← THE SECTION CUT · AFRICA

Eritrea

15.0N 39.0E · 29 EVENTS · 9 DOMAINS
INDEPENDENCE FROM ETHIOPIA · 24 MAY 1993 (DE FACTO 1991)
▼ PULL DOWN TO EXTRACT THE CORE
1991 - present · Independence, Border War and the Closed State
6 EVENTS
23-25 April 1993 · Independence referendum 2 REFS
24 May 1993 · Formal independence 2 REFS
1941 - 1991 · Federation, Annexation and the Thirty-Year War
6 EVENTS
11 September 1952 · UN federation with Ethiopia 2 REFS
1 September 1961 · Armed struggle begins at Mount Adal 2 REFS
1890 - 1941 · Italy's First-Born Colony
5 EVENTS
1 January 1890 · Colony of Eritrea proclaimed 2 REFS
1 March 1896 · Battle of Adwa 2 REFS
1557 - 1885 · Ottomans, Egyptians and the Contested Coast
4 EVENTS
1557 · Ottoman Habesh province established 2 REFS
1865 · Egyptian administration of Massawa 2 REFS
c. 8th century - 1557 · The Beja, the Dahlak Sultanate and the Muslim Coast
4 EVENTS
c. 8th century · Beja ascendancy on the coast 2 REFS
11th century · Rise of the Sultanate of Dahlak 2 REFS
c. 1st century CE - c. 7th century CE · Aksum, Adulis and the Red Sea Trade
4 EVENTS
mid-1st century CE · Adulis named in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea 2 REFS
c. 1st-2nd century CE · Aksum emerges as a Red Sea trading empire 2 REFS
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EVERY ERA, EVENT AND REFERENCE ON ONE PAGE
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Quick facts · atlas reference
Capital
Asmara
Population
5.9 m
Area
117,600 km²
Region
Eastern Africa
Languages
Arabic, English, Tigrinya
Currency
Eritrean nakfa (Nfk)
Demonym
Eritrean
UN member
Yes
Dossier · press a specimen — it turns over

Economy

GDP
$2.1 B’11 WB-WDI
GDP per capita
$689’11 WB-WDI
GDP growth
8.7%’11 WB-WDI
Trade openness
47.4%’11 WB-WDI

Society

Population
3.6 m’25 WB-WDI
Life expectancy
68.9 yrs’24 WB-WDI
Urban population
34.5%’25 WB-WDI
Fertility rate
3.7’24 WB-WDI
Literacy rate
64.7%’08 WB-WDI

Governance

Voice & accountability
16.8’24 WB-WGI
Political stability
53.8’24 WB-WGI
Government effectiveness
23.0’24 WB-WGI
Regulatory quality
22.8’24 WB-WGI
Rule of law
25.9’24 WB-WGI
Control of corruption
14.8’24 WB-WGI

Health

Health spending
3.7%’23 WB-WHO
Physicians
0.09’22 WB-WHO
Under-5 mortality
34.3’24 WB-UNICEF-WHO
Measles immunisation
93.0%’24 WB-UNICEF-WHO

Education

Adult literacy
64.7%’08 WB-UNESCO
Education spending
2.1%’06 WB-UNESCO
Primary enrolment
89.7%’22 WB-UNESCO
Secondary enrolment
44.0%’22 WB-UNESCO
Tertiary enrolment
3.2%’16 WB-UNESCO

Technology

Internet users
14.3%’20 WB-ITU
Mobile subscriptions
59’22 WB-ITU

Geography

Land area
121,178 km²’23 WB-WDI
Forest area
8.6%’23 WB-WDI
Agricultural land
62.7%’23 WB-WDI
CO₂ per capita (t)
0.2’24 WB-WDI
Renewable energy
80.7%’21 WB-WDI

Resources

Resource rents
27.0%’11 WB-WDI
Oil rents
0.0%’11 WB-WDI
Mineral rents
24.6%’11 WB-WDI
Forest rents
2.3%’11 WB-WDI
Electricity access
55.3%’24 WB-WDI

Military

Military burden
20.9%’03 WB-SIPRI
Defense spending
$182 M’03 WB-SIPRI
Armed forces
202,000’20 WB-SIPRI

A hatched gap has no underside — there is nothing to turn over. Absence is stated, never zeroed.

The record · what changed here
EVERY CLAIM SOURCED
ABSENCE ≠ ZERO
NO SIDES