Eritrea is an African country. It only gained its independence in
1993. In the east, the country has a long coastline on the Red Sea,
in the south it borders Djibouti, in the southwest Ethiopia and in
the northwest Sudan.
Due to its strategic location, Eritrea
was repeatedly exposed to the influences of foreign powers such as
the Arabs from Yemen, the Egyptians and the Ottoman Empire. In 1869
it was occupied by Italy and in 1890 it was officially declared an
Italian colony. This period lasted until 1941. From 1941 to 1945
Eritrea was a British protectorate. Under the mandate of the UN,
Eritrea was under British administration until 1951. In 1951 Eritrea
was united with Ethiopia as an independent state to form a
federation. Ten years later, Ethiopia completely annexed the country
and a 30-year civil war began, which led to Ethiopia's independence
in 1993.
After a brief political opening, there was another
war with Ethiopia from 1998 to 2000. Until 2018, relations with the
neighboring country were extremely tense and the borders were
completely closed. There were repeated exchanges of fire in the
border area; landmines were also laid. For the safety of travelers,
it was not possible to travel to these border areas; travel permits
may still not be available.
There was also a war with Yemen
over some islands in the Red Sea. Shooting also took place on the
border with Djibouti for many years. A peace agreement was reached
there in 2014. The border, which was secured by a peacekeeping force
from Qatar, was supposed to be reopened, but since the force
withdrew in 2017, the situation has worsened significantly again.
This land border is also impassable at the beginning of 2018.
During these years, the government (a one-party state) has
developed into a presidential dictatorship, which is always
mentioned in reports by human rights organizations in the group of
the last-placed countries, along with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and
North Korea (before April 2018). However, the country is somewhat
more open to tourists than the aforementioned countries or Saudi
Arabia.
The president last convened the appointed parliament
in 2001. Opposition members are detained indefinitely in secret
locations, and special courts impose death sentences in cases of
state security. Society is thoroughly militarized. Compulsory
military service officially lasts 18 months for men up to 50, women
up to 27, but in reality it is unlimited. Until 2018, there was a
travel ban for men aged 5 to 30 or 50.
A large proportion of
the 86,000 visitors from abroad who arrived in Asmara in 2016 were
native Eritreans/refugees. The regime lets them enter the country
unhindered if they pay the 2% "voluntary" income tax on their
earnings in the host country to the government. Remittances from
abroad add up to 46% of economic output; 23-25% of GDP is spent on
the military. Most "real" tourists come from Italy, Germany and the
Benelux countries.
Visitors should not contradict the
official statement: "Everything bad comes/came from Ethiopia". The
extent to which the large neighbor is trying to destabilize the
state of Eritrea with the aim of making Eritrea a province of
Ethiopia again is not known anyway due to the lack of objective
observation possibilities. There are no religious tensions. Islam,
Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Lutheran rites are recognized
by the state. Action is taken against evangelicals, mostly fanatics
of American persuasion, and the Catholic Church also complains of
obstruction.
Despite all the poverty, people try to dress
properly. Eritrea is generally a very clean country. There is almost
no garbage anywhere, which is certainly due to the ban on plastic
bags. Tourists are not "hunted" for, and there are hardly any
beggars. You will also look in vain for advertising from
international companies (apart from a soda brand from Atlanta,
Georgia).
Entry requirements
A visa is required to enter the country.
Eritrea is diplomatically represented in the capitals of neighboring
countries. If you are in Africa for a longer period of time, it may be
easier to obtain a visa here, although the official line is that you
should contact the consulate in your country of origin.
Make sure
you read the travel permit section.
Responsible in Germany:
Embassy of the State of Eritrea, Consular Department,
Stavangerstrasse 18, 10439 Berlin. The stated processing time is 30
working days, usually much faster. A passport photo and a flight ticket
are required to apply for a visa. In order to obtain a visa, it is
important to provide proof that and when you will be leaving Eritrea
(form + 1 photo). Also responsible for residents of Austria, Hungary,
the Vatican and Poland. Price: Tourist, single entry, 30 days: € 50.
Business visa, single entry € 60, multiple entry € 90.
Consulate
of the State of Eritrea, Lyoner Strasse 34, 60528 Frankfurt. Tel.: +49
(0)69 69534600. Price: (see above).
In Switzerland Section
consulaire de l'Ambassade, Rue de Vermont 9, 1211 Genève 20.
A
yellow fever vaccination is required.
Special rules
Under
certain conditions, a visa-on-arrival can be issued to business
travelers whose Eritrean partner has submitted a corresponding
application to the immigration authorities at least 48 hours in advance.
This application can also be arranged for tourists through a local
travel agency. Visa-free transit is permitted for up to six hours at the
airport or 72 hours in the country if the airline arranges accommodation
and transport there. Austrians and Liechtensteiners (not Swiss) can also
get a visa in emergency passports, Germans can also use a "temporary
passport". The prerequisite is that these documents are valid for at
least one month after departure.
Extensions
Two extensions of
stay of 30 days each are possible for a fee of US$ 60. Resident
foreigners must apply for a re-entry permit.
Customs
Luggage
is scanned on arrival.
More than US$ 10,000 in cash must be declared.
Nakfa may no longer be imported or exported since 2013.
Allowances
400 cigarettes or 50 cigars 250 g tobacco;
2 liters of
alcohol;
500 ml perfume;
1 camera and 1 electronic device, for
personal use only;
100 g jewelry.
Airplane
The only
international airport is in Asmara. As long as the travel permit
requirement exists, it is practically the only border crossing point.
From German-speaking countries, Egypt Airways (via Cairo), Turkish
Airlines (via Istanbul) and Emirates (via Dubai) fly to Asmara. Since
February 2018, Eritrean Airlines has been offering direct flights from
Milan to Asmara on Tuesdays, with one-hour stops in Cairo and Khartoum,
where there is no need to change planes. (Agency for Germany in
Heidelberg: Red Sea Tours, ☎ +49 6221 24249; Milan: Nas Martignoni, ☎
+39 0331 253576). A departure tax of US$ 20 for foreigners is included
in the ticket price.
At the end of July 2018, Ethiopian Airlines
resumed operations from Addis Ababa. Initially there will be two flights
a day. There is a fixed price of 4528 Birr in economy class. This is
currently the only direct connection between the two long-time enemy
states.
Train
You cannot enter by train because there is no
cross-border railway line.
Car/motorcycle/bicycle
The land
border between Eritrea and Ethiopia has been open again since September
11, 2018 at 1 Zalambessa (Zela Ambesa) (14° 32′ 14″ N 39° 23′ 16″ E). It
is unclear to what extent this crossing can generally be used by
third-country nationals, given the continued requirement for a travel
permit in Eritrea. The war in Ethiopia resulted in the border being
closed. The situation can always change within a short period of time.
The borders with Sudan and Djibouti are sometimes open, but then
closed again for weeks, months or longer. Due to the situation in Sudan,
traveling to or from Sudan in 2023 is completely illusory.
Ship
There are no regular passenger connections to Eritrea. “Individual
travellers are warned against calling at Eritrean ports or visiting the
islands of the Dahlak archipelago […].”
Travel permit
Since 2006, all foreigners have required a travel
permit to leave the capital, which takes about two working days to
issue. Obtaining one is more than just a formality, and rejections do
occur. The application office is the otherwise completely
information-free Tourism Information on Harnet Avenue in Asmara (Monday
to Friday 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 12
p.m.), opposite the cathedral. The places for which travel permits are
issued also change at short notice, and issuing the permit costs 20-50
Nakfa. Travel agencies based in Eritrea also offer the service of
obtaining a travel permit and charge 20 US$ for the service. The permit
is checked when checking into hotels and sometimes also during police
checks on the street.
With a tourist visa, you can only travel to
the cities (regions) of Massawa, Keren, Mendefera, Dekemhare and, under
certain circumstances, Senafe with a travel permit. Places between
Asmara and the place specified in the travel permit can also be visited
without any problems. With a business visa, it is also possible to
travel to other areas, but you must then be accompanied by a person from
the business partner who provided the reference for the visa.
Additional permits, which are subject to a fee and which are usually
obtained by the travel agency, are required to visit Orthodox
monasteries (from the Patriarch of the Eritrean Church, ☎ 182098. Women
are not allowed in), archaeological sites (National Museum, ☎ 1122389)
and the Dahlak Islands.
By plane
There are no domestic flights
at the beginning of 2018.
By train
In Eritrea there is a very
interesting narrow gauge line (950 mm) from Asmara to Massawa from the
Italian colonial era, but it is no longer in use for passengers. With a
great deal of administrative effort and long preparation times, trips
for tour groups (e.g. steam train enthusiasts) can be organized on parts
of the route, which are very expensive.
Travel agencies and tour
operators
It is difficult for foreign tourists to obtain a travel
permit for trips outside the above-mentioned areas if they are not
looked after by an approved agency. In Asmara there are several travel
agencies and tour operators that offer all kinds of tours.
Organized diving is possible near Massawa, at high prices and with
average views.
By road
The larger cities are connected by
first class roads (numbered P). They are almost completely asphalted.
Third class roads (T) are usually more or less well-paved tracks that
turn into impassable mud paths in the rainy season (June to September).
Second-class roads can be between the two extremes (S). Travel during
the dark and on remote, especially unpaved, roads should be avoided.
"Off-road, there is a danger of mines nationwide - especially in the
border area with Ethiopia and Djibouti. If in doubt, travelers should
definitely seek information from local authorities and the population."
Where there are no buses, renting a vehicle with a driver is the
only practical way to get around as a tourist. Driving yourself would
require an Eritrean driver's license, so a local driver is usually
arranged (around US$ 150/day). In 2017, diesel cost around 20 Nakfa, and
gasoline a whopping 30 Nakfa.
By bus
Since July 2017, travel
permits have been issued for individual tourists who travel by bus to
Keren, Massawa or other cities. The state buses are better than
privately operated vehicles. For large buses, only as many tickets are
sold as there are seats available.
By bike
There are actually
bike rental companies that usually charge US$3 per day. Please note that
you are not allowed to ride bikes in the city center of Asmara (the bike
will be confiscated if you violate this rule) and that bike tours
outside the city are only possible with an accompanying vehicle due to
the travel permit requirement.
There are nine major ethnic groups in Eritrea. The largest people in the country are the Tigrinya. The main languages spoken in the country are Arabic and Tigrinya (50-55%). English is the quasi-official language. According to the constitution, however, all languages spoken in Eritrea have equal rights. In Eritrea, primary school lessons are taught in the regional languages (Tigrinya, Arabic, Tigre, Saho, Kunama, Afar, Bilen). From middle school onwards, only English is taught, so that good communication is sometimes possible, especially with younger people, especially in Asmara. In smaller towns and villages, English skills are very low, even among young people. Italian, the old colonial language, is also understood by older people.
Bargaining takes place in markets and for taxis, which are always yellow, otherwise fixed prices usually apply.
The Eritrean currency has been the Eritrean Nakfa since 1997. The
Nakfa (ERN or Nfa) is divided into 100 cents, which are actually no
longer in circulation. The Nakfa is available in banknotes with face
values of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 Nakfa. The dollar sign is also used
in Eritrea as a symbol for the Nakfa, which can lead to confusion. The
currency is named after the northern Eritrean city of Nakfa, which
played an important role in the civil war. The Nakfa is pegged to the
US$ at a rate of 1 US$ to 15 (≙ 18.3 per €, April 2018) but is
convertible. There are no ATMs and credit cards are not accepted
(although better hotels sometimes accept card payments via online
portals). The money you need for your trip should therefore be brought
in cash. If necessary, you can have supplies sent to you via Western
Union.
In general, foreign currency is very popular; there is a
black market. In order to curb this black market, banknotes were changed
and it was made more difficult for locals to exchange foreign currency,
but this only had a short-term success. In April 2017, 1 US$ was again
exchanged for 24-25 Nakfa in Asmara. It should be noted that you only
get notes from the 2016 series and are not tricked into buying older,
invalid series. Exchanging money on the black market is obviously
illegal, but not unusual due to the difference between the official rate
and the "street rate". If you change money privately, you should look
for a safe place.
Currency exchange: The easiest way to exchange
€ or US$ for Eritrean Nakfa in Eritrea is in banks or official Himbol
exchange offices. However, the overvalued currency means that services
paid for at official rates (restaurants and hotels) are
disproportionately expensive.
Hotel bills must occasionally be
paid in US$ (mostly in upscale hotels). Only Eritrean citizens are
exempt from this rule.
Tipping is customary in Eritrea. In hotels (from mid-range) and upscale restaurants, the service charge is included at around 10%. Otherwise, it is customary to tip up to 10% (maximum 20 Nakfa) for good service. You should not be so reserved when tipping and remember that most people in Eritrea are paid very little. If you have agreed with the taxi driver to provide service outside of the normal journey, a tip of 5 to 10 Nakfa is appropriate. You should tip directly to the person whose individual service you want to honor.
If you eat with your fingers, you should only use your right hand.
Your fingers, which you never lick, should not touch your lips, and you
should not touch someone else's portion.
In addition to the local
cuisine, the Italian influence is unmistakable. There are good quality
pasta and pizza restaurants. Most people drink tea (shahi), and coffee
also plays an important role. The coffee ceremony performed by women
(boiling three times, tasting each time) is particularly important here,
and is considered a special sign of respect for a guest.
Suwa is
homemade "beer", almost carbonated, made from roasted teff, barley
and/or wheat, with the addition of leaves from the African buckthorn
tree (gesho). Mes is a honey-based fermented drink.
Tsebhi ...
refers to various types of goulash-like stews. Tsebhi shiro, a cooked
peanut-butter-tomato mixture, is also placed on flatbreads. A Himbasha
is a flat spice bread baked in a pan. Hamli consists of spinach cooked
with onions and garlic.
Mada is grilled meat, the dried meat
Quanta is cooked with onions and tomatoes in oil.
In the
lowlands, people eat Akelet (or Ga'at) for breakfast, a "porridge" made
from barley or wheat flour that is shaped into a "volcano" and served
with seasoned, clarified butter (Tigrinya: tesmi or Ethiopian niṭer
ḳibē) in the middle. The spice mixture bärbärä is spicy and is softened
by yoghurt.
Practically all the vegetables served are "organic";
if only because no artificial fertilizers or Monsanto seeds are allowed
into the country due to a lack of money and sanctions. The typical local
dish is Injera, a flatbread made from leavened dough made from teff (a
local type of millet) and additions of, among other things, spices.
Zigni (beef goulash), vegetables, schiro (chickpea puree). Many of the
side dishes are spicy with berbere (pronounced bärbärä). These dishes
are hardly different from Ethiopian ones, although not as much melted
butter is used.
On the coast, fish is often prepared simply in a
tandor oven, served with flatbread and a spicy tomato sauce. There are
ninety species of edible fish in the Red Sea.
Prostitution is legal, the women who practice the profession (me'amn) are registered and are tested for HIV every month.
Simple but acceptable rooms are available from around 200 Nakfa per night. If you want a little more comfort, you will have to rely on hotels that, due to the overvalued local currency, do not cost less than 30-50 US$ in the lower segment and around 100 US$ for the upper middle class. There are no luxury hotels from international chains.
Eritrea is a safe country in terms of crime, although a large proportion of the male population owns weapons. At most, opportunistic thefts on buses occur. You will be completely unmolested in the cities at night. This also applies to women travelling alone.
The Eritrean health system is state-run and still very poorly
developed. Great efforts are being made to improve it further together
with aid organisations. In addition to material shortages, there is also
a shortage of personnel; in spring 2011 there were only three
paediatricians and four ENT doctors in the whole country. However, there
is an outpatient clinic in every smaller town where at least rudimentary
emergency care is possible.
The supply of water is also
difficult, although efforts are being made to improve this by building
reservoirs.
Due to awareness campaigns, Eritrea is the country
with a very low HIV/AIDS rate, 2013: 0.6%, down from 2005: 1.5%. Malaria
(P. falciparum, partly chloroquine-resistant, and P. vivax) occurs
mainly in the lowlands below 2200m. Asmara is malaria-free. See also
tropical diseases.
Eritrea can be divided into two main zones. Firstly, the hot,
desert-like lowlands on the Red Sea and secondly, the highlands. While
it can get extremely hot in the lowlands, mild temperatures prevail in
the highlands. The Danakil Depression is the hottest place on earth in
Eritrea (temperatures over 70°C).
In the highlands it can also
get quite cool in winter, in exceptional cases (e.g. around 0°C in
January 2018). In the port city of Massawa, on the other hand, it can
get up to 50°C in June/July. Massawa is one of the warmest permanently
populated areas in the world.
The rainy season is from June to
September, in the western highlands in November. Years of drought are a
recurring result of El Niño. After crop failures, mass migrations from
affected areas due to hunger occur, most recently in 2017.
In Eritrea, Christians and Muslims are the two main religious groups.
Both live peacefully and with mutual respect. The lowlands are
predominantly Muslim due to their former affiliation with the Ottoman
Empire, and the highlands are predominantly Christian-Orthodox. To greet
each other in the traditional style, people put their shoulders together
in a slight bow. Women have complete equality, but exercise a certain
amount of restraint in public.
"Eritrea does not have a free
press. Expressing opinions critical of the government can lead to
arrest. [...] Homosexual acts are punishable."
As in all
authoritarian states, there is a ban on taking photographs of any
installations of military importance (including, for example, bridges,
airports, government buildings). This is taken very seriously locally.
In many areas, electricity is often only available for a few hours. Even in the cities, power outages are a daily occurrence. While the better hotels have generators, the population is used to using electricity when it is available. This also applies to Asmara, where the availability of electricity depends very much on the district; in the center there is usually electricity between the afternoon and midnight. A positive exception to this is Massawa. Here there is electricity all day from the Hirgigo power station, so that the air conditioning can cool down the offices.
There is only state radio in the form of two radio stations and one television channel (EriTV).
The only well-functioning telephone connection to Europe is via the
card phones in the main telephone office in the center of Asmara.
There is (officially) no mobile phone network accessible to
foreigners. However, Eritel SIM cards are available on the black market
with the corresponding risk. Prepaid top-up cards are available for 100
or 300 Nakfa, each + 10 Nakfa fee. Sending text messages abroad and
roaming are generally not possible. Internet is only available in
internet cafes (20 Nakfa/h is usual), but the internet connection is
extremely slow (100 kBit/s if you're lucky; as of September 2017).
Internet access is not yet widespread in smaller towns.
Sending postcards and letters from Eritrea to Europe is cheap (postage was 7 Nakfa per postcard in September 2017), reliable and surprisingly fast. The selection of good postcards, on the other hand, is rather limited. The best places are the philatelic department in the main post office in Asmara and the Jolly souvenir shop two blocks south of it.
The toponym "Eritrea" (ancient Greek Ἐρυθραία) existed in antiquity, then it referred to the coast of the Red Sea in the understanding of the ancients, that is, including also the coastal part of the Arabian Peninsula. As the name of the state entity, it was used by Italy in 1890 for its colony - Italian Eritrea. The state, formed in 1993, inherited this name. The etymology, apparently, goes back to the Latin name of the Red Sea (lat. Mare Erythraeum, from other Greek ἐρυθρός - “red”), although there is a point of view that it may also come from the color of the soil.
Since the historically researched early period around 500 BC, various
powers ruled over the country. The Aksumite Empire was located on
today's national territory. During the Middle Ages, the Christian
highlands were under the rule of the Ethiopian emperors, while local
princes ruled in the coastal regions. With the conquest by the Ottomans
in 1554, Eritrea became the Habeş Eyaleti province of the Ottoman Empire
for more than 300 years. During this time, the inhabitants of the
coastal regions, who belonged to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in
particular, were Islamized. The capital of Eritrea was Massawa.
The Bay of Assab had been Italian since 1870 and 1882, respectively, but
it was only after the occupation of Massawa (1885) and Asmara (1889)
that it became an Italian colony in 1890 under the newly created name
Colonia Eritrea.
After Italy invaded Ethiopia, Eritrea was incorporated into the newly founded Italian East Africa in 1936. It received large areas of northern Ethiopia; most of Tigray became part of Eritrea. In 1941, Italian East Africa was occupied by Allied forces. The Eritrean territory was placed under British military administration and in 1947 - after Italy formally abandoned Eritrea - became a British mandate territory.
In a resolution 289 (IV) of 21 November 1949, the UN General Assembly voted by 48 votes to one against (Ethiopia) and nine abstentions to send a commission made up of representatives from Burma, Guatemala, Norway, Pakistan and the Union of South Africa to Eritrea to prepare a report. This commission delivered its report in June 1950, but was unable to agree on a common recommendation (the representative of Norway was in favour of the full integration of Eritrea into Ethiopia, the representatives of South Africa and Burma were in favour of a federation with Ethiopia, the representatives of Guatemala and Pakistan were in favour of a temporary UN trusteeship with the aim of full independence for Eritrea). On 2 December 1950, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 390 (V) by 46 votes to 10, with four abstentions, calling for a federation of Eritrea with Ethiopia. On 25 and 26 March 1952 (and in two constituencies on 12 May 1952), the first elections to the 68-member Eritrean Legislative Assembly were held under UN supervision. No political party won an absolute majority in the election. 66 of the 68 seats were held by three political groups: 32 Unionists and Liberal Unionists, 19 MPs from the Democratic and Independence Front (Muslim League and others), and 15 MPs from the Muslim League of the Western Province. The draft constitution passed by the Assembly on 10 July 1952 was ratified by Emperor Haile Selassie on 11 August 1952, and the federation of Eritrea with Ethiopia formally came into force on 11 September 1952.
However, developments in the following years showed that the federation model was not sustainable. In 1956, the Ethiopian authorities introduced Amharic as the official language in Eritrea, although the Eritrean Constitution had provided for Arabic and Tigrinya. The Eritrean flag was banned and the Ethiopian legal system was introduced in Eritrea in 1959. In November 1962, Emperor Haile Selassie dissolved the Eritrean Legislative Assembly and officially declared Eritrea's federated status null and void, leaving Eritrea with the status of an ordinary province of Ethiopia. In the early years, the resistance against Ethiopian rule was mainly carried out by the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), which received its main support from the Muslim inhabitants of the western lowlands. In 1961, the ELF began armed struggle. Due to disputes within the ELF, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) was formed in the early 1970s, which subsequently rose to become the dominant resistance movement.
On September 12, 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown in a military coup. A short time later, a military regime was established under Mengistu Haile Mariam, which intensified the war against the rebels in Eritrea. Initially, the Ethiopians achieved success with the support of arms deliveries from the Soviet Union. However, a large-scale offensive to completely conquer Eritrea in 1982 failed. The EPLF was able to capture large arsenals of weapons from the Ethiopian army and subsequently launch effective counter-offensives. During the Mengistu regime, the EPLF was in alliance with numerous other resistance movements, including the Tigray Liberation Front (TPLF). The United Nations tried several times to mediate in these conflicts, but without success.
The war of independence ended after thirty years in 1991 with the
victory of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) and various
other Ethiopian rebel groups (including the EPRDF) and the
disempowerment of the Ethiopian Derg regime. The EPRDF formed a new
government and allowed Eritrea's independence. This was declared after a
UN-supervised referendum on May 24, 1993, in which 99.83 percent of
participants voted for independence. This day has been Eritrea's
national holiday ever since.
In the years that followed,
relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea deteriorated. In 1998, a border
war broke out between the two states, which ended in a stalemate. Since
then, the UN observer mission UNMEE has been stationed in the border
region to mark the legal border.
In 2002, an independent border commission recommended the new state
borders. As part of an arbitration award by the Ethiopian-Eritrean
Border Commission of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The
Hague[49], Ethiopia and Eritrea signed the agreement in which both
agreed to recognize the border. In fact, however, differences still
exist, especially since neither side had all of its claims met. The
disputed area around Badme was awarded to the Eritrean side, and
Ethiopia protested and demanded an immediate correction of the
arbitration award. As a result, the implementation of the border
demarcation could not be carried out as agreed until 2018. All UN troops
that had actually been deployed to maintain peace were massively
obstructed in their work by the Eritrean side in protest against the
Ethiopian blockade. In 2008, the United Nations Security Council decided
not to extend the mandate of UNMEE.
On June 5, 2018, the
Ethiopian government declared its willingness to accept the provisions
of the 2002 border agreement. This also includes the handover of Badme
to Eritrea. On July 8, 2018, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed
announced that Ethiopia and Eritrea would resume diplomatic relations.
At the same time, a peace treaty was signed between the two countries.
Eritrea participated in the civil war in northern Ethiopia from 2020
to 2022 on the side of the Ethiopian armed forces.
In the highlands of the interior, which are part of the Abyssinian
highlands, up to 600 millimeters of rain fall annually, especially
between June and September. Most of Eritrea's larger cities are located
in the highlands, at over 1,600 meters above sea level. The southern
highlands contain the few fertile regions of the country, such as the
Mendefera area, the Badme area and the border triangle with Ethiopia and
Sudan in the Gash-Barka region. The country's highest elevation, the
Dega at 3,047 meters, southeast of Asmara, is also located in the
Abyssinian highlands.
In the west of the country, Eritrea also
has a share of the Sahara: west of the Barka River and north of the Gash
River, the eastern Sahara continues from Sudan and ends with the rise to
the Abyssinian highlands.
The almost desert-like dry savannah on
the Red Sea is very hot and dry. The area of the coastal plain between
Massawa and the border with Sudan in the north is still partly
considered part of the Sahara.
The entire southeast of Eritrea,
on the other hand, is part of the Danakil Desert, one of the hottest and
driest deserts in the world. In the Afar Triangle lies the Danakil
Depression, which is the lowest point in the country at 110 meters below
sea level. The land area of Eritrea is 117,600 km².
The largest cities are (2012 calculation): Asmara (665,000 inhabitants), Assab (99,000 inhabitants), Keren (80,000 inhabitants), Massaua (52,000 inhabitants), Mendefera (25,000 inhabitants) and Barentu (19,000 inhabitants).
Until 1996, Eritrea was divided into nine regions (awraja). These
regions date back to the Italian colonial era. The regions and their
regional capitals were: Akkele Guzay (Adi Keyh), Barka (Agordat),
Denkalia (Assab), Gash Setit (Barentu), Hamasien (Asmara), Sahel
(Nakfa), Semhar (Massaua), Senhit (Keren) and Seraye (Mendefera).
With the administrative reform of July 15, 1996, the number of
regions (zoba) was reduced to six:
Maekel (Central Region) (Asmara)
Debub (Southern Region) (Mendefera)
Gash-Barka (Barentu)
Anseba
(Keren)
Semienawi Kayih Bahri (Northern Red Sea Region) (Massaua)
Debubawi Kayih Bahri (Southern Red Sea Region) (Assab)
The number of inhabitants was reported significantly too high for a
long time. In 2017, the United Nations reported the population as 5.1
million and the CIA World Factbook as 5.9 million. Shortly afterwards,
the United Nations significantly revised all its figures for the past,
present and future downwards and has since estimated only around 3.4
million inhabitants for 2017 and around 3.7 million for 2022. The CIA
World Factbook has not yet followed the UN correction and estimates 6.23
million inhabitants for 2023.
In international comparison, the
supply rate of contraceptives in Eritrea is poor. It is therefore
affected by strong population growth, which is largely due to unplanned
pregnancies. According to the German Foundation for World Population, in
2015 only 7% of married women had access to modern contraceptives. As of
2022, the United Nations estimates that the population will double from
4 million in 2025 to 8 million in 2080.
There are nine major ethnic groups in Eritrea. The largest people in
the country are the Tigrinya (55 percent, according to other sources 50
percent). They also live in Ethiopia in the Tigray region. Their
language Tigrinya is, alongside Arabic, the official language of
Eritrea. The ethnic group, which is called Tigrinya in Eritrea,
corresponds linguistically and culturally to the Tigray in Ethiopia.
However, the Ethiopian Tigray and Eritrean Tigrinya can no longer be
considered a unified group due to a long period of separate political
history. Historically, they called themselves Habescha. Even before the
colonial era, Tigrinya speakers were extremely diverse in the form of
various autonomous provinces and descent groups and were rarely united
politically.
The second largest people are the Tigre (30
percent). The larger ethnic groups also include the Saho (4 percent),
the Bilen (2 percent) and the Rashaida (2 percent). The Kunama also make
up two percent of the population. The small ethnic groups Sokodas and
Iliit on the Sudanese border consider themselves Kunama, but are
geographically and linguistically separated (they speak dialects of
Ilit-Sokodas, also called West Kunama).
The Beja minority is
officially known as Hedareb, which is also used as the name of a
subgroup. Other minorities are the Nara and the Afar. There are also
very small groups of West African origin (mostly Hausa speakers) who are
called Tokharir in Eritrea. Information in this area is poor. In
addition, 500,000 to one million Eritreans, mostly Orthodox Tigrinya,
now live abroad, which corresponds to about a fifth of the population.
Since 2015, Eritrea has been the main country of origin for African
refugees in Europe, alongside Nigeria and Somalia (see also Refugee
crisis in Europe 2015/2016). At just 0.3% of the population in 2017, the
proportion of foreigners is one of the lowest in the world. Many
political refugees living abroad have returned to their homeland.
Eritreans of European descent, mainly Italians who immigrated in the
19th century, form a tiny minority.
The population of Eritrea is officially divided almost equally into
Muslims (Sunnis) and Christians (Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church,
Eritrean Catholic Church, Protestants). The International Religious
Freedom Report published by the US State Department estimated that 50
percent of Eritrea were Muslims and 48 percent were Christians in 2007,
and 60 percent were Muslims and 37 percent Christians in 2006. The
Association of Religion Data Archives estimates that 50.15 percent of
the population are Muslims and 47.91 percent are Christians. There are
also a few small local traditional religions. Despite the very different
views and the resulting potential for conflict, the population forms a
national unity. The Christians live mainly in the plateau around Asmara
and the Muslim parts of the population mainly in the lowlands and near
the coast.
In recent years, the government has systematically
persecuted unrecognized Christian minorities because they do not conform
to the government's ideological paradigms. Evangelical news agencies in
the USA now regularly report on persecution of Christians in the
country. Amnesty International stated that members of minority churches
banned by the state were held captive in freight containers in extreme
heat, where they were at risk of suffocation.
The nine languages of the nine largest ethnic groups are formally
considered to be equal national languages. These are Tigrinya (2.3
million speakers), Tigre (800,000), Afar (300,000), Saho, Kunama, Beja,
Blin, Nara (around 100,000 each) and Arabic, which is spoken by the
Rashaida as their mother tongue and by several other Eritreans as a
second language. The state promotes the use of these languages in
schools for the respective ethnic groups and in broadcasts on the
national radio station.
There is no officially designated
official language. In fact, however, Tigrinya and Arabic - which are
also widely used as lingua franca - and English are the government's
working languages. Italian, a legacy of the colonial era, is understood
primarily by the older population. Many signs and shops in Asmara are
also written in Italian. Tigrinya and Italian are the most commonly used
in business, trade and industry. There is also a school in Asmara where
Italian is taught - the Scuola Italiana di Asmara. Italian is losing
importance, however, while the spread of English is increasing.
The languages of Eritrea belong to two of the major language families
in Africa: Tigrinya, Tigre and Arabic are Semitic languages, Saho,
Bilen, Afar and Beja are Cushitic languages - both branches of the
Afro-Asiatic language family. Nara (Baria) and Kunama/Baza, on the other
hand, belong to the family of Nilo-Saharan languages.
Dahalik,
which is spoken by several thousand people on islands in the Dahlak
archipelago, was previously considered a dialect of Tigre, but according
to recent linguistic findings, is an independent Semitic language.
There are different figures regarding the level of literacy. While
some sources report a literacy rate of 93% for people between the ages
of 15 and 24 in 2015 (one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa), other
sources estimate it at 75% in 2018. In rural communities and among
nomads, literacy is significantly lower than in more densely populated
areas due to poor access to schools.
While students are taught in
their respective mother tongue in primary school, the language of
instruction changes to English from the 6th grade. However, students are
generally poorly prepared for the change to English-language
instruction.
The 12th school year is compulsory for all students
in the Sawa military camp. For the majority of graduates, military
service is followed by civilian national service ("community service"),
which is carried out in administration, education or national
development projects, for example, and is often referred to as
compulsory service. The best performing students are allowed to study
and are assigned to their fields of study. After the closure of the
University of Asmara in 2004, educational institutions were established
in various parts of the country, including the Eritrea Institute of
Technology near Asmara and the College of Marine Sciences & Technology
in Massawa.
Health care is largely funded by the state and is free for those with
a poverty certificate.
Life expectancy is estimated at 63.4 years
for 2010-2015. The fertility rate in 2012 was 4.7 children per woman.
The infant mortality rate is 74 per 1,000 live births, making Eritrea
51st in the world. Maternal mortality was reduced by 75% between 1990
and 2013.
In 2002, almost 89% of women between the ages of 15 and
49 were affected by female genital mutilation, compared to 94.5% in
1995. The success of the educational work was more clearly demonstrated
by the prevalence among daughters, which was also recorded in 2002,
ranging from 40% to 67.5% depending on the mother's level of education,
with an average of 62.5%. On March 31, 2007, a legal ban on female
circumcision came into force.
Most Eritreans are dependent on help from their relatives living in the diaspora.
Eritrea's media are state-run. There is the newspaper New Eritrea
(ሓዳስ ኤርትራ Ḥaddas Erətra = ارتريا الحديثة Iritriya 'l-ḥadīṯa = ኤሪትርየ ሐዳስ
Eritrəya ḥaddas), the radio stations Voice of the Masses (ድምጺ ሓፋሽ Dəmṣi
ḥaffaš = صوت الجماهير Ṣaut al-ǧamāhīr), Zara FM and Radio Numa as well
as the television station ERi-TV.
Censorship takes place in
Eritrea, and there is no freedom of the press in the country. All media
are controlled by the Ministry of Information. The state broadcaster
Eri-TV and the only news agency are located in the same building complex
as the Ministry of Information. Although there is Internet, according to
Spiegel, the officially slowed transmission speed of 0.1 Mbit per second
is "tantamount to censorship". The country regularly ranks among the
last places in the press freedom rankings of the NGO Reporters Without
Borders.
Eritrea officially has a democratic constitution, but has de facto
been a dictatorship of President Isayas Afewerki since independence from
Ethiopia. Elections are held at regional and national level (Baito), but
most parties are not allowed to participate. The president is head of
state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
The head of
state and the head of government are the highest authorities in the
Eritrean transitional government. Together with the 24-member state
representation, consisting of 16 ministers and other state
representatives, they form Eritrea's executive.
The legislature
is formed by a 150-member Eritrean National Assembly. Of the 150, 75 are
members of the Central Committee of the Popular Front for Democracy and
Justice (PFDJ) and 75 are representatives of the people who are directly
elected by the people. Among these 75 representatives of the people,
eleven must be women and 15 must be emigrants. The National Assembly
elects the president, issues laws and regulations, and ensures that they
are observed. Since Eritrea was part of Ethiopia from 1952, Eritreans
took part in the Ethiopian elections of 1957 on the basis of a general
right to vote and to stand for election that had been in force in
Ethiopia since November 4, 1955. This made women's suffrage law. After
independence in 1993, the 1997 constitution provided for general
suffrage for elections to the National Assembly and for presidential
elections.
Eritrea's regular jurisdiction consists of a high
court with five locations, 36 regional courts, and around 368 municipal
courts; there is also a special court and a military court.
Eritrea's politics are dominated by the Popular Front for Democracy
and Justice (PFDJ). The People's Front for Democracy and Justice, which
emerged from the former armed independence movement of the Eritrean
People's Liberation Front (EPLF), also claims the position of President
and Head of Government with its party leader Isayas Afewerki. Eritrea is
therefore considered a one-party state. Even if the official side
confirms that it is committed to a party law, these claims should be
viewed with some skepticism. In addition to the PFDJ, there are a number
of other political parties in the country, but none of them are allowed
to stand in elections.
There are still a number of opposition
splinter groups within the country, but they have so far been unable to
influence the country's politics:
Eritrean Liberation Front, led by
Woldeyesus Ammar
Eritrean National Alliance, led by Hiruy Tedla
Eritrean People's Movement, led by Abdellah Adem
Eritrean Democratic
Party, led by Mesfin Hagos
Eritrean Liberation Front - National
Council, led by Ahmed Nasser.
Due to ongoing human rights violations, Sheila Keetharuth was
appointed the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of
human rights in Eritrea in October 2012. A first report[62] was
presented to the UN Human Rights Council as part of Resolution 20/20 on
28 May 2013. In it, she identified serious human rights violations such
as arbitrary killings and arrests, enforced disappearances, torture and
a lack of freedom of expression, religion and assembly.
According
to Amnesty International, government critics, deserters and Eritreans
who have applied for asylum abroad are imprisoned. Overall, many
international observers consider Eritrea's political system to be
repressive or even a dictatorship. Before peace talks with Ethiopia in
2018, the government countered that Eritrea was in the process of
transitioning to democracy, was being pressured by Ethiopia and was
therefore practically in a state of war. This would prevent the young
government from being overthrown. In 2017, eleven journalists were
imprisoned in Eritrea.
The Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical
Lutheran churches, as well as Islam, are recognized by the state.
Unrecognized religious minorities such as evangelical Christians and
Jehovah's Witnesses have been affected by state repression and
imprisonment, particularly since 2002. In early 2008, those imprisoned
for their faith included a group of around 70 Muslims who refused to
recognize the government-appointed mufti as their leader.
A UNHCR
report from June 2015 states "systematic, widespread and gross human
rights violations".
The conditions of detention in at least 37
internment camps and military prisons, some of which are secret and some
of which are official, are precarious. Torture, sexual abuse and
violence occur. Deaths have been reported. Among other things, a prison
is operated on the island of Nakura, the origins of which date back to
the Italian colonial period. Fascist Italy expanded the prison into the
Nocra concentration camp in 1936, and the facilities are still used as a
prison by the Eritrean regime today. Since colonial times, the prison,
or interim concentration camp, has been known throughout the region for
its brutality and misanthropy, and extreme climatic conditions prevail.
In the World Watch List (WVI) published annually by Open Doors,
which shows and analyses the countries with the most severe persecution
of Christians, Eritrea was in fourth place in 2022. According to this,
the country is one of the countries in the world where Christians are
most oppressed because of their religious affiliation.
The
repressive political system, the difficult economic situation and the
conscription for indefinite forced labor are causing many people to flee
the country. As a result, Eritrea is one of the countries with the
highest proportion of citizens living outside the country. About a fifth
of the population lives abroad.
The US state-affiliated NGO
Freedom House characterized Eritrea as a "hermetic police state" in its
2019 country report. Eritrea is often referred to as "the North Korea of
Africa."
Eritrea's relations with its neighbouring countries are strained.
Both Eritrea and Ethiopia have been accused of fighting their disputes
as a "proxy war" in Somalia, particularly since 2006/2007. Ethiopia
supports the transitional government in Somalia and intervened
militarily from late 2006 to early 2009; Eritrea is hosting parts of the
Somali opposition in exile. It has rejected allegations that it has
illegally supplied Islamists and other opponents of the transitional
government with weapons. The separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front
in Ethiopia has received support from Eritrea.
In mid-2008, there
were several clashes between Eritrean and Djiboutian troops in the
disputed border area between the two countries. The USA and the United
Nations Security Council then accused Eritrea of military aggression.
Eritreans living abroad must pay a "development tax" of two percent
of their gross income to the Eritrean state. This used to be collected
by the Eritrean embassies in the respective countries, but since
embassies are no longer allowed to collect taxes, Eritreans living
abroad must now either travel home themselves or instruct a relative
living there to pay the tax. If they do not pay, no official documents
will be issued, there is no possibility of accepting inheritances or
starting business activities, and there is also the threat of reprisals
against relatives living in the country. Schoolchildren, students and
the unemployed are exempt from the tax. This tax, which is levied on
hundreds of thousands of Eritreans living abroad, even if they have
another nationality, is one of the Eritrean government's largest sources
of income.
At the beginning of July 2018, Ethiopia's Prime
Minister Abiy Ahmed announced after a meeting with Eritrean President
Isayas Afewerki in Asmara that the resumption of diplomatic relations
had been agreed after decades of hostility. The plan is to reopen
embassies and borders, re-establish air connections and make ports
accessible. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, newly elected at the beginning of
April 2018, had already sought a peace solution with the neighboring
country at the beginning of his term in office. At the beginning of June
2018, he announced that he would "fully" implement the decision of a
United Nations-supported international arbitration commission on the
border between the two countries from 2002 and withdraw from the
disputed areas.
The gross domestic product (GDP) for 2017 is estimated at 5.8 billion
US dollars. In purchasing power parity, the GDP is 9.4 billion US
dollars or 1,580 US dollars per capita. Real growth was 5.0%. This makes
Eritrea one of the poorest countries in the world.
The following
table provides an overview of the development of the economy since 1995.
Due to the country's international isolation, per capita income has
hardly grown since the country gained independence.
Tourism in the country is largely based on a few individual vacationers, Eritrean citizens living abroad visiting their homeland and a small number of foreign tour operators who travel around the country, usually with small groups. Topics include archaeological studies, Italian colonial history, trips for professional photographers to the country's ethnic groups and trips for railway enthusiasts. The Dahlak Archipelago can also be visited on organized tours. However, due to the lack of suitable tourist infrastructure, traditional beach holidays are rarely offered. There are a few such offers for tourists, for example, the Gurgussum Beach Resort, ten kilometers north of Massawa, is an aging hotel complex with its own section of beach on the Red Sea. However, due to the foreign policy situation, the human rights situation there and the general economic isolation of Eritrea, the country is far from popular travel routes, which is why the hotel complex mentioned as an example has not received the necessary investments for some time.
Around 75% of the population is employed in agriculture. Nevertheless, food has to be imported, also because at least 300,000 people were drafted into military service during the war and beyond, which meant that there was a lack of workers in agriculture and other economic sectors. Drought and the economic incompetence of the authoritarian government led to severe famines.
Due to the different climate and vegetation zones in Eritrea,
different products are produced depending on the region. Typical crops
include:
Teff, a native grain grown in the highlands.
Barley,
grown in the highlands
Wheat, grown in the highlands between 1500 and
2500 m
Maize, grown below 2400 m in the highlands and on the eastern
escarpment
Sorghum, grown below 1500 m, mainly in Semienawi Kayih
Bahri, Anseba and Gash-Barka
Millet, different varieties in the
highlands (Maekel and Debub) and in the lowlands (Gash-Barka and Anseba)
Flax, grown in the highlands
Ramtillkraut, grown between 1800 and
2500 m
Peanut, grown in Anseba and Gash-Barka below 1500 m
Sesame,
grown below 1500 m mainly in southern Gash-Barka
Legumes such as
chickpeas, kidney beans, field beans and lentils in the highlands
Coffee, grown between 1700 and 2400 m, mainly on the middle part of the
eastern escarpment east and southeast of Asmara
Tobacco, both in the
highlands and lowlands
Fiber plants such as cotton and sisal agave
Fruit such as bananas and citrus fruits
Vegetables such as onions,
tomatoes, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, potatoes, pumpkin, carrots
Spice
plants such as chili and fenugreek
Depending on the climate zone, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, mules and poultry are kept.
Eritrea has natural resources such as gold, silver, copper, sulphur,
nickel, potash, marble, zinc and iron. Salt is produced on a large
scale. Eritrea has been mining these raw materials for export worldwide
for a long time.
There are cement, textile and food industries,
including several breweries, alcohol and wine production. Eritrea has a
large number of spare parts and furniture companies. For several years
now, buses, transport, cleaning and garbage trucks have been produced by
the Eritrean company Tesinma in the Eritrean industrial city of
Dekemhare.
The national budget in 2016 included expenditures of the equivalent
of 2.165 billion US dollars, compared to revenues of the equivalent of
1.580 billion US dollars. This results in a budget deficit of 10.9
percent of GDP.
The Eritrean government finances its budget in
part from the diaspora tax, which is levied when Eritreans living abroad
send aid remittances to their relatives in Eritrea. The tax is two
percent of the income of Eritreans living abroad.
In 2016, the
national debt was 125.5 percent of Eritrea's gross domestic product
(GDP).
In 2006, the share of government spending (as a percentage
of GDP) was in the following areas:
Health: 3.6 percent
Education:
2.4 percent
Military: 6.3 percent
Eritrea's armed forces emerged from the Eritrean People's Liberation
Front (EPLF), which fought for Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia.
Eritrea's relations with foreign countries are strained. Due in part to
the thirty-year war of independence against Ethiopia, Eritrea's
independence is strongly emphasized, which is sometimes referred to as
isolationism. There have been several border conflicts in the country's
short history, in particular the renewed war against Ethiopia in
1998-2000. The military in Eritrea plays a major role: both men and
women in Eritrea must perform indefinite military service, which,
according to Amnesty International, is equivalent to forced labor.
Conscientious objectors are prosecuted, branded as deserters and,
according to the UN Human Rights Council, expose themselves and their
families to reprisals. In peacetime, they face a prison sentence of up
to five years. In wartime, the prison sentence can be between five years
and life imprisonment and in serious cases the death penalty is
threatened.
The military situation surrounding indefinite
military service is considered the main reason for refugees trying to
reach Europe from Eritrea.
After normalizing relations with
Ethiopia in 2018, Eritrea intervened on the side of the Ethiopian
government in the Tigray war that broke out in 2020. War crimes were
committed by the Eritrean armed forces deployed, including the Aksum
massacre, in which, depending on the source, between 345 and 800
civilians were murdered.
In the Logistics Performance Index, which is compiled by the World
Bank and measures the quality of infrastructure, Eritrea ranked 155th
out of 160 countries in 2018.
The road network in Eritrea is
relatively well developed. However, the infrastructure, which was very
well developed by the Italians, was largely destroyed first by the
British and later by the Ethiopians, so that today only a small part of
it remains. Most of the roads are gravel roads.
There is a
railway connection between Massaua and Asmara, but only one excursion
train with a steam locomotive runs quite regularly between Asmara and
Nefasit. In addition, special trains for railway fans are regularly used
on the route. There are considerations to rebuild the historic route
between Asmara and Agordat (western lowlands).
Large deep-water
ports are Massaua and Assab, and a smaller port is under construction in
T'í'o.
There are airports in Asmara, Massaua, Sawa, Tesseney and
Assab. There are long gravel roads in Nakfa and Barentu, but there are
hardly any flights to these. Flight connections are mainly to Istanbul
with Turkish Airlines, to Cairo with Egypt Air, to Dubai with Flydubai,
and there are also some routes operated by the state-owned Eritrean
Airlines, such as to Khartoum.
The greatest international successes of Eritrean athletes were in long-distance running. The most important and most widespread sport in Eritrea, however, is cycling. It came to the country with the Italian colonial rulers and the Giro d'Eritrea was held for the first time in 1946. Challenging road races are now held in Eritrea on weekends. Internationally known road cyclists are Daniel Teklehaimanot, Natnael Berhane and Merhawi Kudus, who (as of 2015) are under contract with the South African cycling team MTN-Qhubeka and compete in cycling races at the highest sporting level. In 2015, Teklehaimanot and Kudus were the first Eritreans to take part in the Tour de France. During the Tour, Teklehaimanot even wore the polka dot jersey of the leader in the mountain classification for several days, which was celebrated with a motorcade on the streets of Asmara. More recently, in addition to Teklehaimanot, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier has also been under contract with professional teams in Europe. Biniam Girmay is also a well-known road cyclist who was the first black African to win a stage at the 2024 Tour de France. The most famous Eritrean athlete, Zersenay Tadese, also tried his hand at road cycling in his youth before switching to long-distance running. He is a multiple world champion and held the world record in the half marathon until October 2018. The youngest marathon world champion in history is Ghirmay Ghebreslassie from Eritrea. At just 19 years of age, he won the marathon at the World Championships in Beijing in August 2015.