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Eritrea
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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), 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.
History
Main article: History of Eritrea
Eritrea's coastal lowlands had been ruled by many powers
before it was colonised by the Italians in 1885. Previously,
the coast was long occupied by the Ottoman Turks, who then
left it to their Egyptian heirs in the mid 19th century. The
interior, particularly the Christian (predominantly Coptic)
Kebessa Highlands of Hamasien, Akale Guzai, and Serai, were
traditionally loosely 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 Asab 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 refered 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..
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Background:
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Eritrea was awarded to Ethiopia in 1952 as part of a
federation. Ethiopia's annexation of Eritrea as a
province 10 years later sparked a 30-year struggle
for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean
rebels defeating governmental forces; independence
was overwhelmingly approved in a 1993 referendum. A
two and a half year border war with Ethiopia that
erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices on 12
December 2000. Eritrea currently hosts a UN
peacekeeping operation that will monitor the border
region until an international commission determines
and demarcates the boundary between the two
countries. |
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Location:
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Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between
Djibouti and Sudan |
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Geographic coordinates:
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15 00
N, 39 00 E
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Map references:
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Africa |
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Area:
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total: 121,320 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 121,320 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly larger than Pennsylvania |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 1,626 km
border countries: Djibouti 109 km, Ethiopia
912 km, Sudan 605 km
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Coastline:
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2,234 km total; mainland on Red Sea 1,151 km,
islands in Red Sea 1,083 km |
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 12 NM |
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Climate:
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hot,
dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and
wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of
rainfall annually); semiarid in western hills and
lowlands; rainfall heaviest during June-September
except in coastal desert |
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Terrain:
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dominated by extension of Ethiopian north-south
trending highlands, descending on the east to a
coastal desert plain, on the northwest to hilly
terrain and on the southwest to flat-to-rolling
plains |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: near Kulul within the Denakil
depression -75 m
highest point: Soira 3,018 m |
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Natural resources:
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gold,
potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural
gas, fish |
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Nationality:
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noun: Eritrean(s)
adjective: Eritrean |
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Ethnic groups:
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ethnic Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%,
Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%, other 3%
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Religions:
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Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant
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Languages:
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Afar,
Amharic, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other
Cushitic languages |
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Currency:
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nakfa
(ERN)
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Currency code:
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ERN
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Exchange rates:
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nakfa
(ERN) per US dollar - 9.5 (January 2000), 7.6
(January 1999), 7.2 (March 1998 est.) |
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