“If you hear a mad man talking, wait for a minute and you will soon hear what makes people think he is mad” - Eritrean Proverb
(Eritrea Flag (1995-Present))
Eritrea is located in east Africa.
(Map of where Eritrea is located)
Its capital is Asmara. Asmara is also its largest city. Eritrea doesn’t have an official language. The country is 45,405 square miles. Eritrea is 99% African and 1% European. 50% of Eritrea practices Christianity, 48% practices Islam and 2% practices traditional African religions. The total population is 6,380,803. The climate is tropical, temperate and subtropical. Eritrea is a single party presidential system.
(Asmara, capital of Eritrea)
Eritrean cuisine consists of seafood, beef, kid, and lamb.
(Eritrean cuisine)
The major style of music in Eritrea is called Guayla.
(Eritrean woman playing Guayla music)
Eritrea’s most popular sports are soccer and cycling.
(Eritrean cyclists)
People 1st inhabited Eritrea over 1 million years ago.
(Ancient Eritrean wall carvings)
In 1869 the ruling Sultan of Raheita sold lands surrounding the Bay of Assab to the Rubattino Shipping Company. The area served as a coaling station along the shipping lanes introduced by the recently completed Suez Canal. In 1880 the Italians came to Eritrea.
(An Italian soldier in Eritrea)
In 1888 the Eritrean Railway was completed to Saati. In 1889 Italy took Eritrea as a colony and named it “Italian Eritrea”.
(Italian Eritrea flag (1889-1936))
Thousands of Eritreans were concurrently enlisted in the army, serving during the Italo-Turkish War in Libya as well as the First and second Italo-Abyssinian Wars. The Italian Eritrea administration opened a number of new factories, which produced buttons, cooking oil, pasta, construction materials, packing meat, tobacco, hide and other household commodities. In 1922 Benito Mussolini's rise to power in Italy brought profound changes to the colonial government in Italian Eritrea. In 1936 Italian Eritrea was combined with Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia to make “Italian East Africa”.
(Italian East Africa flag (1936-1941))
In 1941 the British kicked out the Italians in Eritrea and took over the country. In the 1950’s the Ethiopian feudal administration under Emperor Haile Selassie sought to annex Eritrea. In 1950 Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia under the prompting of the United States.
(Eritrea flag (1952-1962))
The resolution called for Eritrea and Ethiopia to be linked through a loose federal structure under the sovereignty of the Emperor. Eritrea was to have its own administrative and judicial structure, its own flag, and control over its domestic affairs, including police, local administration, and taxation. In 1958 a group of Eritreans founded the Eritrean Liberation Movement. The organization mainly consisted of Eritrean students, professionals and intellectuals, under the leadership of Hamid Idris Awate.
(Hamad Idris Awate)
In 1962 the Eritrean Liberation Movement had been destroyed by the Ethiopian government. Also in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie unilaterally dissolved the Eritrean parliament and annexed the country. The Eritrean Liberation Front waged an armed struggle for independence.
(Eritrean Liberation Front members)
This war lasted for 30 years.
(Eritrean soldiers)
In 1991 the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, a successor of the ELF, defeated the Ethiopian forces in Eritrea and helped a coalition of Ethiopian rebel forces take control of the Ethiopian Capital Addis Ababa.
(Eritrean soldiers in 1991)
On May 24th, 1993 Eritrea gained its independence.
Isaias Afwerki became president.
(Isaias Afwerki)
In 1995 Compulsory military service was instituted. In 1998 hostilities broke out between Eritrea and Ethiopia.
(Eritrean soldier in 1998)
The hostilities ended in 2000. No presidential elections have been held since 1993 but the most recent local elections were held in 2011. Also in 2011 Ethiopia accused Eritrea of planting bombs at an African Union summit in Addis Ababa.
(Eritrean delegation during the summit)
Today marks the 24th anniversary of Eritrea’s independence and we would all like to say happy independence day Eritrea.
Videos of Eritrea Independence
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIdwylh_fPA “Eritrean Pre Independence Celebration Bahti Meskerem 1992 p 1”
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCu2tlR_ks4 “Eritrean Pre Independence Celebration Bahti Meskerem 1992 p2”
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