AREA: 117,600 SQUARE KMs out of which LAND is 101,600km2 and WATER 16,600 km2

LOCATION: 15:00 N, 39:00 E

BOUNDARIES:

Sudan in the North & West, 605kms long

Ethiopia in the South about 912 kms. long

Djibouti in the SE about 109 kms. long

The Red Sea (Eritrean Sea) in E & NE about 2234 kms, of maritime boundary

i.e. Islands 1083 kms. and Mainland on the Red Sea 1151 kms.

 

PEOPLE

The 9 nationalities of Eritrea: Afar, Bilen, Hedareb, Kunama, Nara, Rashaida, Saho, Tigre, and Tigrigna

Population (2010 EST.) 5,792,984 / TIGRIGNA (50%), TIGRE & NARA (40%), AFAR (4%), SAHO (3%) AND OTHERS (3%)

Population by Age:  0 to 14 years 42.8% (M 1,212,848 & F 1,202,240) / 15 to 64 years 53.7% (M 1,483,169 & F 1,547,078) / 65 & over 3.6% (M 92,009 & F 109,824)

Life Expectancy: Male 60.06 years Female 64.3 years

Literacy: Male 70% can read & write Female 47.6% can read & write

 

ORIGINS

Hamitic who were there for thousands of years and Semitic who came from across the Red Sea between 1000 and 400 B.C.? The population is a mixture of these two.

Brief Ancient History: The Western Lowland was part of the BEJA Kingdoms; the Highland was part of the Axumite Kingdom and the Southern Lowland was part of the Afar Kingdoms. There were also other minor kingdoms.

The Present Map of Eritrea: The present boundary was formally adopted in about 1898 when Italy conquered the whole area. The Italians colonized the country until they were defeated by the Axis of WWII and the three colonies, Libya, Somalia and Eritrea, were taken to UN General Assembly. Eritrea was left to be under the British rule until 1950 when the UN decided that Eritrea & Ethiopia be joined under a Federation. But in 1962 the Ethiopian Emperor abruptly made the federation null and void and forcefully occupied Eritrea making it part of the Ethiopian Empire. There were two causes for his action.

There were political parties in Eritrea with its own government but none in Ethiopia. People in Ethiopia were unhappy on the way the country was run and political unrest was feared.

The other part was, Ethiopia with no sea outlets, wanted the Red Sea coast for its international trades and had to get rid of the Eritrean Government structure for good. This action by Ethiopia was supported by the Western powers and all the effort to bring the case to the UN was fruitless. Because of this, the Eritrean people had no other choice but raise arms and fight the Ethiopians who had superior armed forces.

After fighting for over 30 years the Eritreans with their Ethiopian allies defeated the Ethiopian government in May 1991 and declared their independence. After a referendum under the auspices of the UN the Eritrean people overwhelmingly voted for independence and the official State of Eritrea was born again on May 24, 1993.

Religion: The religions practiced in Eritrea are Christianity and Islam. Christianity was introduced to this land in about 320 A.D. It is the Coptic Orthodox Christianity followed by the Eastern Christianity practiced in Russia, Greece, Egypt, etc. The Eritrean and Ethiopian churches have common ways of practicing their beliefs.

Islam was introduced by followers of Prophet Mohammed around 680 A.D. when they were prosecuted in Saudi Arabia at the time. Prophet Mohammed told them to go to this part of the world and stay there until peace came to Saudi Arabia. It was during this flight to safety that they built the first mosque in the port of Massawa, Eritrea. The mosque still stands to this day and the world does not know much of this unique history of Islam in Africa. It needs much publicity for people to know as to when Islam was introduced to Africa.

The Eritrean people, originators of democracy and belief in their early lives, do not enjoy these freedoms at present and have to work hard to win them back.