Eritrea stretches along the
Red Sea and is a low-lying coastal area with a mountainous interior. The
Turkish and Egyptian colonial periods left their legacy in the form of numerous interesting buildings and sites, and the cuisine reflects the period of
Italian rule.
The Italians were expelled by the British in 1941. After the departure of the British, Eritrea was
merged into Ethiopia in a federal arrangement brokered by the UN in 1952 and incorporated fully into Ethiopia 10 years later.
After a decade of changing fortunes for both the Eritrean government
and the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), fighting against the Communist government within Ethiopia, the guerrillas finally expelled government forces from Eritrea in early 1991. In 1992, the EPLF-controlled Provisional Government of Eritrea announced a
referendum over the future status of the area. With 99.8% support registered in favor of
independence at an UN-supervised referendum in April 1993, full nationhood was declared the following month.
Despite its many vicissitudes, Eritrea boasts an abundance of
natural attractions, including a vast array of
wildlife. Native to the country are elephants, lions, baboons, gazelles, leopards, ostriches and turtles. Off any of Eritrea’s
stunning beaches, it is not uncommon to see angelfish, barracudas, butterfly fish and several varieties of crabs, sea cucumbers and jellyfish beneath the azure ocean waters.
GeographyEritrea stretches along the Red Sea for almost 1,000km (625 miles). To the south and west it borders Ethiopia, to the southeast Djibouti and to the northwest Sudan. The low-lying coastal area is very humid. The mountainous interior is largely cultivated.
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