oil-shale burning power
plants in northeast; however, the amount of pollutants emitted to
the air have fallen steadily, the emissions of 2000 were 80% less
than in 1980; the amount of unpurified wastewater discharged to
water bodies in 2000 was one twentieth the level of 1980; in
connection with the start-up of new water purification plants, the
pollution load of wastewater decreased; Estonia has more than 1,400
natural and manmade lakes, the smaller of which in agricultural
areas need to be monitored; coastal seawater is polluted in certain
locations
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species,
Hazardous Wastes, Ship Pollution, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note:
the mainland terrain is flat, boggy, and partly wooded; offshore
lie more than 1,500 islands
People Estonia
Population:
1,408,556 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 15.8% (male 113,239; female 108,876)
15–64 years: 68.8% (male 467,041; female 501,805)
65 years and over: 15.4% (male 71,512; female 146,083) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 38.1 years
male: 34.7 years
female: 41.3 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
−0.49% (2003 est.)
Birth