45 Facts About Eritrea

1.

Contemporary Eritrea is a multi-ethnic country with nine recognised ethnic groups.

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2.

In medieval times much of Eritrea fell under the Medri Bahri kingdom, with a smaller region being part of Hamasien.

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3.

The creation of modern-day Eritrea is a result of the incorporation of independent, distinct kingdoms eventually resulting in the formation of Italian Eritrea.

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4.

Eritrea gained de jure independence in 1993 after an independence referendum.

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5.

Eritrea is a unitary one-party presidential republic in which national legislative and presidential elections have never been held.

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6.

Freedom of the press in Eritrea is extremely limited; the Press Freedom Index consistently ranks it as one of the least free countries.

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7.

Eritrea is a member of the African Union, the United Nations, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and is an observer state in the Arab League alongside Brazil and Venezuela.

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8.

Name Eritrea is derived from the ancient Greek name for the Red Sea.

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9.

Eritrea's has been identified as among the oldest hominid fossils found to date that reveal significant stages in the evolution of humans and to represent a possible link between the earlier Homo erectus and an archaic Homo sapiens.

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10.

Eritrea's is the oldest skeletal find of her kind and provides a link between earlier hominids and the earliest anatomically modern humans.

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11.

Excavations in and near Agordat in central Eritrea yielded the remains of an ancient pre-Aksumite civilization known as the Gash Group.

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12.

Around 2000 BC, parts of Eritrea were most likely part of the Land of Punt, first mentioned in the twenty-fifth century BC.

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13.

Eritrea's books have the first description of the local powers of Tigray, the kingdom of Axum and Barnagais.

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14.

Contemporary coast of Eritrea was the one that guaranteed the connection to the region of Tigray where the Portuguese had a small colony, and therefore the connection to the interior Ethiopian, allies of the Portuguese.

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15.

In 1734, the Afar leader Kedafu, established the Mudaito Dynasty in Ethiopia, which later came to include the southern Denkel lowlands of Eritrea, thus incorporating the southern Denkel lowlands to the Sultanate of Aussa.

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16.

Additionally, the Italian Eritrea administration opened a number of new factories, which produced buttons, cooking oil, pasta, construction materials, packing meat, tobacco, hide, and other household commodities.

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17.

Eritrea was chosen by the Italian government to be the industrial center of Italian East Africa.

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18.

Eritrea laid claim to both territories in a letter to Franklin D Roosevelt at the Paris Peace Conference and at the First Session of the United Nations.

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19.

Eritrea was to have its own administrative and judicial structure, its own flag, and control over its domestic affairs, including police, local administration, and taxation.

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20.

On 28 May 1993, Eritrea was admitted into the United Nations as the 182nd member state.

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21.

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.

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22.

Eritrea is part of a 14-nation constituency within the Global Environment Facility, which partners with international institutions, civil society organizations, and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives.

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23.

In 2006, Eritrea announced that it would become the first country in the world to turn its entire coast into an environmentally protected zone.

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24.

Eritrea has several species of mammals and a rich avifauna of 560 species of birds.

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25.

The climate of Eritrea is shaped by its diverse topographical features and its location within the tropics.

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26.

An 2022 analysis found that the expected costs for Eritrea, to adapting to and avert the environmental consequences of climate change, are going to be high.

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27.

Eritrea is a member of the United Nations and the African Union.

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28.

Eritrea holds memberships in the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Finance Corporation, International Criminal Police Organization, Non-Aligned Movement, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Permanent Court of Arbitration, Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa, and the World Customs Organization.

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29.

Eritrea maintains diplomatic ties with a number of other countries: it has more than 31 embassies and consulates abroad, and more than 22 consulates and embassies represented in the country, including China, Denmark, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Israel, the United States, and Yemen.

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30.

The stalemate led the president of Eritrea to urge the UN to take action on Ethiopia with the Eleven Letters penned by the president to the United Nations Security Council.

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31.

In 2011, Ethiopia accused Eritrea of planting bombs at an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, which was later supported by a UN report.

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32.

Eritrea is a one-party state in which national legislative elections have been repeatedly postponed.

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33.

In 2009, a movement called Citizens for Democratic Rights in Eritrea formed to create dialogue between the government and political opposition.

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34.

In July 2019, UN ambassadors of 37 countries, including Eritrea, signed a joint letter to the UNHRC defending China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region.

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35.

Regions of Eritrea are the primary geographical divisions through which the country is administered.

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36.

Transport in Eritrea includes highways, airports, railway, and seaports, in addition to various forms of public and private vehicular, maritime, and aerial transportation.

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37.

In 1941, Eritrea had approximately 760, 000 inhabitants, including 70, 000 Italians.

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38.

Eritrea has nine national languages which are Tigrinya, Tigre, Afar, Beja, Bilen, Kunama, Nara, and Saho.

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39.

Eritrea has achieved significant improvements in health care and is one of the few countries to be on target to meet its Millennium Development Goals for health, in particular child health.

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40.

Education in Eritrea is officially compulsory for children aged 6 to 13 years.

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41.

Barriers to education in Eritrea include traditional taboos, school fees, and the opportunity costs of low-income households.

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42.

Eritrea Institute of Technology "EIT" is a technological institute located near the town Himbrti, Mai Nefhi outside Asmara.

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43.

Cycling has a long tradition in Eritrea and was first introduced during the colonial period.

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44.

Eritrea made its Winter Olympic debut 25 February 2018, when they competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea 2018.

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45.

Eritrea's team was represented by their flagbearer Shannon-Ogbnai Abeda who competed as alpine skier.

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