Eritrea

Overview

Eritrea lies in East Africa on the Red Sea coast, bordered by Sudan, Ethiopia, and Djibouti. The country was colonized by Italy in the late 19th century, a period that still shapes the architecture of the capital, later came under British administration, and in 1952 formed a federation with Ethiopia. Eritrea achieved de facto independence in 1991 following a long thirty-year armed conflict, confirmed by a referendum in 1993. The official working languages are Tigrinya, Arabic, and English, and the population is religiously divided between Christianity and Islam.

Asmara, the capital, built by Italian colonial planners in the first half of the 20th century, has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2017 for its Art Deco, Futurist, and Modernist architecture, and is often called "Africa's little Rome." Massawa, a port city on the Red Sea, built from Ottoman- and Egyptian-era coral stone houses, still preserves its historic core despite suffering significant damage during the war of independence. The Dahlak Archipelago, a group of about 200 islands in the Red Sea, preserves the legacy of ancient trading ports and pearl-diving traditions. Keren, the country's second-largest city, is known for its lively market and local camel trade.

The coral reefs and clear water of the Dahlak Islands offer excellent diving opportunities, though the area's tourism infrastructure remains underdeveloped, leaving most of the islands essentially untouched. Eritrea's Red Sea coastline sits among the warmest seawaters in the world, which has led to the development of unique heat-tolerant coral species. The country's mountainous interior, including the plateau surrounding the capital, offers a milder climate than the hot, humid coast. Local cuisine shares a foundation with Ethiopian cuisine, with injera, a fermented flatbread, as a signature staple, served with spiced meat or vegetable stews known as tsebhi.