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Eritrea is the Greek form Ἐρυθραία (Eruthros or Ereythreus), and its derived Latin form Erythræa. This name relates to that of the Red Sea, then called the "Erythræan Sea". On January 1, 1890, the Italian King declared the formation of the colony Eritrea, taking its name from the ancient Greek name for Red Sea.[11] History Main article: History of Eritrea Map of the Kingdom of D'mt in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, circa 400 BC. Together with Djibouti, Ethiopia, northern Somalia, and the Red Sea coast of Sudan,[12] Eritrea is considered the most likely location of the land known to the Ancient Egyptians as Punt (or "Ta Netjeru", meaning "God's Land"), whose first mention dates to the 25th century BC.[13] The ancient Puntites were a nation of people that had close relations with Pharaonic Egypt during the times of Sahure and Hatshepsut. D'mt was a kingdom located in southern Eritrea and northern Ethiopia that existed during the 8th and 7th centuries BC. With its capital at Yeha, the realm developed irrigation schemes, used plows, grew millet, and made iron tools and weapons. After the fall of Dʿmt in the 5th century BC, the plateau came to be dominated by smaller successor kingdoms, until the rise of one of these polities, the Aksumite Kingdom during the first century, which was able to reunite the area.[14] The history of Eritrea is tied to its strategic position on the Red Sea littoral, with a coastline that extends more than 1,000 km. Many scientists believe that it is from this area that anatomically modern humans first expanded out of Africa.[15] From across the seas came various invaders and colonizers, such as the South Arabians hailing from the present-day Yemen area, as well as the Ottoman Turks, the Portuguese from Goa (India), the Egyptians, the British and, in the 19th century, the Italians. Over the centuries, invaders also came from the neighboring countries in Africa, like Egypt and Sudan to the west and north, as well as Ethiopia to the south. However, present-day Eritrea was largely affected by the Italian colonisers of the 19th century. In the period following the opening of the Suez canal in 1869, when European powers scrambled for territory in Africa and tried to establish coaling stations for their ships, Italy invaded Ethiopia and occupied Eritrea. On 1 January 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. By 1941, Eritrea had about 760,000 inhabitants, including 70,000 Italians.[16] Through the 1941 Battle of Keren, the British expelled the Italians[17] and took over the administration of the country. The British continued to administer the territory under a UN Mandate until 1951, when Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia per UN Resolution 390A(V), adopted in December 1950 under the prompting of the United States.[18] Pre-Axumite monolithic columns in Qohaito. You may need rendering support to display the Ethiopic text in this article correctly. The strategic importance of Eritrea, due to its Red Sea coastline and mineral resources, along with their shared history, was the main cause for the federation with Ethiopia, which in turn led to Eritrea's annexation as Ethiopia's 14th province in 1962. This was the culmination of a gradual process of takeover by the Ethiopian authorities, a process which included a 1959 edict establishing the compulsory teaching of Amharic, the main language of Ethiopia, in all Eritrean schools. The lack of regard for the Eritrean population led to the formation of an independence movement in the early 1960s (1961), 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.[19] The de facto predominant languages are Tigrinya and Arabic, both of which belong to the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. English is used in the government's international communication and is the language of instruction in all formal education beyond the fifth grade.[6] Eritrea is a single-party state. Though its constitution, adopted in 1997, stipulates that the state is a presidential republic with a unicameral parliamentary democracy, it has yet to be implemented. In 1998 a border dispute with Ethiopia led to the two-year Eritrean–Ethiopian War. The war resulted in the death of as many as 100,000 Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers, although specific casualty estimates are varied.[20] Government and politics Main article: Politics of Eritrea The People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) is the ruling party in Eritrea.[21] Other political groups are not allowed to organize, although the unimplemented Constitution of 1997 provides for the existence of multi-party politics. The National Assembly has 150 seats, of which 75 are occupied by the PFDJ. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country.[2] The president, Isaias Afwerki, has been in office since independence in 1993. Independent local sources of political information on Eritrean domestic politics are scarce; in September 2001 the government closed down all of the nation's privately owned print media, and outspoken critics of the government have been arrested and held without trial, according to various international observers, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.[citation needed] In 2004 the U.S. State Department declared Eritrea a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its record of religious persecution.[22] National elections Building of regional administration in Asmara. Eritrean National elections were set for 2001 but was then decided that because 20% of Eritrea's land was under occupation, elections would be postponed until the resolution of the conflict with Ethiopia. However, local elections have continued in Eritrea. The most recent round of local government elections were held in 2010 and 2011. On further elections, the President's Chief of Staff, Yemane Gebremeskel said,[23] “ The electoral commission is handling these elections this time round so that may be the new element in this process. The national assembly has also mandated the electoral commission to set the date for national elections, so whenever the electoral commission sets the date there will be national elections. It's not dependent on regional elections. ” As yet, no national elections have been held since independence.[2] Regions and districts Regions of Eritrea. Map of Eritrea. Main articles: Regions of Eritrea and Districts of Eritrea Eritrea is divided into six regions (zobas) and subdivided into districts (sub-zobas). The geographical extent of the regions is based on their respective hydrological properties. This is a dual intent on the part of the Eritrean government: to provide each administration with sufficient control over its agricultural capacity, and to eliminate historical intra-regional conflicts. The regions, followed by the sub-region, are: No. Region (ዞባ) Sub-region (ንኡስ ዞባ) 1 Maekel (ዞባ ማእከል) Berikh በሪኽ, Ghala-Nefhi ጋላ ነፍሒ, Semienawi Mibraq Asmara ሰሜናዊ ምብራቕ አስመራ, Serejeka ሰረጀቓ, Debubawi Mibraq Asmara ደቡባዊ ምብራቕ አስመራ, Semienawi Mi'erab Asmara ሰሜናዊ ምዕራብ አስመራ, Debubawi Mi'erab Asmara ደቡባዊ ምዕራብ አስመራ 2 Anseba (ዞባ ዓንሰባ) Adi Tekelezan ዓዲ ተከሌዛን, Asmat አስማጥ, Elabered ዒላበርዕድ, Geleb ገለብ, Hagaz ሓጋዝ, Halhal ሓልሓል, Habero ሃበሮ, Keren ከረን, Kerkebet ከርከበት, Sel'a ሰልዓ. 3 Gash-Barka (ዞባ ጋሽ ባርካ) Agordat አቑርደት, Barentu ባረንቱ, Dghe ድገ Forto ፎርቶ, Gogne ጎኘ, Gluj ጎልጅ, Haykota ሃይኮታ, La'elay Gash ላዕላይ ጋሽ, Logo-Anseba ሎጎ ዓንሰባ, Mensura መንሱራ, Mogolo ሞጎሎ, Molki ሞልቂ, Om Hajer ኦምሓጀር, Shambuko ሻምብቆ, Tesseney ተሰነይ. 4 Debub (ዞባ ደቡብ) Adi Keyh ዓዲቐይሕ, Adi Quala ዓዲዃላ, Areza ዓረዛ, Debarwa ድባርዋ, Dekemhare ደቀምሓረ, Mai-Ayni(knafna) ማይዓይኒ, Mai-Mne ማይምነ, Mendefera መንደፈራ, Segeneiti ሰገነይቲ, Senafe ሰንዓፈ, Tsorona ጾሮና. 5 Northern Red Sea (ዞባ ሰሜናዊ ቀይሕ ባሕሪ) Afabet አፍዓበት, Dahlak ደሴታት ዳህላክ, Ghela'elo ገላዕሎ, Foro ፎሮ, Ghinda ጊንዳዕ, Karora ቃሮራ, Massawa ምጽዋዕ(ባጽዕ), Nakfa ናቕፋ, She'eb ሽዕብ. 6 Southern Red Sea (ዞባ ደቡባዊ ቀይሕ ባሕሪ) Are'eta አራዕታ, Ma'ekel Dankalia ማእከል ደንካልያ, Debub Dankalia ደቡብ ደንካልያ, Assab ዓሰብ Military The Eritrean Defence Forces are the official armed forces of the State of Eritrea. Human rights Main article: Human rights in Eritrea Eritrea is a one-party state in which national legislative elections have been repeatedly postponed,[24] and its human rights record is considered poor.[25][26] Since Eritrea's conflict with Ethiopia in 1998–2001, Eritrea's human rights record has worsened.[27] Human rights violations are frequently committed by the government or on behalf of the government. Freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association are limited. Those that practice "unregistered" religions, try to flee the nation, or escape military duty are arrested and put into prison.[27] Domestic and international human rights organizations are not allowed to function in Eritrea.[25] The registered, census-based religions are the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church (a miaphysite Oriental Orthodox denomination), the Roman Catholic Church, Eritrean Lutheran Church, and Sunnite Islam. All other religions are persecuted, including other denominations of Islam, such as Shi'ism, and other denominations of Christianity, such as any of the myriad Protestant denominations. All denominations of Christianity enjoyed freedom of worship until 2002 when the government outlawed worship and assembly outside the 'registered' denominations. All groups who worship secretly in a house or any other unregistered place of assembly are arrested and imprisoned without charge or trial. Religious prisoners are often tortured in Eritrea.[28] Freedom of worship is one of the top reasons thousands of Eritreans flee the country. There are thousands of Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia and the Sudan seeking asylum in Europe or another region of the West.[26] Media freedom In its 2010 Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders ranked the media environment in Eritrea at the very bottom of a list of 178 countries, just below totalitarian North Korea.[29] According to the BBC, "Eritrea is the only African country to have no privately owned news media",[30] and Reporters Without Borders said of the public media, "[they] do nothing but relay the regime's belligerent and ultra-nationalist discourse. ... Not a single [foreign correspondent] now lives in Asmara."[31] The state-owned news agency censors news about external events.[32] Independent media have been banned since 2001.[32] Foreign relations Eritrea's embassy in Washington, D.C. Main article: Foreign relations of Eritrea Eritrea is a full member of the African Union (AU), the successor of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). However, it had withdrawn its representative to the AU in protest at the AU's alleged lack of leadership in facilitating the implementation of a binding border decision demarcating the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The Eritrean government has since January 2011 appointed an envoy, Tesfa-Alem Tekle, to the AU.[33] Relations with the United States Eritrea's relationship with the United States has a short yet complex history. The United States Army operated Kagnew Station in Eritrea (which at the time was under British, then Ethiopian rule) from 1943 to 1977 as part of an agreement with Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie I. When the United Nations was debating the future of the territory of Eritrea in the beginning of the 1950s (while it was under British trusteeship as a result of the end of World War II and Italian colonialism), the United States was instrumental in promoting Eritrea's linkage with Imperial Ethiopia, opposing the idea of an independent Eritrea. This was succinctly put by then US ambassador to the UN (later to become US Secretary of State) John Foster Dulles: "From the point of view of justice, the opinions of the Eritrean people must receive consideration. Nevertheless the strategic interest of the United States in the Red Sea basin and the considerations of security and world peace make it necessary that the country has to be linked with our ally Ethiopia."[citation needed] During the beginning of the George W. Bush administration and the US War on Terrorism of the early 2000s, the US still considered Eritrea a friendly state and US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld paid Eritrea's president a visit in Eritrea. Relations ultimately worsened in October 2008 when U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer called the nation a 'state sponsor of terrorism' and stated that the U.S. government might add Eritrea to its list of rogue states, along with Iran and Sudan.[34] The stated reason for this was the presence of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, an exiled Somali Islamist leader, whom the U.S. suspects of having links to Al Qaeda, at a Somali opposition conference in Asmara.[35] During the week of 2 August 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that Eritrea was supplying weapons to the Somali militant group al-Shabab.[36] Although Eritrea rejected this accusation in a public statement the following day,[37] the United Nations, with the backing of the African Union, imposed sanctions and an arms embargo on Eritrea under Resolution 1907 for its alleged role in Somalia and refusal to withdraw troops from the border with Djibouti. Eritrea (/ˌɛrɨˈtreɪ.ə/ or /ˌɛrɨˈtriːə/;[6] Ge'ez: Tigrinya: ኤርትራ? ʾErtrā ; Arabic: إرتريا Iritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea,[7] is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea is the Italian form of the Greek name Ἐρυθραία (Erythraía ), meaning "red [land]". With its capital at Asmara, it is bordered by Sudan to the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. The northeastern and eastern parts of Eritrea have an extensive coastline along the Red Sea, across from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The nation has a total area of approximately 117,600 km2 (45,406 sq mi), and includes the Dahlak Archipelago and several of the Hanish Islands. Eritrea is a multi-ethnic country, with nine recognized ethnic groups. It has a population of around six million inhabitants. Most residents speak Afro-Asiatic languages, either of the Semitic or Cushitic branches. Among these communities, the Tigray-Tigrinya people make up about 55% of the population, with the Tigre people constituting around 30% of inhabitants. In addition, there are a number of Nilo-Saharan-speaking Nilotic ethnic minorities. Most people in the territory adhere to Christianity or Islam.[2] The Kingdom of Aksum, covering much of modern-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, rose somewhere around the first or second centuries[8][9] and adopted Christianity by the time Islam had conquered Egypt.[10] In medieval times much of Eritrea fell under the Medri Bahri Kingdom, with a smaller region being part of the Hamasien Republic. The creation of modern day Eritrea is a result of the incorporation of independent Kingdoms and various vassal states of the Ethiopian empire and the Ottoman Empire, eventually resulting in the formation of Italian Eritrea. In 1947 Eritrea became part of a federation with Ethiopia, the Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Subsequent annexation into Ethiopia led to the Eritrean War of Independence, ending with Eritrean independence in 1991. Eritrea is a member of the African Union, the United Nations and IGAD, and is an observer in the Arab League. |
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