Eritrea Environment - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Paris Agreement

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 42.4 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 0.71 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 4.48 megatons (2020 est.)

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

Land use

agricultural land: 75.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 6.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 68.3% (2018 est.)

forest: 15.1% (2018 est.)

other: 9.8% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 43.3% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 3.67% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 726,957 tons (2011 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 31 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 1 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 550 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

7.315 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Eritrea on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Eritrea 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Eritrea 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.