Portal:Eritrea

The Eritrea Portal

Eritrean Coat of Arms	Flag of Eritrea

Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. Its capital and largest city is Asmara. The country is bordered by Ethiopia to the south, Sudan to the west, and Djibouti to the southeast. The northeastern and eastern parts of Eritrea have an extensive coastline along the Red Sea. The country has a total area of approximately 117,600 km² (45,406 sq mi), and includes the Dahlak Archipelago and several of the Hanish Islands.

Hominid remains found in Eritrea have been dated to 1 million years old and anthropological research indicates that the area may contain significant records related to human evolution. The Kingdom of Aksum, covering much of modern-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, was established during the first or second century AD. It adopted Christianity around the middle of the fourth century. Beginning in the 12th century, the Ethiopian Zagwe and Solomonid dynasties held fluctuating control over the entire plateau and the Red Sea coast. Eritrea's central highlands, known as Mereb Melash ("Beyond the Mereb"), were the northern frontier region of the Ethiopian kingdoms and were ruled by a governor titled the Bahr Negus ("King of the Sea").

Contemporary Eritrea is a multi-ethnic country with nine recognized ethnic groups, each of which has a distinct language. The most widely spoken language is Tigrinya. The others are Tigre, Saho, Kunama, Nara, Afar, Beja, Bilen and Arabic. Tigrinya, Arabic and English serve as the three working languages. Most residents speak languages from the Afroasiatic family, either from the Ethiopian Semitic languages or Cushitic branches. In Eritrea, ethnic Tigrinyas make up about 50% of the population, with the Tigre people constituting around 30% of inhabitants. In addition, there are several Nilo-Saharan-speaking Nilotic ethnic groups. Most people in the country adhere to Christianity or Islam, with a small minority adhering to traditional faiths.

Eritrea is one of the world's least developed countries. It is a unitary one-party presidential republic and a de facto totalitarian dictatorship, in which national legislative and presidential elections have never been held. Isaias Afwerki has served as president since its official independence in 1993. The country's human rights record is among the worst in the world. The Eritrean government has dismissed these allegations as politically motivated. Eritrea is a member of the African Union, the United Nations, and is an observer state in the Arab League alongside Brazil and Venezuela. It was part of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development until withdrawing in December 2025, "accusing the organisation of 'becoming a tool against' countries like itself." (Full article...)

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David Mark DiMeglio (February 8, 1967 – March 1, 2002) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Dino Casanova. He competed in independent promotions in the Northeastern United States including Eastern Championship Wrestling and the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation, most notably as one half of the Cream Team with Rip Sawyer. DiMeglio also had a brief stint in World Championship Wrestling with Romeo Valentino during the mid-1990s. As The Goodfellas, they would continue teaming with each other on the independent circuit until his death. (Full article...)

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Credit: Spot Image
Satellite image of the Dahlak Archipelago near Massawa, Eritrea

Did you know -

Zersenay Tadese in 2009

... that long distance runner Zersenay Tadese (pictured) was the first person from Eritrea to win an Olympic medal in any sport?

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WikiProject Eritrea

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General images -
The following are images from various Eritrea-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Map of the Eritrean War of Independence (from History of Eritrea)
Image 2An Eritrean krar and masinqo is a common instruments in Eritrea. (from Culture of Eritrea)
Image 3Some of the buildings of the Christian monastery complex in Eritrea was built during 1350s but is much older than the oldest monastery Debre Sina (monastery) from 4th century (from History of Eritrea)
Image 4Bronze oil lamp excavated at Matara, dating from the Kingdom of Dʿmt (1st century BCE or earlier) (from History of Eritrea)
Image 5A plate of Injera with various Eritrean stews (from Culture of Eritrea)
Image 6Bahta Hagos was an important leader of the Eritrean resistance to foreign domination specifically against northern Ethiopian and Italian colonialism. (from History of Eritrea)
Image 7The Fiat Tagliero Building in Asmara, built in 1938 (from History of Eritrea)
Image 8Massawa's Sheikh Hanafi Mosque, built in the 15th century under Emperor Zara Yacob (from History of Eritrea)
Image 9Pre-Axumite monolithic columns in Qohaito (from History of Eritrea)
Image 10King Ezana's Stele in Axum (from History of Eritrea)
Image 11Neolithic rock art in a Qohaito canyon cave (from History of Eritrea)
Image 12The National Museum of Eritrea is a national museum in Asmara, Eritrea (from Culture of Eritrea)
Image 13A view over Asmara (from History of Eritrea)
Image 14Church of Our Lady of the Rosary built in 1923 in Asmara (from History of Eritrea)
Image 15Flag of Italian Eritrea (from History of Eritrea)