ABOUT OUR COUNTRY!

---

WEATHER | Climate| Geography|

Location & Geography of Eritrea

Eritrea is located in North East Africa (between 12° and 18° north, and 36° and
44° east) and includes the Dahlak Archipelago and other islands along the Red Sea
coast. It is bordered by Sudan to the north and west, Ethiopia to the south,
Djibouti to the south-east and the Red Sea to the north and north-east.

Sea floor spreading occurs in the Red Sea, creating new land, and in the Afar
triangle, only one of the two places on earth were it occurs on dry land (the other
being Iceland). Many of the mountains in Eritrea are remnants of when Africa was
joined to the Arabian peninsula, millions of years ago.

Eritrea was known at times as Mareb Mellash ("This side of the Mareb River") or
Bahrmeder ("Sealand"). The name "Eritrea" is of foreign origin and has been
attributed to a derivative of the ancient Greek cartographic designation, Mare
Eritrthraean ("Red Sea"), fragment 67 of Aeschylus:

There the sacred waters of the Erythrean Sea break upon a bright red strand, ......

It was not until the arrival of the Italians in the 19th century however that the
country was officially called Eritrea."

Topographically, the country consists of three regions:

a narrow lowland strip along the Red Sea coast that accounts for around
33% of the land area,
the northern extension of the Ethiopian Plateau in the north-central region
which is dissected by the valleys of westward flowing rivers and
the western plains near the Sudanese border.

Eritrea is three hours ahead of GMT. There is a two hour time difference between
continental Europe and Eritrea, except when Europe is on Summer time. Then the
difference is only one hour (ahead).
There is an eight hour time difference (ahead) between USA Eastern Standard
Time and Eritrea, which is reduced to seven during Daylight Savings Time.

Land bounderies
1,630 km
Djibouti
113 km
Ethiopia
912 km
Sudan
605 km
Coastline
1,151 km
Land + island coastline
2,234 km


Provinces and their capitals



Province
Capital
Est. pop. (city)
Akule Guzai
Adi Qayeh (Adekeieh)
15,000
Asmara
Asmara
435,000
Barka
Agordat
25,000
Denkalia
Assab
28,000
Gash Setit
Barentu
15,000
Hamasien
Asmara
435,000
Sahel
Nacfa
N.A.
Semhar
Massawa
25,000
Senhit
Keren
60,000
Seraye
Adi Ugri (Mendefera)
25,000

History!

A chronology of key events: 300-600 - Eritrea part of the Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum. 600 - Arabs introduce Islam to coastal areas. 1500s - Ottoman Empire annexes Eritrea. 1890 - Eritrea becomes an Italian colony. 1941 - British forces occupy Eritrea. 1949 - Britain administers Eritrea as a United Nations trust territory. 1952 - UN decides to make Eritrea a federal component of Ethiopia. 1958 - Eritrean Liberation Front formed. Independence struggle 1962 - Ethiopia annexes Eritrea, turning it into a province; war of independence begins. 1970 - Leftist faction of the Eritrean Liberation Front splits to form the Eritrean People's Liberation Front. 1974 - Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie overthrown in a coup led by Mengistu Haile Mariam. 1977-78 - Soviet advisers and Cuban troops help Ethiopian forces reverse significant advances made by Eritrean guerrillas. 1990 - Eritrean People's Liberation Front captures the Eritrean port of Massawa. 1991 - Eritrean People's Liberation Front captures the Eritrean capital, Asmara and forms a provisional government; the United Nations sets a date for a referendum on Eritrean independence with Ethiopian backing. 1993 - Eritreans almost unanimously vote for independence; Eritrea becomes independent and joins the United Nations. Post-independence war 1995 - Eritrean troops invade the Yemeni-held Hanish islands at the mouth of the Red Sea. 1998 - International arbitration panel awards the Greater Hanish island to Yemen and divides other smaller islands between the two countries; border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia escalates into large-scale fighting. 1999 - Eritrean-Ethiopian border clashes turn into a full-scale war. 2000 May - Ethiopia captures the strategic Eritrean town of Barentu. 2000 June - Eritrea and Ethiopia sign a ceasefire agreement which calls for a United Nations force to monitor their compliance and to supervise the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Eritrean territory. 2000 December - Eritrea and Ethiopia sign a peace agreement in Algeria establishing commissions to mark the border, exchange prisoners, return displaced people and hear compensation claims. 2001 6 February - Eritrea accepts United Nations plans for a temporary demilitarised zone along its border with neighbouring Ethiopia. 2001 24 February - Ethiopia says it has completed its troop withdrawal from Eritrea in accordance with a United Nations-sponsored agreement to end the border war. 2001 April - Eritrea announces that its forces have pulled out of the border zone with Ethiopia - a key provision of the peace agreement signed between the two countries. 2001 21 May - Eritrea and Ethiopia agree on a UN-proposed mediator to try to demarcate their disputed border.

About the Family Roots

The Smith side of the family hails from Munich, Germany, and came across the ocean to Massachussetts in the mid-1800s. The Jones side comes from Wales and more recently immigrated in 1910.

E-mail

Want to send us a brief note? Email us at
community@eritrea-georgia.8m.net

Web Site

ERITREA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA, INC