ERITREA

officially State of Eritrea, Tigrinya Ertra, country of the Horn of Africa, located on the Red Sea. Its 600 miles (1,000 kilometres) of coastline extend from Cape Kasar, in the north, to the Strait of Mandeb, separating the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden in the south. It is bounded on the northwest by The Sudan, on the south by Ethiopia, and on the southeast by Djibouti. Total land area (including islands off the coast) is 45,300 square miles (117,400 square kilometres). Eritrea's capital and largest city is Asmara (Asmera). Eritrea's coastal location has long been important in its history and culturea fact reflected in its name, which is an Italianized version of Mare Erythraeum, Latin for Red Sea. The Red Sea was the route along which Christianity and Islam reached the area and took firm hold among the people, and it was an important trade route that such powers as Turkey, Egypt, and Italy hoped to dominate by seizing control of ports on the Eritrean coast. Those ports promised access to the gold, coffee, and slaves sold by traders in the Ethiopian highlands to the south, and in the second half of the 20th century Ethiopia became the power from which the Eritrean people had to free themselves in order to create their own state. In 1993, after a war of independence that lasted nearly three decades, Eritrea became a sovereign country. During the long struggle, the people of Eritrea managed to forge a common national consciousness, but, with peace established, they now face the task of overcoming their ethnic and religious differences in order to raise the country from a poverty made worse by years of drought, neglect, and war. officially State of Eritrea, Tigrinya Ertra country of eastern Africa, situated on the Horn of Africa. It extends for about 600 miles (1,000 km) along the Red Sea from Cape Kasar to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and includes the Dahlak Archipelago in the Red Sea. Eritrea is bounded on the northwest by The Sudan, on the southeast by Djibouti, and on the south by Ethiopia, from which it separated in 1993. The capital is Asmera. Area 45,300 square miles (117,400 square km). Pop. (1993 est.) 3,670,000. Additional reading A concise survey of ethnic groups living in Eritrea at the close of World War II is found in S.F. Nadel, Races and Tribes of Eritrea (1944). Tekeste Negash, Italian Colonialism in Eritrea, 18821941 (1987), surveys Italian colonialism and its impact on the people of Eritrea. G.K.N. Trevaskis, Eritrea: A Colony in Transition, 194152 (1960, reprinted 1975), recounts the political struggle over the fate of Eritrea in this time period. An account that reflects the Ethiopian point of view is Haggai Erlich, The Struggle Over Eritrea, 19621978 (1983). John Markakis, National and Class Conflict in the Horn of Africa (1987), includes an account of the Eritrean nationalist movement and the war of independence. Jordan Gebre-Medhin, Peasants and Nationalism in Eritrea (1989), analyzes Eritrean history from a nationalist perspective. John Markakis Administration and social conditions Government After liberation from Ethiopia in May 1991, Eritrea was ruled by a provisional government that consisted essentially of the central committee of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). On May 19, 1993, shortly after a national referendum, this body proclaimed the Transitional Government of Eritrea, which was to rule for four years until the promulgation of a constitution and the election of a permanent government. The transitional government's legislative body, called the National Assembly, consisted of the original 30-member central committee of the EPLF augmented by 60 new members. At least 20 seats were to be reserved for women. The National Assembly sets the policies of the government and elects the president. The president is assisted in implementing the government's policies by a State Council, containing cabinet ministers and the governors of Eritrea's provinces. In order to discourage ethnic rivalry, seats on the State Council are divided equally between Muslims and Christians, and political parties based on language or religion are banned. Health and education Chronic drought and decades of war have taken a toll on the health of Eritreans. The mortality rate at birth is 15 percent, and almost half of all infants die during their first year. The average life expectancy is about 50 years. Only about 20 percent of Eritreans are literate, though the new government is intent on expanding education. Children are taught in their native languages, and in the higher grades they also are taught foreign languages, especially Arabic and English. There is a university in Asmara.