ERITREA
Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti and the Red Sea. The nation has a total area of 117,600 km2 (73,073 sq mi), and includes some islands. Eritrea is a member of the African Union. The capital of the country is Asmara.
MAIN CITIES
Asmara
Keren
Teseney
RELIGIONS
Muslims 50%
Christians 48%
Animism 2%
POPULATION
6,270,000
LANGUAGES
Tigrinya
Arabic
English
ETHNIC GROUPS
Tigrinya 55%
Tigre 30%
Saho 4%
Others 9%
CURRENCY
Eritrean nakfa
TOP 10 ATTRACTIONS IN ERITREA
THE IMPERIAL PALACE
The Imperial Palace can be found in Massawa, Eritrea. It was originally built by the Turkish Osdemir Pasha in the 16th century. The building has been renovated in 1872 for the Swiss adventurer Werner Munzinger. It has been also a winter residence for the Emperor Haile Selassie. The palace has been damaged during the fight for independence.
SENAFE
Senafe is a market town in southern Eritrea. Saho people and Tigrinya people are living on the surrounding area. The town is known for the ruins of Metera and Kaskase. Previousely called Hakir Saho word, the name was changed by Abdullah, a man from Sana’a in Yemen who settled in Awdie district of Hakir and married a local woman.
ENDA MARIAM ORTHODOX CHURCH
Enda Mariam Cathedral is an Eritrean Orthodox church in Asmara, Eritrea. The church was built by some Italian architects in 1930 but the two towers was added in 1938. The central block and the towers were buit based on an Aksumite architecture style.
FIAT TAGLIERO
The Fiat Tagliero Building in Asmara, capital city of Eritrea, is a Service station built in 1938 and designed by the Italian Giuseppe Pettazzi. The Fiat Tagliero is noted as one of the foremost Art Deco buildings of Italian Asmara. The building looks like an aeroplane and has a pair of 15 m (49 ft) concrete wings. The Fiat Tagliero was partially hit by British bombing during World War 2, but survived without important damage.
QOHAITO ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE
Qohaito was a major ancient city of Eritrea. It was a pre-Aksumite settlement that thrived during the Aksumite period. The city was located over 2,500 meters above sea level, on a high plateau at the border of the Great Rift Valley. Rock art near Qohaito shows signs of habitation in the area since the fifth millennium BC. Near the site is located the highest mountain of Eritrea, Mount Emba Soira.
DANKALIA
Dankalia is a narrow strip of land about 50 km (31 mi) wide that stretches south of Massawa, down to Djibouti, around 600 km (372 mi) along the coastline. It looks like a long peninsula protruding from the south of the country. One of the hottest place on the earth, it’s a volcanic desert with a magnificent landscape.
MEDEBAR MARKET
Medebar market is a market were craftsmen are recycling old metal, rubber, old tires and plastic to transform them in to new utilities that people need such as Metal buckets, coffee pots, shoes, etc… There is also a section specifically for spices preparation.
CATTEDRALE DI ASMARA
Cattedrale di Asmar, also known as the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary is a Roman Catholic church built in early 1920s in Asmara. Often called “the cathedral”, it is a large Lombard Romanesque style church in the centre of the city, built to serve as the principal church of the Apostolic Vicariate of Eritrea but it became later a catholic church.
DAHLAK ARCHIPELAGO
The Dahlak Archipelago is a group of islands located in the Red Sea, belonging to Eritrea. It consists of two large and 124 small islands. Dahlak Archipelago is famous for its pearl fisheries since Roman times. It is also home to a wide range of marine life and sea-birds which attract many tourists. The beaches are also beautiful.
FILFIL
Filfil is a town in Eritrea, lying north of Asmara. The town economy is based on plantations. It is also know for its rainforest and its diversity of fauna. Access to the town is very easy because of the highway connecting the cities of Asmara and Massawa through Ghatelai.