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Location:
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Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan
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Geographic coordinates:
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15 00 N, 39 00 E
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Map references:
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Africa
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Area:
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total: 121,320 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 121,320 sq km
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Area - comparative:
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slightly larger than Pennsylvania
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Land boundaries:
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total: 1,626 km
border countries: Djibouti 109 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km
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Coastline:
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2,234 km total; mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km, islands in Red Sea 1,083 km
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 12 NM
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Climate:
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hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually); semiarid in western hills and lowlands; rainfall heaviest during June-September except in coastal desert
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Terrain:
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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
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: near Kulul within the Denakil depression -75 m
highest point: Soira 3,018 m
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Natural resources:
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gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish
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Land use:
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arable land: 3.87%
permanent crops: 0.02%
other: 96.11% (1998 est.)
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Irrigated land:
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220 sq km (1998 est.)
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Natural hazards:
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frequent droughts; locust swarms
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Environment - current issues:
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deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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Geography - note:
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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
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