Eritrea Environment - 2023

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

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

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.)

Waste and recycling

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

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 30 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 1 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 550 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

7.32 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Eritrea on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Eritrea 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Eritrea 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.