The State of Eritrea, or Eritrea (from the Italian form of the Greek name ΕΡΥΘΡΑΙΑ (Erythraîa; see also List of traditional Greek place names), which derives from the Greek name for the Red Sea ( البحر الأحمر) is a country in northeast Africa. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. The east and northeast of the country has an extensive coastline with the Red Sea. Having achieved independence on May 24, 1993 from Ethiopia, it is one of the youngest independent states. Working languages include Tigrinya and Arabic. English and Italian are widely recognised.
(Capital: Asmera)
History
Eritrean history is one of the oldest of sub-Saharan Africa and even the world. Together with Ethiopia and the western Red Sea coast of Sudan, it is considered the most likely location of the land known to the ancient Egyptians as Punt (or "Ta Netjeru," meaning land of the Gods), whose first mention dates to the 25th century BC. The earliest known reference to the Sea of Eritrea ("red") from which the modern state takes its name is from Aeschylus (Fragment 67) in which he refers to the "Mare Erythreum" ("Red Sea") as "the lake that is the jewel of Ethiopia" (though Ethiopia in this case most probably meant Nubia). Around the 8th century BC, a kingdom known as D'mt was established in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, with its capital at Yeha in northern Ethiopia. Its successor, the Kingdom of Aksum, emerged around the birth of Jesus and grew to be, according to Mani, one of the four greatest civilizations in the world, along with China, Persia, and Rome (for more on ancient and medieval history, see History of Ethiopia). Eritrea's first experience with partial domination by a foreign power occurred in 1557, when an Ottoman invasion under Suleiman I conquered Massawa, Arqiqo, and Debarwa the capital of Bahr negus ("King of the Sea" - governor of an area roughly contemporaneous with Eritrea) Yeshaq. Yeshaq rallied his peasants and recaptured Debarwa, taking all the gold the invaders had piled within. In 1560 Yeshaq, disillusioned with the new Emperor, revolted with Ottoman support but pledged his support again with the crowning of Emperor Sarsa Dengel. However, not long after, Yeshaq revolted once again with Ottoman support but was defeated once and for all in 1578, leaving the Ottomans with domain over Massawa (an important port and the primary one used by Ethiopia), Arqiqo and its environs.
The Ottoman state maintained control over much of the coastal areas for nearly 300 hundred years, leaving their possessions (a province called Habesh, related to Habesha) to their Egyptian heirs in 1865 before being given to the Italians in 1885. The interior, particularly the Christian (predominantly Coptic) Kebessa Highlands of Hamasien, Akkele Guzai, and Serae, were traditionally associated with Ethiopia. An Italian Roman Catholic priest by the name of Sapetto purchased the port of Assab from the Afar Sultan (a vassal of the Emperor of Ethiopia) on behalf of an Italian commercial conglomerate. Later, as the Egyptians retreated out of Sudan during the Mahdist rebellion, the British brokered an agreement whereby the Egyptians could retreat through Ethiopia, and in exchange they would allow the Emperor to occupy those lowland districts that he had disputed with the Turks and Egyptians. Emperor Yohannis IV believed this included Massawa, but instead, the port was handed by the Egyptians and the British to the Italians, who united it with the already colonised port of Assab to form a coastal Italian possession. The Italians took advantage of disorder in northern Ethiopia following the death of Emperor Yohannis IV to occupy the highlands, and established their new colony, henceforth known as Eritrea, and achieved recognition by Ethiopia's new Emperor Menelik II.
The Italians remained the colonial power in Eritrea until they were defeated by Allied forces in World War II (1941), and Eritrea became a British protectorate. After the war, the United Nations, after a lengthy inquiry in which those who wanted union with Ethiopia and those who wanted independence lobbied the great powers and the U.N. extensively, eventually reached a compromise that the former Italian colony was to join Ethiopia as part of a federation. Eritrea would have its own parliament and administration, and would be represented in the Ethiopian parliament which would function as the Federal Parliament. The Emperor of Ethiopia, Emperor Haile Selassie, would be the monarch of Eritrea and would be represented there by a viceroy. Both unionists and pro-independence people found the federation to be undesirable. By a show of military force in the Eritrean Parliament the federation was dissolved by Ethiopia. The Emperor agreed readily and annexed Eritrea in 1960 even over the serious reservations of his Prime Minister, Aklilu Habte-Wold, who was ardently in favor of retaining the federation. Promptly, pro-independence Eritreans went into rebellion and launched a long war of independence. They were joined by disaffected federationists who now were convinced Eritrea would be better off as an independent state. The war would last 30 years.
The war of Eritrean Independence would escalate considerably after the overthrow of the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, when a hardline Marxist military junta known as the Derg seized power, and launched a major offensive in Eritrea. The brutality of the government of dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam did much to increase the numbers of the independence movements supporters to the point that Eritreans became almost exclusively pro-independence by the mid-1980s.
The liberation struggle was dominated by two movements, the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), often referred to as "Jebha", and by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), often known as "Shaebia". The ELF was dominated by Muslim lowlanders, and was a conservative grass roots movement, whereas the EPLF was dominated by highlanders of Christian background, professing Marxism-Leninism. The ELF received backing from the more conservative Arab governments, whereas the EPLF from the more leftist ones, and some Eastern bloc countries which abandoned it in favor of the Derg regime in Ethiopia upon the Ethiopian revolution. The ELF and EPLF made attempts to consolidate their operations, but soon found that they could not work together. The ELF was eventually overshadowed and eliminated by the EPLF.
The long war ended in 1991, when joint Eritrean and rebellious Ethiopian forces defeated the Ethiopian army, and the Derg regime fell. Two years later, after a referendum, Eritrean independence was declared. The leader of the EPLF, Isaias Afewerki, became Eritrea's first Provisional President. The Eritrean Peoples Liberation front (EPLF or Shaebia), became the sole legal ruling party, and changed its name to the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ).
In 1998, a border war with Ethiopia resulted in the deaths of some 70,000 people from both countries, and subjected Eritrea to significant economic and social stresses, including massive population displacement, reduced economic development, and one of Africa's more severe landmine problems. The Ethiopian government, once firm allies of the Eritrean authorities, expelled large numbers of Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean heritage from Ethiopia at the outset of the war. These once-prosperous people found themselves suddenly dispossessed and dropped off in the border zone between the two countries, adding to the serious displaced-persons problem.
In spite of initially promising economic and political strides, the Eritrean government cracked down on the free press and on opposition in 2001 when questions about the conduct of the war were raised. The government also failed to implement the new Constitution and to hold long-promised elections. Later, the government of Eritrea enforced the Italian colonial practice of requiring government approval of all practiced religions.
The Eritrean-Ethiopian War ended in 2000 with a negotiated agreement known as the Algiers Agreement. One of the terms of the agreement was the establishment of a UN peacekeeping operation, known as the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE); over 4,000 UN peacekeepers remain as of August 2004. Another term of the Algiers Agreement was the establishment of a final demarcation of the disputed border area between Eritrea and Ethiopia. An independent, UN-associated boundary commission known as the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), after extensive study, issued a final border ruling in April 2002. Ethiopia initially rejected the decision, but in November of 2004 said that it agreed to the border ruling "in principle." However, Ethiopia has massed some troops along the nations' border, but no widespread hostilities have erupted..
Geography
Eritrea is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered on the northeast and east by the Red Sea. The country is virtually bisected by the world's longest mountain range, the Great Rift Valley, with fertile lands to the west and the descent to desert in the East. Off the sandy and arid coastline is situated the Dahlak Archipelago and its fishing grounds. The land to the south, in the highlands, is slightly less dry and cooler. Eritrea at the southern end of the Red Sea is the home of the fork in the rift. The Afar Triangle or Danakil Depression of Eritrea is the probable location of a triple junction where three tectonic plates are pulling away from one another: the Arabian Plate, and the two parts of the African Plate (the Nubian and the Somalian) splitting along the East African Rift Zone (USGS). The highest point of the country, Soira, is located in the centre of Eritrea, at 9,902 feet (3,018 m) above sea level.
The main cities of the country are the capital city of Asmara and the port town of Assab in the southeast, as well as the towns of Massawa and Keren to the north.
Dahlak Islands
Demographics
Eritrea's population is comprised of nine ethnic groups, most of which speak Semitic or Cushitic languages. The Tigrinya and Tigre make up four-fifths of the population and speak different, but related and somewhat mutually intelligible, Semitic languages. Tigrinya and Arabic are the most frequently used languages for commercial and official transactions, but English is widely spoken and is the language used for secondary and university education. In general, most of the Christians live in the highlands, while Muslims and adherents of traditional beliefs live in the lowland regions.
Population: 4,561,599 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 44.8% (male 1,023,898; female 1,019,389)
15-64 years: 51.9% (male 1,170,823; female 1,194,741)
65 years and over: 3.3% (male 74,312; female 78,436) (2005 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.51% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 38.62 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 13.53 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
note: according to the UNHCR, about 150,000 Eritrean refugees in Sudan have registered for voluntary repatriation, following the restoration of diplomatic relations between Eritrea and Sudan in January 2000
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 76.66 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 58.47 years
male: 56.96 years
female: 60.02 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate: 5.93 children born/woman (2000 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Eritrean(s)
adjective: Eritrean
Ethnic groups: There are 9 ethnic groups: Afar, Bilen, Hedareb, Kunama, Nara (also called Baria), Rashaida, Saho, Tigre and Tigrinya.
Tigrinya: 50%, Tigre and Kunama: 40%, Afar: 4%, Saho: 3%
Religions: Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant
Languages: Afar, Arabic (spoken by the Rashaida), Beja (spoken by the Hedareb), Bilen, Kunama, Nara, Saho, Tigre, Tigrinya, English as a second language. Tigrinya and Arabic are the foremost second languages.
Literacy:
definition: NA
total population: 25%
male: NA%
female: NA%
Languages
* Afar
* Arabic
* Bedawi
* Bilen
* Dahlik
* English (disputed — see talk page)
* Italian
* Kunama
* Nara
* Saho
* Tigre
* Tigrinya
Religion
The dominant religions are Christianity and Sunni Islam, each group representing roughly 50% of the population. The Christians consist primarily of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church, which is the local Oriental Orthodox church, but small groups of Roman Catholics, Protestants, and other religions also exist.
Members of the Eritrean Orthodox Church are sometimes described as Coptic Christians because the hierarchy of that church was formerly subject to that of the Tawahido Church of Ethiopia, which was in turn formerly (before 1950) subject to the Coptic Pope. However, the word Coptic in modern usage refers primarily to the Egyptian Orthodox branch of Christianity. The Eritrean and Ethiopian Orthodox churches are still in full communion with the Coptic Church in Egypt. In 1993 the Eritrean Orthodox Church was granted autocephaly, and in 1998 the Archbishopric of Asmara, the young nation's capital, was elevated to the rank of patriarchate, within the Oriental Orthodox church.
The vast majority of Muslims in Eritrea are Sunni. The Tigrinya-Arabic speakers (of Islam) are called Jeberti's.
Since May 2002, the government of Eritrea has only officially recognized the Eritrean Orthodox Church, Sunni Islam, Catholicism and the Evangelical Lutheran church. All other faiths and denominations were required to under go a registration process that was so stringent as to effectively be prohibitive. Amongst other things, the government's registration system requires religious groups to submit personal information on their membership in order to be allowed to worship. The few organisations that have met all of the registration requirements have still not received official recognition. Other faith groups like Jehovah's Witnesses, Bahais, the Seventh Day Adventists and numerous Protestant denominations are not registered and cannot worship freely. They have effectively been banned, and harsh measures have been taken against their adherents. Over twenty Protestant pastors and almost 2000 church members have so far been detained indefinitely and without charge. In addition several Orthodox priests have also been detained, and the Patriarch of the Orthodox church has been removed from office and placed under stringent house arrest ostensibly for objecting to government interference in church affairs.
As of 2004, a number of refugees have been fleeing the country to Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and and beyond because of this lack of freedom and given the large number of prisoners of conscience.
Cuisine of Eritrea
The main traditional foods in Eritrean cuisine are zigni (meat with chile peppers), shiro (pea soup), injera (flatbread made from teff, wheat, or sorghum), and hilbet (paste made from legumes, mainly lentil and faba bean).
Eritrean cuisine is virtually the same as the Cuisine of Ethiopia, given the shared history of the two countries.
Music
Eritrea is an East African country. Its cultural heritage is closely linked to its neighbor, Ethiopia, of which it was recently a province. Eritrean music is especially similar to that of the Ethiopian province of Tigray. Perhaps the most famous Eritrean musician in history was Teklé Tefsa-Ezighe, some of whose music was banned by the Ethiopian government in the 1970s. Also of note is Bereket Mengistab, who has had a lengthy career, and 60s legend Haile Ghebru.
Eritrean music has a unique rhythm that sets it apart from the rest of Africa. Modern popular stars include Mengistab, mentioned above, Osman Abdulrihm, Abrar Osman, Abraham Afwerki, Yemane Gebremichael, Idris Mohamed Ali, Tsehaytu Beraki, Atewebrhan Segid and Berekhet Mengisteab. In 2003, Eritrea banned Amharic language music [1].
Folk-Traditional instruments include the stringed kraar, kobero, lyre, kobar and the wata.
Popular-Modern Eritrean popular music can be traced back to the late 1960s, when te MaHber Theatre Asmara began to produce stars like Helen Meles, Elsa Kidane, Wedi Tikul, Yemane Baria, Jabber, Ato Ateweberhan Seghid, Yonus Ibrahim, Osman Abdurehim and Tukabo. AND aERmed mindz! This music was influenced by American psychedelic rock and Motown soul music [2].
In the 1970s, Eritrean popular music grew more similar to Ethiopian music, in its trumpet-based style [3].
Since then, some musicians, like kraar-player Dawit Sium have helped to incorporate Eritrean roots elements in popular music. Imported styles of music from Europe, North America, and elsewhere in Africa, as well as the Caribbean, are also very popular throughout Eritrea. Ethiopian music is especially popular.
Dancing-Traditional Eritrean dancing involves two main styles of dance. In the first, the dancers slowly move in a counter-clockwise circle. Then, they stop moving and dance with each other for a short time before resuming the circular movement. During this time, they shuffle their feet to the beat of the music and bob their shoulders in a rhythmic fashion. Female dancers usually move their shoulders more than the male dancers. In the second style of dance, two groups (often a group of men and a group of women) line up and face each other. The dance features a skipping step to the music. Periodically, the two groups with change places, dancing across the floor and passing each other in the process.
^looooool
(Bilenawis, yes I'mma shamelessly rep in the middle of this post)
great website for more pictures of eritreans
^ What a bunch of good lookin' folks! 
heehee
today
