Prior to Italian colonization in 1885, Eritrea had been ruled by the various local or international powers that successively dominated the Red Sea region. Eritrea, which is located in east Africa, was placed under British military administration after the Italian surrender in World War II. In 1952, a United Nations resolution federating Eritrea with Ethiopia went into effect. But Ethiopia's annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a 30-year struggle for independence that ended in 1991. Independence was overwhelmingly approved in a 1993 referendum. However, the two countries hardly became good neighbors, and the 1998 border disputes erupted into open hostilities. This conflict ended with a peace deal under United Nations auspices in December 2000, but bilateral tensions associated with  border issues and jurisdiction of territory have prevailed to date. The economy of Eritrea is largely based on subsistence agriculture. Since its independence from Ethiopia in 1993, the economic development of Eritrea has been hampered by war, recurrent drought, and mismanagement of the government. As such, Eritrea remains one of the poorest countries in the world.