Country Flag of Eritrea Map of Eritrea, Courtesy of WorldAtlas.com

Local time in Asmara:


Facts and Figures

arrow Official Name State of Eritrea

arrow Capital City Asmara

arrow Languages Afar, Amharic, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages.

arrow Official Currency nakfa (ERN).

arrow Ethnic Groups ethnic Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%, other 3%.

arrow Religions Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant

arrow Population 4,299,000

arrow Land Area 93,680 sq km (36,170 sq miles)

History

On 1 January 1890, Italy set the boundaries of Eritrea and ruled it as a colony until 1941, when the British defeated the Italians in Africa and took over the administration. After the Italian defeat in World War II, Britain administered Eritrea. Following a decision by the United Nations, Eritrea was federated to Ethiopia in 1952, with a certain amount of autonomy.

However, during the federation with Ethiopia, Emperor Haile Selassie's government systematically violated the rights granted by the UN. The oppression culminated with the dissolution of the Eritrean parliament and the annexation of Eritrea as Ethiopia's fourteenth province in 1962.

In 1961, an armed struggle for independence began. The thirty years of fighting ended in May 1991, when the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) liberated Asmara and established the Provisional Government of Eritrea (PGE). In an internationally supervised referendum in April 1993, 99.8 per cent of the Eritreans voted for independence, which was officially declared on 24 May 1993.

UNAIDS Epidemiological
Fact Sheets

[English] [French]

Global Surveillance of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is a joint effort of WHO and UNAIDS. The UNAIDS/WHO Working Group on Global HIV/AIDS and STI Surveillance, initiated in November 1996, guides respective activities. The primary objective of the working group is to strengthen national, regional and global structures and networks for improved monitoring and surveillance of HIV/AIDS and STIs. For this purpose, the working group collaborates closely with national AIDS programmes and a number of national and international experts and institutions. The goal of this collaboration is to compile the best information available and to improve the quality of data needed for informed decision-making and planning at national, regional and global levels. The Epidemiological Fact Sheets are one of the products of this close and fruitful collaboration across the globe.

Web sites

U.S. Government Agencies

World Fact Book
The Factbook was created as an annual summary and update to the encyclopedic NIS studies. The first classified Factbook was published in August 1962, and the first unclassified version was published in June 1971. The 1975 Factbook was the first to be made available to the public with sales through the US Government Printing Office (GPO).

Travel Advisories
U.S. citizens living in or planning to visit Tanzania should be aware of threats to their safety from insurgent groups, particularly in the northern region near the border with Sudan, and the western region near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These groups have at times specifically targeted U.S. citizens. They have engaged in murder, armed attacks, kidnapping, and the placement of land mines. Although isolated, incidents occur with little or no warning. Armed banditry is common in Karamoja (northeastern Tanzania).

Eritrea

Asmarino.com


Shaebia: People's Front for Democracy and Justice


ERITREA: Focus on rapid expansion of HIV/AIDS
Eritrea faces a rapid expansion of the HIV/AIDS pandemic within the next few years, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) warned on Tuesday. Dominique Mathiot, the UNAIDS Country Programme Adviser, believes the number of people infected by HIV could increase significantly.

HIV/AIDS Situation Analysis of Eritrea
Semrett is a word in Tigrigna (Eritrean national language) for harmony and working together. This site invites all Eritreans in general and the Eritrean youth in particular to work together harmoniously in the fight against HIV.

Eritrea tackles AIDS
It's mid-morning at the HIV voluntary counselling and testing centre (VCT) in Asmara. About 20 men and women are waiting to be seen by a counsellor. The centre, which opened last month, is Eritrea's first "free-standing" HIV testing facility. Offering rapid, on-the-spot HIV tests, as well as pre- and post-test counselling, it represents part of a nationwide campaign by the government to improve AIDS awareness as well as care and treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHAs).



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Eritrea

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