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<\/a>Eritrea is a multi-ethnic country, with nine recognized ethnic groups in its population of around 3 million. Eritrea has nine national languages which are Tigrinya language<\/a>, Tigre<\/a>, Afar<\/a>, Beja<\/a>, Bilen<\/a>, Kunama<\/a>, Nara<\/a>, Saho<\/a>. Tigrinya, Arabic, and English serve as the three working languages. Most residents speak languages from the Afroasiatic family<\/a>, either of the Ethiopian Semitic<\/a> languages or Cushitic<\/a> branches. Among these communities, the Tigrinyas make up about 55% of the population, with the Tigre people constituting around 30% of inhabitants. In addition, there are a number of Nilo-Saharan-speaking<\/a> Nilotic<\/a> ethnic minorities. Most people in the territory adhere to Islam or Christianity.<\/p>\n The Kingdom of Aksum<\/a>, covering much of modern-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, was established during the first or second centuries AD. It adopted Christianity around the middle of the fourth century. In medieval times much of Eritrea fell under the Medri Bahri kingdom<\/a>, with a smaller region being part of Hamasien<\/a>.<\/p>\n The creation of modern-day Eritrea is a result of the incorporation of independent, distinct kingdoms and sultanates (for example, Medri Bahri and the Sultanate of Aussa<\/a>) eventually resulting in the formation of Italian Eritrea<\/a>. After the defeat of the Italian colonial army in 1942, Eritrea was administered by the British Military Administration until 1952. Following the UN General Assembly decision, in 1952, Eritrea would govern itself with a local Eritrean parliament but for foreign affairs and defense it would enter into a federal status with Ethiopia for a period of 10 years. However, in 1962 the government of Ethiopia annulled the Eritrean parliament and formally annexed Eritrea, but the Eritreans who had argued for complete Eritrean independence since the ouster of the Italians in 1941 anticipated what was coming and, in 1961, organized the Eritrean Liberation Fron<\/a>t in opposition. In 1991, after 30 years of continuous armed struggle for independence, the Eritrean liberation fighters entered the capital city, Asmara, in victory.<\/p>\n The sovereign state is a totalitarian one-party dictatorship in which national legislative and presidential elections have never been held since independence. According to Human Rights Watch<\/a>, the Eritrean government’s human rights record<\/a> is among the worst in the world. The Eritrean government has dismissed these allegations as politically motivated. The compulsory military service requires long, indefinite conscription periods (6.5 years on average), which some Eritreans leave the country to avoid. Because all local media is state-owned, Eritrea was also ranked as having the third-least press freedom in the global Press Freedom Index<\/a>, behind North Korea<\/a> and Turkmenistan<\/a>.<\/p>\n The sovereign state of Eritrea is a member of the African Union<\/a>, the United Nations<\/a>, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development<\/a>, and is an observer state in the Arab League<\/a> alongside Brazil<\/a>, Venezuela<\/a> and Turkey<\/a>.<\/p>\n The name Eritrea is derived from the ancient Greek name for the Red Sea (\u1f18\u03c1\u03c5\u03b8\u03c1\u1f70 \u0398\u03ac\u03bb\u03b1\u03c3\u03c3\u03b1<\/a> Erythra Thalassa, based on the adjective \u1f10\u03c1\u03c5\u03b8\u03c1\u03cc\u03c2 erythros “red”). It was first formally adopted in 1890, with the formation of Italian Eritrea (Colonia Eritrea). The name persisted over the course of subsequent British and Ethiopian occupation, and was reaffirmed by the 1993 independence referendum<\/a> and 1997 constitution<\/a>.<\/p>\n Buya in Eritrea, one of the oldest hominids<\/a> representing a possible link between Homo erectus<\/a> and an archaic Homo sapiens<\/a> was found by Italian scientists. Dated to over 1 million years old, it is the oldest skeletal find of its kind and provides a link between hominids and the earliest anatomically modern humans. It is believed that the section of the Danakil Depression<\/a> in Eritrea was also a major player in terms of human evolution, and may contain other traces of evolution from Homo erectus hominids to anatomically modern humans.<\/p>\n During the last interglacial period, the Red Sea coast of Eritrea was occupied by early anatomically modern humans. It is believed that the area was on the route out of Africa that some scholars suggest was used by early humans to colonize the rest of the Old World. In 1999, the Eritrean Research Project Team composed of Eritrean, Canadian, American, Dutch and French scientists discovered a Paleolithic site with stone and obsidian tools dated to over 125,000 years old near the Bay of Zula south of Massawa<\/a>, along the Red Sea littoral. The tools are believed to have been used by early humans to harvest marine resources such as clams and oysters.<\/p>\n According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations arrived in the region during the ensuing Neolithic<\/a> era from the family’s proposed urheimat (“original homeland”) in the Nile Valley. Other scholars propose that the Afroasiatic family developed in situ in the Horn, with its speakers subsequently dispersing from there.<\/p>\n Together with Djibouti, Ethiopia, northern Somalia<\/a>, and the Red Sea coast of Sudan, Eritrea is considered the most likely location of the land which the ancient Egyptians called Punt<\/a>, first mentioned in the 25th century BC. The ancient Puntites had close relations with Ancient Egypt during the rule of Pharaoh Sahure<\/a> and Queen Hatshepsut<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is confirmed by genetic studies of mummified baboons. In 2010, a study was conducted on baboon mummies that were brought from Punt to Egypt as gifts by the ancient Egyptians. The scientists from the Egyptian Museum<\/a> and the University of California<\/a> used oxygen isotope analysis to examine hairs from two baboon mummies that had been preserved in the British Museum<\/a>. One of the baboons had distorted isotopic data, so the other’s oxygen isotope values were compared to those of present-day baboon specimens from regions of interest. The researchers initially found that the mummies most closely matched modern baboon specimens in Eritrea and Ethiopia, which suggested that Punt was likely a narrow region that included eastern Ethiopia and all of Eritrea. In 2015, isotopic analysis of other ancient baboon mummies from Punt confirmed that the specimens likely originated from an area encompassing the Eritrea-Ethiopia corridor and eastern Somalia.<\/p>\n Excavations at Sembel<\/a> found evidence of an ancient pre-Aksumite civilization in greater Asmara. This Ona urban culture is believed to have been among the earliest pastoral and agricultural communities in the Horn region. Artifacts at the site have been dated to between 800 BC and 400 BC, contemporaneous with other pre-Aksumite settlements in the Eritrean and Ethiopian highlands during the mid-first millennium BC.<\/p>\n Additionally, the Ona culture may have had connections with the ancient Land of Punt. In a tomb in Thebes (Luxor) dated to the 18th dynasty reign of Pharaoh Amenophis II<\/a> (Amenhotep II), long-necked pots similar to those that were made by the Ona people are depicted as part of the cargo in a ship from Punt.<\/p>\n Excavations in and near Agordat<\/a> in central Eritrea yielded the remains of an ancient pre-Aksumite civilization known as the Gash Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ceramics were discovered that were related to those of the C-Group (Temehu)<\/a> pastoral culture, which inhabited the Nile Valley between 2500\u20131500 BC. Some sources dating back to 3500 BC.<\/p>\n D\u02bfmt<\/a> was a kingdom that encompassed most of Eritrea and the northern frontier of Ethiopia. The polity existed during the 10th to 5th centuries BC. Given the presence of a massive temple complex at Yeha<\/a>, this area was most likely the kingdom’s capital. Qohaito<\/a>, often identified as the town of Koloe in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea<\/a>, as well as Matara<\/a> were important ancient D\u02bfmt kingdom cities in southern Eritrea.<\/p>\n The realm developed irrigation schemes, used plows, grew millet, and made iron tools and weapons. After the fall of D\u02bfmt in the 5th century BC, the plateau came to be dominated by smaller successor kingdoms. This lasted until the rise of one of these polities during the first century, the Kingdom of Aksum<\/a>, which was able to reunite the area.<\/p>\n The Kingdom of Aksum was a trading empire centered in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. It existed from approximately 100\u2013940 AD, growing from the proto-Aksumite Iron Age<\/a> period around the 4th century BC to achieve prominence by the 1st century AD.<\/p>\n According to the medieval Liber Axumae (Book of Aksum<\/a>), Aksum’s first capital, Mazaber, was built by Itiyopis, son of Cush. The capital was later moved to Aksum<\/a> in northern Ethiopia. The Kingdom used the name “Ethiopia” as early as the 4th century.<\/p>\n The Aksumites erected a number of large stelae, which served a religious purpose in pre-Christian times. One of these granite columns, the Obelisk of Aksum<\/a>, is the largest such structure in the world, standing at 90 feet (27 metres). Under Ezana<\/a> (fl. 320\u2013360), Aksum later adopted Christianity.<\/p>\n In the 7th century, early Muslims from Mecca, at least companions of the Islamic Nab\u012b,<\/a> Prophet) Muhammad<\/a>, sought refuge from Qurayshi<\/a> persecution by travelling to the kingdom, a journey known in Islamic history as the First Hijrah<\/a>. They reportedly built the first African mosque, that is the Mosque of the Companions, Massawa.<\/a><\/p>\n The kingdom is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as an important market place for ivory, which was exported throughout the ancient world. Aksum was at the time ruled by Zoskales<\/a>, who also governed the port of Adulis<\/a>. The Aksumite rulers facilitated trade by minting their own Aksumite currency<\/a>. The state also established its hegemony over the declining Kingdom of Kush and regularly entered the politics of the kingdoms on the Arabian peninsula, eventually extending its rule over the region with the conquest of the Himyarite Kingdom<\/a>. The country is also the alleged resting place of the Ark of the Covenant<\/a>, and the purported home of the Queen of Sheba<\/a>.<\/p>\n After the decline of Aksum, the Eritrean highlands were under the domain of Bahr Negash ruled by the Bahr Negus. The area was then known as Ma’ikele Bahr (“between the seas\/rivers”, i.e. the land between the Red Sea and the Mereb river<\/a>). It was later renamed under Emperor Zara Yaqob<\/a> as the domain of the Bahr Negash, the Medri Bahri<\/a> (“Sea land” in Tigrinya, although it included some areas like Shire<\/a> on the other side of the Mereb, today in Ethiopia). With its capital at Debarwa<\/a>, the state’s main provinces were Hamasien<\/a>, Serae<\/a> and Akele Guzai.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Turks briefly occupied the highland parts of Baharnagash in 1559 and withdrew after they encountered resistance and were pushed back by the Bahrnegash and highland forces. In 1578 they tried to expand into the highlands with the help of Bahr Negash Yisehaq who had switched alliances due to power struggle, and by 1589 once again they were apparently compelled to withdraw their forces to the coast. After that Ottomans abandoned their ambitions to establish themselves on the highlands and remained in the lowlands until they left the region by 1872.<\/p>\n The Scottish traveler James Bruce<\/a> reported in 1771 that Medri Bahri was a distinct political entity from Abyssinia<\/a>, noting that the two territories were frequently in conflict. The Bahre-Nagassi (“Kings of the Sea”) alternately fought with or against the Abyssinians and the neighbouring Muslim Adal Sultanate<\/a> depending on the geopolitical circumstances. Medri Bahri was thus part of the Christian resistance against Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi<\/a> of Adal’s forces, but later joined the Adalite states and the Ottoman Empire front against Abyssinia in 1572. That 16th century also marked the arrival of the Ottomans<\/a>, who began making inroads in the Red Sea area.<\/p>\n James Bruce in his book published in 1805 reported Hadawi, the seat of Baharanagash, was part of the Tigr\u00e9 province of Abyssinia which was ruled by Ras Mikael Sehul<\/a> at the time of his travel. The officer in Hadawi watched over the Naybe of Masawa (province of Turk’s Habesh Eyalet<\/a>), and starved him into obedience by intercepting his provisions, whenever the officer in Hadawi and the governor of Tigr\u00e9 found it necessary. Bruce also located Tigr\u00e9 between Red Sea and the river Tekez\u00e9<\/a> and stated many large governments, such as Enderta and Antalow, and the great part of Baharhagash were on the eastern side of Tigr\u00e9 province.<\/p>\n At the end of the 16th century, the Aussa Sultanate<\/a> was established in the Denkel lowlands of Eritrea.<\/p>\n The polity had come into existence in 1577, when Muhammed Jasa moved his capital from Harar to Aussa (Asaita<\/a>) with the split of the Adal Sultanate into Aussa and the Sultanate of Harar<\/a>. At some point after 1672, Aussa declined in conjunction with Imam Umar Din bin Adam’s recorded ascension to the throne. In 1734, the Afar leader Kedafu, head of the Mudaito clan, seized power and established the Mudaito Dynasty<\/a>. This marked the start of a new and more sophisticated polity that would last into the colonial period.<\/p>\n By 1517, the Ottomans had succeeded in conquering Medri Bahri. They occupied all of northeastern present-day Eritrea for the next two decades, an area which stretched from Massawa to Swakin<\/a> in Sudan.<\/p>\n The territory became an Ottoman governorate (eyalet), known as the Habesh Eyalet. Massawa served as the new province’s first capital. When the city became of secondary economical importance, the administrative capital was soon moved across the Red Sea to Jeddah<\/a>. Its headquarters remained there from the end of the 16th century to the early 19th century, with Medina temporarily serving as the capital in the 18th century.<\/p>\n The Ottomans were eventually driven out in the last quarter of the 16th century. However, they retained control over the seaboard until the establishment of Italian Eritrea in the late 1800s.<\/p>\n The boundaries of the present-day Eritrea nation state were established during the Scramble for Africa<\/a>. In 1869 or 1870, the ruling Sultan of Raheita<\/a> sold lands surrounding the Bay of Assab<\/a> to the Rubattino Shipping Company. The area served as a coaling station along the shipping lanes introduced by the recently completed Suez Canal<\/a>. It had long been part of the Ottoman Habesh Eyalet centered in Egypt. The first Italian settlers arrived in 1880.<\/p>\n In the vacuum that followed the 1889 death<\/a> of Emperor Yohannes IV<\/a>, Gen.\u2009Oreste Baratier<\/a>i occupied the highlands along the Eritrean coast and Italy proclaimed the establishment of the new colony of Italian Eritrea<\/a>, a colony of the Kingdom of Italy<\/a>. In the Treaty of Wuchale (It. Uccialli)<\/a> signed the same year, King Menelik of Shewa<\/a>, a southern Ethiopian kingdom, recognized the Italian occupation of his rivals’ lands of Bogos<\/a>, Hamasien<\/a>, Akkele Guzay<\/a>, and Serae<\/a> in exchange for guarantees of financial assistance and continuing access to European arms and ammunition. His subsequent victory over his rival kings and enthronement as Emperor Menelek II (r. 1889\u20131913) made the treaty formally binding upon the entire territory.<\/p>\n In 1888, the Italian administration launched its first development projects in the new colony. The Eritrean Railway<\/a> was completed to Saati in 1888, and reached Asmara in the highlands in 1911.<\/p>\n The Asmara\u2013Massawa Cableway<\/a> was the longest line in the world during its time, but was later dismantled by the British in World War II. Besides major infrastructural projects, the colonial authorities invested significantly in the agricultural sector. It also oversaw the provision of urban amenities in Asmara and Massawa, and employed many Eritreans in public service, particularly in the police and public works departments. Thousands of Eritreans were concurrently enlisted in the army, serving during the Italo-Turkish War<\/a> in Libya as well as the First<\/a> and Second Italo-Abyssinian Wars<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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. In 1939, there were around 2,198 factories and most of the employees were Eritrean citizens. The establishment of industries also made an increase in the number of both Italians and Eritreans residing in the cities. The number of Italians residing in the territory increased from 4,600 to 75,000 in five years; and with the involvement of Eritreans in the industries, trade and fruit plantation was expanded across the nation, while some of the plantations were owned by Eritreans.<\/p>\n In 1922, Benito Mussolini’s<\/a> rise to power in Italy brought profound changes to the colonial government in Italian Eritrea. After il Duce declared the birth of the Italian Empire<\/a> in May 1936, Italian Eritrea (enlarged with northern Ethiopia’s regions) and Italian Somaliland<\/a> were merged with the just conquered Ethiopia in the new Italian East Africa<\/a> (Africa Orientale Italiana) administrative territory. This Fascist<\/a> period was characterized by imperial expansion in the name of a “new Roman Empire”. Eritrea was chosen by the Italian government to be the industrial center of Italian East Africa.<\/p>\n Asmara’s architecture after 1935 was greatly improved to become a “modernist Art Deco city” (in 2017 has been declared a “UNESCO World City Heritage”), featuring eclectic and rationalist built forms, well-defined open spaces, and public and private buildings, including cinemas, shops, banks, religious structures, public and private offices, industrial facilities, and residences (according to UNESCO’s publications). The Italians designed more than 400 buildings in a construction boom that was only halted by Italy’s involvement in WW2. These included art deco masterpieces like the worldwide famous Fiat Tagliero Building<\/a> and the Cinema Impero<\/a>.<\/p>\n Through the 1941 Battle of Keren<\/a>, the British expelled the Italians, and took over the administration of the country.<\/p>\n The British placed Eritrea under British military administration until Allied forces could determine its fate.<\/p>\n In the absence of agreement among the Allies concerning the status of Eritrea, British administration continued for the remainder of World War II and until 1950. During the immediate postwar years, the British proposed that Eritrea be divided along religious lines and annexed partly to the British colony of Sudan and partly to Ethiopia. The Soviet Union<\/a>, anticipating a communist victory in the Italian polls, initially supported returning Eritrea to Italy under trusteeship or as a colony.<\/p>\n In the 1950s, the Ethiopian feudal administration under Emperor Haile Selassi<\/a>e sought to annex Eritrea and Italian Somaliland.<\/p>\n He 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. In the United Nations, the debate over the fate of the former Italian colonies continued. The British and Americans preferred to cede all of Eritrea except the Western province to the Ethiopians as a reward for their support during World War II<\/a>. The Independence Bloc of Eritrean parties consistently requested from the UN General Assembly that a referendum be held immediately to settle the Eritrean question of sovereignty.<\/p>\n Following the adoption of UN Resolution 390A(V) in December 1950, Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia under the prompting of the United States. The resolution called for Eritrea and Ethiopia to be linked through a loose federal structure under the sovereignty of the Emperor. 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. The federal government, which for all practical purposes was the existing imperial government, was to control foreign affairs (including commerce), defense, finance, and transportation. The resolution ignored the wishes of Eritreans for independence, but guaranteed the population democratic rights and a measure of autonomy.<\/p>\n In 1958, a group of Eritreans founded the Eritrean Liberation Movement (ELM). The organization mainly consisted of Eritrean students, professionals and intellectuals. It engaged in clandestine political activities intended to cultivate resistance to the centralizing policies of the imperial Ethiopian state. On 1 September 1961, the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), under the leadership of Hamid Idris Awate<\/a>, waged an armed struggle for independence. In 1962, Emperor Haile Selassie unilaterally dissolved the Eritrean parliament and annexed the territory. The ensuing Eritrean War of Independence<\/a> went on for 30 years against successive Ethiopian governments until 1991, when the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), a successor of the ELF, defeated the Ethiopian forces in Eritrea and helped a coalition of Ethiopian rebel forces<\/a> take control of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.<\/p>\n Following a UN-supervised referendum in Eritrea (dubbed UNOVER<\/a>) in which the Eritrean people overwhelmingly voted for independence, Eritrea declared its independence and gained international recognition in 1993. The EPLF seized power, established a one-party state along nationalist lines and banned further political activity. There have been no elections since.<\/p>\n Eritrea is located in the Horn of Africa in East Africa. It is bordered to the northeast and east by the Red Sea, Sudan to the west, Ethiopia to the south, and Djibouti to the southeast.<\/p>\n The country is virtually bisected by a branch of the East African Rift<\/a>. Eritrea, at the southern end of the Red Sea, is the home of the fork in the rift. The Dahlak Archipelago<\/a> and its fishing grounds are situated off the sandy and arid coastline.<\/p>\n Eritrea can be split into three ecoregions. To the east of the highlands are the hot, arid coastal plains stretching down to the southeast of the country. The cooler, more fertile highlands, reaching up to 3000 m, have a different habitat. Habitats here vary from the sub-tropical rainforest at Filfil Solomona to the precipitous cliffs and canyons of the southern highlands. The Afar Triangle or Danakil Depression of Eritrea<\/a> is the probable location of a triple junction where three tectonic plates are pulling away from one another. The highest point of the country, Emba Soira<\/a>, is located in the center of Eritrea, at 3,018 meters (9,902 ft) above sea level.<\/p>\n The main cities of the country are the capital city of Asmara<\/a> and the port town of Asseb<\/a> in the southeast, as well as the towns of Massawa<\/a> to the east, the northern town of Keren<\/a>, and the central town Mendefera<\/a>.<\/p>\n The economy of Eritrea has experienced considerable growth in recent years, indicated by an improvement in gross domestic product (GDP) in October 2012 of 7.5% over 2011. A big reason for the recent growth of the Eritrean economy is the commencement of full operations in the gold and silver Bisha mine and the production of cement from the cement factory in Massawa.<\/p>\n Worker remittances from abroad are estimated to account for 32% of gross domestic product. Eritrea has an extensive amount of resources such as copper, gold, granite, marble, and potash.<\/p>\n The Eritrean economy has undergone extreme changes due to the War of Independence. In 2011, Eritrea’s GDP grew by 8.7% making it one of the fastest growing economies in the world.<\/p>\n 80% of the Eritrean workforce are employed in agriculture. Eritrea’s main agricultural products include sorghum, millet, barley, wheat, legumes, vegetables, fruits, sesame, linseed, cattle, sheep, goats and camels.<\/p>\n Transport in Eritrea includes highways, airports, railway, and seaports in addition to various forms of public and private vehicular, maritime and aerial transportation.<\/p>\n The Eritrean highway system is named according to the road classification. The three levels of classification are: primary (P), secondary (S), and tertiary (T). The lowest level road is tertiary and serves local interests. Typically they are improved earth roads which are occasionally paved. During the wet seasons these roads typically become impassable.<\/p>\n The next higher level road is a secondary road and typically is a single-layered asphalt road that connects district capitals together and those to the regional capitals. Roads that are considered primary roads are those that are fully asphalted (throughout their entire length) and in general they carry traffic between all the major cities and towns in Eritrea. 874km of the 4,010 km of roadways are paved.<\/p>\n As of 1999, there is a total of 317 kilometres of 950 mm (3 ft 1 3\u20448 in) (narrow gauge) rail line in Eritrea. The Eritrean Railway was built between 1887 and 1932. Badly damaged during WWII and in later fighting, it was closed section by section, with the final closure coming in 1978. After independence, a rebuilding effort commenced, and the first rebuilt section was reopened in 2003. As of 2009, the section from Massawa to Asmara was fully rebuilt and available for service.<\/p>\n Rehabilitation of the remainder and of the rolling stock has occurred in recent years. Current service is very limited due to the extreme age of most of the railway equipment and its limited availability. Further rebuilding is planned. The railway linking Agordat and Asmara with the port of Massawa; had been inoperative since 1978 except for about a 5 kilometre stretch that was reopened in Massawa in 1994. A railway formerly ran from Massawa to Bishia via Asmara, and is under re-construction.<\/p>\n There are three international airports, one in the capital, Asmara International Airport<\/a>, and the two others in the coastal cities, Massawa (Massawa International Airport<\/a>) and Assab (Assab International Airport<\/a>). The airport in Asmara received all international flights into the country as of March 2007, as well as being the main airport for domestic flights. The national carrier, Eritrean, erratically operates a limited network of flights.<\/p>\n The national flag of Eritrea, \u1203\u1308\u122b\u12ca\u1275 \u1263\u1295\u12f4\u122b \u12a4\u122d\u1275\u122b as adopted on December 5, 1995, bears a resemblance to the official flag of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front.<\/a><\/p>\n The wreath with the upright olive-branch symbol derived from the 1952 flag, which had a light blue background to honor the United Nations<\/a>.<\/p>\n The green color in the flag stands for the agriculture and livestock of the country, the blue represents for the sea, and the red for the blood lost in the fight for freedom.<\/p>\n Eritrea and Ethiopia were both occupied by the Italians between 1935-1941. Before the Second World War, Eritrea was more developed and prosperous than Ethiopia. After Italy’s defeat in the war, Ethiopia reverted to its pre-Italian feudal monarchy while Eritrea was given over to modern British rule under a mandate by the United Nations in 1949. The advent of Arab nationalism in the 1940s saw the Muslim part of Eritrea demand independence from British rule. Meanwhile, Ethiopia tried to claim the Eritrean state as its own by calling it a “lost province”. Several officers proposed that Eritrea be separated into two parts: the Christian area to be merged to Ethiopia; the Muslim area to Sudan. After international debate and the intervention of the Allied Powers, the United States passed a resolution with the agreement of Britain formulating the creation of an autonomous Eritrea in federation with Ethiopia in 1950.<\/p>\n On September 15, 1952, Eritrea became independent from British rule and was made an autonomous part of Ethiopia. Since the United Nations had helped the country obtain independence from British rule, the 1952 Eritrean flag was designed with a light blue background to honor the organisation’s assistance. The flag at that time had an olive wreath in the center, symbolizing peace. The wreath encircled a six-leafed plant which represented the six administrative divisions of Eritrea.<\/p>\n After civil war broke out in Eritrea in 1961, Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie<\/a> banned the Eritrean flag, coat of arms, and all other government seals from public places. He annexed Eritrea in 1962 with the approval of the United Nations.<\/p>\n The Eritrean People’s Liberation Front fought for the country’s independence, and in January 1977, the party adopted its own official flag. The current flag of Eritrea bears resemblance to the party’s official flag. The flag had three triangles: red, blue, and green. The yellow star in the red triangle symbolized the country’s rich mineral resources, with the five points representing unity, liberation, justice, democracy, and progress. After Eritrea was proclaimed an independent nation, the flag was modified and its first official hoisting was performed on May 24, 1993. In the red triangle, a gold wreath symbol with 14 leaves on each side, derived from the 1952 flag, replaced the gold star of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front’s flag. In 1995 the number of leaves in the wreath were standardised. The 30 leaves symbolise the number of years spent in civil war before achieving independence.<\/p>\n The flag of Eritrea is dominated by a red isosceles triangle based on the hoist-side pointed toward the fly-side and then divided into two right triangles. The upper triangle is green and the lower triangle is blue with an Emblem (1952-1962) in gold (a vertical olive branch encircled by an olive wreath) centered on the hoist side of the triangle. The CIA World Factbook 2012 points out that the shape of the red triangle mimics the shape of the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The flag of Eritrea is dominated by a red isosceles triangle based on the hoist-side pointed toward the fly-side and then divided into two right triangles. The upper triangle is green and the lower triangle is blue with an Emblem (1952-1962) in gold (a vertical olive branch encircled by an olive wreath) centered on the hoist side of the triangle. The CIA World Factbook 2012 points out that the shape of the red triangle mimics the shape of the country. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[19,59,5,6,7,141,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4921"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/City-Map-of-Eritrea-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Etymology:<\/h2>\n
History:<\/h2>\n
Prehistory:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Neolithic-Rock-Art-in-a-Qohaito-Canyon-Cave-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Antiquity:<\/h3>\n
Punt:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Location-of-the-Land-of-Punt-260x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Ona Culture:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Sembel-Excavation-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Gash Group:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/C-Group-Ceramic-300x231.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Kingdom of D’mt:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Bronze-Oil-Lamp-from-the-Kingdom-of-D\u02bfmt-300x198.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Kingdom of Aksum:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Aksum-Obelisk-225x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Middle Ages:<\/h3>\n
Medri Bahri:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Location-of-Mehdi-Bari-268x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/James-Bruce-250x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Aussa Sultanate:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Location-of-the-Aussa-Sultanate-circa-1880-300x297.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Habesh Eyalet:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Habesh-Eyalet-300x251.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Modern History:<\/h3>\n
Italian Eritrea:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Eritrea-1896-300x255.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Coat-of-Arms-of-Italian-Eritrea-240x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Asmara-Station-on-the-Eritrean-Railway-300x175.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Eritrean-Tallero-1890-300x147.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Eritrean-Vow-Allegiance-to-Mussolinis-National-Fascist-Party.-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>British Administration:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Keren-Battlefield-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Federation with Ethiopia:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Haile-Selassie-153x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Eritrean War of Independence Against Ethiopia 1961\u20131991:<\/h4>\n
Independence:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Eritrean-Independence-War-Map-300x246.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Map-of-the-Dahlak-Archipeligo-288x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Eritrea-Topography-300x242.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Eritrean-Export-Map-300x88.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Eritrean-Mountain-Road-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Eritrean-Railway-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Eritrean-Airlines-Boeing-767-300ER-300x209.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Flag of Eritrea:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Flag-of-the-EPLF-300x200.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Flag-of-Eritrea-1952-1962-300x200.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/04\/Flag-of-Eritrea-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>