Eritrea won independence from Italian colonial control in 1941, but the UN only established it as an autonomous region within the Ethiopian federation in 1952, after a decade of British administrative control. Ethiopia's full annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a violent 30-year conflict for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean fighters defeating government forces. Eritreans overwhelmingly approved independence in a 1993 referendum. ISAIAS Afwerki has been Eritrea's only president since independence; his rule, particularly since 2001, has been characterized by highly autocratic and repressive actions. His government has created a highly militarized society by instituting an unpopular program of mandatory conscription into national service -- divided between military and civilian service -- of indefinite length. A two-and-a-half-year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices in 2000. Ethiopia rejected a subsequent 2007 Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) demarcation. More than a decade of a tense “no peace, no war” stalemate ended in 2018 when the newly elected Ethiopian prime minister accepted the EEBC’s 2007 ruling, and the two countries signed declarations of peace and friendship. Eritrean leaders then engaged in intensive diplomacy around the Horn of Africa, bolstering regional peace, security, and cooperation, as well as brokering rapprochements between governments and opposition groups. In 2018, the UN Security Council lifted an arms embargo that had been imposed on Eritrea since 2009, after the UN Somalia-Eritrea Monitoring Group reported they had not found evidence of Eritrean support in recent years for al-Shabaab. The country’s rapprochement with Ethiopia led to a resumption of economic ties, but the level of air transport, trade, and tourism have remained roughly the same since late 2020. The Eritrean economy remains agriculture-dependent, and the country is still one of Africa’s poorest nations. Eritrea faced new international condemnation and US sanctions in mid-2021 for its participation in the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray Regional State, where Eritrean forces were found to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. As most Eritrean troops were departing northern Ethiopia in January 2023, ISAIAS began a series of diplomatic engagements aimed at bolstering Eritrea’s foreign partnerships and regional influence. Despite the country's improved relations with its neighbors, ISAIAS has not let up on repression, and conscription and militarization continue.
Area: 117,600 km2
Climate: hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually, heaviest June to September); semiarid in western hills and lowlands
Natural resources: gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish
Groups: Tigrinya 50%, Tigre 30%, Saho 4%, Afar 4%, Kunama 4%, Bilen 3%, Hedareb/Beja 2%, Nara 2%, Rashaida 1% (2021 est.)note: data represent Eritrea's nine recognized ethnic groups
Languages: Tigrinya (official), Arabic (official), English (official), Tigre, Kunama, Afar, other Cushitic languages
Religions: Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran, Sunni Muslim
Capital: Asmara
Government type: presidential republic
Chief of state: President ISAIAS Afwerki (since 24 May 1993)
Head of government: President ISAIAS Afwerki (since 8 June 1993)cabinet: State Council appointed by the presidentelections/appointments: president indirectly elected by the National Assembly for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term), according to the constitution; the only election held was on 24 May 1993, following independence from Ethiopia (next postponed indefinitely)election results: 1993: ISAIAS Afwerki elected president by the transitional National Assembly; percent of National Assembly vote - ISAIAS Afwerki (PFDJ) 95%, other 5%note: the president is both chief of state and head of government and is head of the State Council and National Assembly
Description: legislature name: National Assembly (Hagerawi Baito)legislative structure: unicameralnumber of seats: 150 (all indirectly elected)scope of elections: full renewalterm in office: 4 yearsmost recent election date: 2/1/1994note: in 1997, after the new constitution was adopted, the government formed a Transitional National Assembly to serve as the country's legislative body until countrywide elections to form a National Assembly could be held; the constitution stipulates that once past the transition stage, all National Assembly members will be elected by secret ballot of all eligible voters; National Assembly elections scheduled for December 2001 were postponed indefinitely due to the war with Ethiopia; as of 2025, no sitting legislative body exists
Information derived by "The World Factbook 2021. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2021. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/"