Eritrea

a small country in NE Africa, on the Red Sea: became an Italian colony in 1890; federated with Ethiopia (1952--93); an independence movement was engaged in war with the Ethiopian government from 1961 until independence was gained in 1993; consists of hot and arid coastal lowlands, rising to the foothills of the Ethiopian highlands. Languages: Tigrinya, Arabic, English, Afar, and others. Religions: Muslim and Christian. Currency: nakfa. Capital: Asmara. Pop.: 4 296 000 (2004 est.). Area: 117 400 sq. km (45 300 sq. miles)

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Eritrea

Official name: State of Eritrea

Capital city: Asmara

Internet country code: .er

Flag description: Red isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) dividing the flag into two right triangles; the upper triangle is green, the lower one is blue; a gold wreath encircling a gold olive branch is centered on the hoist side of the red triangle

National emblem: Camel

Geographical description: Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan

Total area: 48,000 sq. mi. (125,000 sq. km.)

Climate: Hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and wetter in the central highlands (heaviest rainfall June to September); semiarid in western hills and lowlands

Nationality: noun: Eritrean(s); adjective: Eritrean

Population: 4,906,585 (July 2007 CIA est.)

Ethnic groups: Tigrigna 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%, other 3%

Languages spoken: Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrigna, other Cushitic languages

Religions: Sunni Muslim 50%, Orthodox Christian 30%, Roman Catholic 13%, other (including Protestant, Seventh-Day Adventist, Jehovah’s Witness, Buddhist, Hindu, and Baha’i) less than 5%, indigenous religions 2%

Legal Holidays:

Eritrean Christmas	Jan 7
Fenkil Day	Feb 10
Keddus Johannes	Sep 11
Liberation Day	May 24
Martyrs' Day	Jun 20
May Day	May 1
Meskel	Sep 27
New Year's Day	Jan 1
Orthodox Good Friday	Apr 22, 2011; Apr 6, 2012; Mar 29, 2013; Apr 18, 2014; Apr 3, 2015; Mar 25, 2016; Apr 14, 2017; Mar 30, 2018; Apr 19, 2019; Apr 10, 2020; Apr 2, 2021; Apr 15, 2022; Apr 7, 2023
Revolution Day	Sep 1
Tensae	Apr 24, 2011; Apr 15, 2012; May 5, 2013; Apr 20, 2014; Apr 12, 2015; May 1, 2016; Apr 16, 2017; Apr 8, 2018; Apr 28, 2019; Apr 19, 2020; May 2, 2021; Apr 24, 2022; Apr 16, 2023
Timket	Jan 19

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Eritrea

a province in Ethiopia. Area, 118,000 sq km. Population, 2,070,000 (1974). The capital is Asmara.

At the beginning of the Common Era the region that is now Eritrea formed part of the kingdom of Aksum. From the 13th to 16th centuries most of the region belonged to Ethiopia. In 1557 the Ottoman Turks seized the Eritrean port of Massawa, which they used as a base to penetrate inland. In 1868 the Turkish sultan transferred control of Massawa to the khedive of Egypt. Italy acquired the port of Assab in 1882 and seized Massawa in 1885. In 1890 the areas taken by Italy were united into the Italian colony of Eritrea.

From 1941 to 1952 Eritrea was under British administration. In 1952, under a UN General Assembly resolution drafted in 1950, Eritrea was made an autonomous unit federated with Ethiopia. In November 1962 the Eritrean legislative assembly, under pressure from the central government, voted to dissolve the federation and reunite Eritrea with Ethiopia. During the 1970’s the separatist movement in Eritrea gained strength, and bloody clashes took place between armed separatists and Ethiopian troops. The revolutionary Ethiopian government maintains control over most of Eritrea Province.

REFERENCE

Trevaskis, G. K. N. Eritrea: A Colony in Transition, 1941–52. London, 1960.

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

Eritrea has been attempting a forceful seizure of Djiboutian territory after stationing its troops near the town Ras Doumeira since April 16 this year, leading to a brief exchange of hostilities with the Djiboutian army on June 10.

World holds breath as Eritrea, Djibouti eye war (Report)

The British-drafted resolution also urged Eritrea and Djibouti to work toward normalizing ties and settling their 2008 border dispute, and requested the UN secretary-general to report to the council on the issue by Feb.

UN chief says lifting of Eritrea sanction to promote regional peace building

In a report to the Security Council on 12 October, the Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group (SEMG) SEMG found no conclusive evidence that Eritrea was providing support to the Somali group of Al-Shabaab.

Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia welcome imminent lift of sanctions on Asmara

Ethiopia, a land-locked country, also had to pay fees for using Eritrea's Red Sea Assab and Massawa ports through which much of the country's foreign trade was channelled.

Ethiopia-Eritrea: After the low- hanging fruit

'It is not only the peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea, it is the fact that tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, we will have, here in Saudi Arabia, the President of Djibouti and the President of Eritrea - two countries that have also been at odds with each other,' he said.

Ethiopia, Eritrea sign peace accord in Saudi Arabia

Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a border war between 1998 and 2000 during which tens of thousands died.

Somalia's president pays rare visit to Eritrea

This also means that Ethiopia, which had been landlocked since the coastal country of Eritrea gained independence in 1993, could finally regain access to ports on the Red Sea.

Ethiopia-Eritrea: A New Era Of Peace

Eritrean officials in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, could not immediately be reached for comment and Eritrea's information ministry had posted nothing on the development.

Ethiopia accepts peace deal with longtime rival Eritrea

The Philippines and Eritrea have enjoyed warm diplomatic relations since February 4, 1997.

27th Independence Day of Eritrea

"I have had to resort to publishing this piece and inquiry as a blog as no paper entertains any perspective other than the sensationalized unhealthy narrative maintained as against Eritrea" (Ruby Sandhu, Founder and Principal Consultant at RS Collaboration).

The role of the international community in the eritrean refugee crisis

It was at the end of the nineteenth century that Italian colonialism divided off the region north of the River Mareb, mostly from historic Ethiopia, and had named it "Eritrea," which was after the Latin name for the Red Sea, Mare Erythraeum.

The historical orbit of Eritrea's agony

Regrettably, New African's article on "Eritrea-Ethiopia Tensions" (July 2016), uncritically relied on two Africa "experts" for its perspectives on Eritrea. Both are avowed Eritrea detractors who haven't been in Eritrea for almost two decades.

Correcting a distorted narrative