Eritrea
Asmara · East Africa
Eritrea is a country in Africa. Its capital city is Asmara, the official currency is the Nakfa, and the main language is Tigrinya.
With a population of roughly 3.7 million people spread over 117,600 km², Eritrea is the 129th most populous country in the world and the 99th largest by area. That works out at about 31 people per square kilometre.
Eritrea shares land borders with Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti — 3 neighbours in all. Its largest urban centres are Asmara, Keren and Massawa. The highest point in the country is Emba Soira, at 3,018 metres.
For scale, it covers almost exactly the same area as Malawi, while its population is closest to that of Georgia.
- Capital
- Asmara
- Region
- East Africa
- Population
- 3,700,000
- Area
- 117,600 km²
- Currency
- Nakfa
- Main language
- Tigrinya
- Highest point
- Emba Soira
3,018 m - Land borders
- 3
Eritrea: things worth knowing
- Asmara's early-20th-century modernist architecture earned the city World Heritage status.
- Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a thirty-year war.
- Its independence left Ethiopia landlocked, redrawing the region's trade routes.
Eritrea in context
Africa has 54 sovereign countries in total. Eritrea ranks 40th among them by population.
See the full list of Africa countries, or browse all 195 countries.