Eritrea

Map

 

Leader

 

Isaias Afewerki was elected president of independent Eritrea by the national assembly in 1993. He had been the de facto leader before independence.

Travel

Visa & travel advice

Eritrean tourist visa is granted for a short time of leisure travel and no business activities permitted.

• Fully completed visa application form for Eritrea and required declaration
• Passport size photographs
• Valid national passport and one copy
• Original of valid visa if you are national of another country and one copy
• Your current bank statement and one copy
• Confirmation letter from your travel health insurance stating the coverage and one copy
• Reference letter from your employer or education establishment
• Proof of group travel/ hotel reservation in Eritrea / airline ticket reservation for Eritrea and one copy

Visa fees for Eritrean visa

• Best period:

The hottest month of the year is May, although regional temperatures vary widely. The capital city of Asmara, located on the highest landmass of the African continent, has an average temperature of 86 degrees Fahrenheit, while the port city of Massawa, on the Red Sea, can reach as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celcius.) The Denakil Depression, on the coast, is the country’s lowest point, at 426.5 feet (130 meters) below sea level, and is considered one of the hottest places on Earth. Try to avoid the two rainy seasons: the first is marked with scattered storms from March through April. The second, wetter rainy season begins in June and extends to September.

• Safety:

All foreign visitors are strongly advised not to travel near the Ethiopian border, owing to previous conflicts. Since 2008, Eritreans have increased a military presence on the border to Djibouti, so you may want to avoid the port of Assab. During the 30-year war with Ethiopia, land mines were ever present, and it is not guaranteed that all land mines near the borders have been removed. If you are near those border areas, you should not walk alone or hike in riverbeds.

History

Eritrea was part of the first Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum until its decline in the 8th century. It came under the control of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, and later of the Egyptians. The Italians captured the coastal areas in 1885, and the Treaty of Uccialli (May 2, 1889) gave Italy sovereignty over part of Eritrea. The Italians named their colony after the Roman name for the Red Sea, Mare Erythraeum, and ruled there until World War II. The British captured Eritrea in 1941 and later administered it as a UN Trust Territory until it became federated with Ethiopia on Sept. 15, 1952. Eritrea was made an Ethiopian province on Nov. 14, 1962. A civil war broke out against the Ethiopian government, led by rebel groups who opposed the union and wanted independence for Eritrea. Fighting continued over the next 32 years.

In 1991, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front deposed the country's hard-line Communist dictator Mengistu. Without Mengistu's troops to battle, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front was able to gain control of Asmara, the Eritrean capital, and form a provisional government. In 1993, a referendum on Eritrean independence was held, supported by the UN and the new Ethiopian government. Eritrean voters almost unanimously opted for an independent republic. Ethiopia recognized Eritrea's sovereignty on May 3, 1993, and sought a new era of cooperation between the two countries.

The cooperation did not last long. Following Eritrea's independence, Eritrea and Ethiopia disagreed about the exact demarcation of their borders, and in May 1998 border clashes broke out. Both impoverished countries spent millions of dollars on warplanes and weapons, about 80,000 people were killed, and refugees were legion. The war essentially ended in a stalemate, and a formal peace agreement was signed in Dec. 2000. In Dec. 2005, an international Court of Arbitration ruled that Eritrea had violated international law when it attacked Ethiopia in 1998.

Arts & Culture

• Music:

Perhaps the most famous Eritrean musicians in history are Engineer Asgedom Woldemichael, Bereket Mengisteab, Yemane Baria, Osman Abderrehim, Alamin Abdeletif and Atowe Birhan Segid, some of whose music was banned by the Ethiopian government in the 1970s. Also of note is Bereket Mengistab, who has had a lengthy career, and 60s legends Haile Ghebru and Tewolde Redda. The latter was one of the first electric guitar players in the Horn region, a singer, and reportedly a writer of the famous Eritrean independence song "Shigey habuni", with an allegedly coded political love theme.

Eritrean music is distinguished by its unique rhythm. Modern popular stars include Bereket Mengistab, Teklé Tesfa-Ezighe Tekele Kifle Mariam (Wedi Tukul), Tesfai Mehari (Fihira), Osman Abderrehim, Abrar Osman, Abraham Afwerki, Yemane Ghebremichael, Idris Mohamed Ali, Alamin Abdeletif, Tsehaytu Beraki, Atewebrhan Segid and Berekhet Mengisteab.

Traditional instruments include the stringed kraar, kebero, lyre, kobar and the wata (a distant/rudimentary cousin of the violin).

• Literature:

Eritrean literature in the Tigrinya language dates, as far as is known, from the late 19th century. It was initially encouraged by European missionaries, but suffered from the general repression of Eritrean culture under Fascist rule in the 1920s and 30s. The earliest published works were primarily translations or collections of traditional poems, fables and folktales, but the renaissance of Eritrean culture promoted by the British administrators after 1942 included the appearance of the first novels in Tigrinya.

• Film industry:

Eritrea has been in war struggles all through it's existence. Up until the present day border conflicts with mainly Ethiopia have marked the political and social structure for many decades. In Asmara several cinema's were established during the interbellum, mainly showing Italian, American and Indian features. Despite these almost ancient buildings, suggesting a long cinematic involvement, hardly any cinematographic information is available about this period. Only in recent years Eritrean filmmakers have reached beyond the language borders of their homeland. The first full feature 35 mm film still has yet to be produced in this poor country. Video production, however, has inreased in recent years. Sponsored by Western Eritrean communities, the "Eritrean Video Services" production company produced "Minister" in 2002 directed by Temesghen Zehaie Abraha. This feature is one of the very first local films screened overseas and actually having a website. Another international event in 2002 was the granting of a 70.000 dollar award to local filmmaker Filmon Mebrahtu to produce "The Survivors", a one-hour documentary shwoing the lives of refugees in Western society.

In Eritrea the state funded Audiovisual Institute of Eritrea (AVIE) has produced countless video's subjecting governmental, educational and also independent issues. Madhu Eravankara directed the internationally acclaimed documentary films like 'Asmara', 'The City of Dreams' and 'The Victims of Silence'. Other productions meeting the internatnional spotlights are Adde, at the Eritrea Festival 1999; Ts'n'at, at the 5th Film Festival 2000 (for best picture and directing); and M'qur Merzi, at the Eritrea Festival 2000. The AVIE is currently working to establish a filmstudio to produce 35 mm films. Local cinema is promoted at the annual cultural Eritrea festival, held concurrently in several countries all over the world featuring the latest in video production. Eritrean cinema shows a promising increase in production in recent years and is slowly emerging internationally. The local filmmakers with their modest film industrial means might, in the near future, surprise us all.

• Famous places:

The Massawa Islands include the two islands of Taulud and Massawa as well as another main island, which houses several residential buildings. These islands are popular tourists attractions in Eritrea, the uniquely designed buildings being the focus of all attractions. The buildings either belong to the Ottoman style architecture or the coral block buildings. Significantly, coral used to be a major material for building houses.

 

The national parks of Eritrea are some of the best places for indulging in the natural beauty of Africa. The Dahlak Marine National Park and the Semenawi Bahri National Park are the two declared national parks and this apart there three reserved forest areas in Eritrea. These are Yob, Gash-Setit and the Nafka. The flora and fauna in the reserve forests of Eritrea are worth the journey but certain formalities need to be observed.

 

• Architecture history:

The architecture of Eritrean towns reflects the nation's colonial past and the shifting influence of foreign powers. The Italian population in the country called Asmara "Little Rome." The city boasts wide avenues, cafés and pastries, and a host of Italian restaurants. The port of Massawa, on the other hand, is influenced by the Ottoman period, the Egyptian presence, and the long tradition of trade with far-off countries and ports. In the countryside, traditional building customs are still upheld. In the highlands, small stone houses ( hidmo ) with roofs made of branches and rocks dominate. The house is separated into two areas, a kitchen section in the back and a public room in the front that is also used as sleeping quarters. The various lowland groups employ several housing styles, from tentlike structures ( agnet ) among the pastoral nomadic groups, to more permanent straw or stone/mud huts among the sedentary groups.