Eritrea
Developing in a
Strategic Location
Brief History
• Italy invaded and occupied Eritrea. On January 1,
1890 Eritrea officially became a colony of Italy. In
1936 it became a province of Italian East Africa
(Africa Orientale Italiana), along with Ethiopia and
Italian Somaliland. The British armed forces
expelled those of Italy in 1941 and took over the
administration of the country which had been set
up by the Italians. The British continued to
administer the territory under a UN Mandate until
1951 when Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia as
per UN resolution 390(A) under the prompting of
the United States adopted in December 1950; the
resolution was adopted after a referendum to
consult the people of Eritrea.
Independent Eritrea
• The lack of regard for the Eritrean population
led to the formation of an independence
movement in the early 1960s, which erupted
into a 30-year war against successive Ethiopian
governments that ended in 1991. Following a
UN-supervised referendum in Eritrea (dubbed
UNOVER) in which the Eritrean people
overwhelmingly voted for independence, Eritrea
declared its independence and gained
international recognition in 1993
Basic Information
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Region: Africa
Area Total: 117,600 km2
Coast Line: Red Sea - 2,234 km
Land boundaries: 1,626 km - border countries:
Djibouti 109 km, Ethiopia 912 km, Sudan 605 km
• Terrain: dominated by extension of Ethiopian
north-south trending highlands, descending on
the east to a coastal desert plain, on the
northwest to hilly terrain and on the southwest
to flat-to-rolling plains
• Capital: Asmara
Demographics
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Population: 5,647,168 (July 2009 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 42.8%
Population growth rate: 2.577% (2009 est.)
Urban population: 21%
Infant mortality rate: total: 43.33 deaths/1,000
live births
• Life expectancy at birth: 61.78 years
• Total fertility rate: 4.72
• Literacy: 58.6% (15 years & older)
Population Pyramid
Cultural Data
• Ethnic groups:
– Tigrinya 50%,
– Tigre and Kunama 40%,
– Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%,
– other 3%
• Languages: Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama,
Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
• Religions: Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman
Catholic, Protestant
Tigrinya woman
Rashaida woman
Afar woman & Tigre woman
Kunama woman & Saho woman
Nara woman & Hedareb woman
Bilen woman
A 30-year guerilla war with Ethiopia started
in 1962. Eritreans rallied together and won
the struggle in 1993, and became an
independent nation.
Tens of thousands of troops are massed on
each side of the Eritrea-Ethiopia border in
case war breaks out again, as it did in 1998
.
The graves of former fighters and soldiers
in Asmara
Hassan Mohammed Nur, a former fighter who
gave 16 years of his life and his left leg to the
struggle, says he is not worried about the threat
of U.S. sanctions. "
Eritrean Coast
Rural Landscape
Rugged Interior
Asmara
Waiting at a bus stop
On the streets of Asmara
Women at work at a flour mill in Asmara.
Christian women during an early
morning service in Asmara.
The country's few private industries are in
trouble, due in part to increasing tensions
with Ethiopia.
The company's most famous product is the
Shida sandal, a black plastic shoe that
became the symbol of Eritrea's
Idependence struggle.
Government Building
The St Mary's Catholic Cathedral in Asmara
Catholic Cathedral School
Mosque of
Inghil on the
Buri Peninsula
Traditional
Fishing Boat
Transportation
Asmara Market
The Market
Injera Basket
Shop
Cooking Time
Fish
roastering in
a Tandori
oven
(jemenitic
style)
Kunama
Eritrean Wedding
Traditional Coffee
Dancing Monks
Mosque
Road through the Hills
Massawa Island
Red Sea Port
Kitchen
Tigre nomads
on there way
to the
lowlands
before the
rains will start
Traditional Family
Gash_Barkahouses
Mountain village homes
Agordatmen
Eritreans stand in long lines for milk and other staples
at stores. Shoppers sometimes wait for hours for a
single loaf of bread.
THE FACES OF ERITREA