Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a nation in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital (and biggest city) at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the south, Sudan in the west, as well as Djibouti in the southeast. The northeastern and eastern parts of Eritrea have an extensive shoreline along the Red Sea. The nation has a complete location of roughly 117,600 km2 (45,406 sq mi), as well as includes the Dahlak Island chain and several of the Hanish Islands.

Eritrea is a multi-ethnic country with 9 recognised ethnic groups. 9 different languages are talked by the nine identified ethnic groups, one of the most commonly talked language being Tigrinya, the others being Tigre, Saho, Kunama, Nara, Afar, Beja, Bilen and Arabic. Tigrinya, Arabic, as well as English serve as the 3 functioning languages.

Most citizens talk languages from the Afroasiatic family members, either of the Ethiopian Semitic languages or Cushitic branches. Among these neighborhoods, the Tigrinyas make up regarding 55% of the populace, with the Tigre people comprising around 30% of occupants. Furthermore, there are numerous Nilo-Saharan-speaking Nilotic ethnic groups. Most individuals in the area abide by Christianity or Islam, with a tiny minority sticking to traditional beliefs.

The Kingdom of Aksum, covering much of modern-day Eritrea as well as north Ethiopia, was developed during the first or 2nd century AD. It embraced Christianity around the center of the 4th century. In medieval times a lot of Eritrea fell under the Medri Bahri kingdom, with a smaller sized region belonging to Hamasien. The development of modern-day Eritrea is a result of the consolidation of independent, unique kingdoms (as an example, Medri Bahri and also the Sultanate of Aussa) eventually causing the development of Italian Eritrea.

After the loss of the Italian colonial military in 1942, Eritrea was administered by the British Armed Force Administration until 1952. Adhering To the UN General Assembly choice in 1952, Eritrea would control itself with a local Eritrean parliament, but for foreign events and also protection, it would enter into a federal condition with Ethiopia for ten years. Nonetheless, in 1962, the government of Ethiopia annulled the Eritrean parliament and officially linked Eritrea.

The Eritrean secessionist movement organised the Eritrean Freedom Front in 1961 as well as battled the Eritrean War of Independence till Eritrea acquired de facto self-reliance in 1991. Eritrea gained de jure self-reliance in 1993 after a self-reliance referendum.

Eritrea is a unitary one-party governmental republic in which nationwide legal as well as governmental elections have actually never ever been held. Isaias Afwerki has worked as president given that its official independence in 1993. According to Civil Rights Watch, the Eritrean government’s civils rights record is amongst the most awful in the world. The Eritrean government has disregarded these accusations as politically encouraged.

Liberty of journalism in Eritrea is extremely restricted; the Press Freedom Index continually places it as one of the least totally free countries. Since 2021 Press reporters Without Borders thinks about the country to have the total worst press flexibility worldwide, also lower than North Korea, as all media magazines and also gain access to are heavily controlled by the federal government.

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