Geography

Area

Climate

a hot, arid desert corridor situated along the Red Sea coastline; the central highlands experience cooler and wetter conditions (receiving up to 61 cm of annual rainfall, predominantly from June to September); the western hills and lowlands are classified as semiarid

Terrain

characterized by an extension of the Ethiopian highlands, which trend north-south, sloping down to a coastal desert plain on the east, to hilly landscapes on the northwest, and to flat-to-rolling plains in the southwest

Land use

Location

located in Eastern Africa, adjacent to the Red Sea, positioned between Djibouti and Sudan

Coastline

2,234 km (mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km; islands in Red Sea 1,083 km)

Elevation

Irrigated land

210 sq km (2012)

Map references

Africa

Land boundaries

Maritime claims

Natural hazards

experiences frequent droughts, with infrequent occurrences of earthquakes and volcanoes; subject to locust infestations

volcanism: Dubbi (1,625 m), the only historically active volcano in the country until Nabro (2,218 m) erupted in 2011, last erupted in 1861

Geography - note

holds a strategically significant geopolitical location along the most trafficked shipping routes in the world

Natural resources

resources include gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, and potentially oil and natural gas, along with fish

Area - comparative

marginally smaller than the state of Pennsylvania

Geographic coordinates

15 00 N, 39 00 E

Population distribution

population density is most concentrated in the central region of the country, particularly in and around the cities of Asmara (the capital) and Keren; smaller communities are found in the northern and southern regions, as depicted in this population distribution map