Extractions: History of Eritrea Eritrea is one of the newest and most promising nations in Africa and containts remnants of some of its oldest civilizations. One of the earliest known references to Eritrea is from Aeschylus (Fragment 67) in which he refers to the "Mare Erythreum" (Red Sea) as "the lake that is the jewel of Ethiopia." Eritrea recently fought and won one of the longest wars in the world. After thirty years of bitter strugle, Eritrea achieve total independence and the right to self-determination. The Eritrean people acheived their goals in 1991 in a stunning defeat of the occupying Ethiopian forces which also helped liberate Ethiopia from the Soviet-backed Dergue (Menguistu Hailemariam) regime. Between 1000 and 400 BC, a semitic group of people known as the Sabeans crossed the Red Sea into the region known as present Eritrea, and intermingled with the Hamitic inhabitants who had migrated from the northern Sudan. The region was then controlled by various foreign invaders such as the Axumite kingdom, the Funji Sultans of Sudan, the Egyptians, the Portugese and the Turks. Each of these foreign occupiers had a distinct impact on the development of present day Eritrea as a nation and in the formation of an Eritrean identity.
Extractions: Eritrea Along with Djibouti, Somalia, Yemen and Kenya, Eritrea has laid claim to being the site of the fabled 'Land of Punt', a rich, commodity-laden Horn of Africa region which the Egyptian Pharaohs were known to rave about in the vicinity of 2900 BC. Also known as the 'Land of the Gods', it was an area that traded heavily in such sought-after items as gold, frankincense and - unfortunately for the local flora, fauna and people - ebony, ivory and slaves. The very first human settlement in what is now Eritrea, however, is thought to have plunked itself in the Barka Valley in 8000 BC. Its residents are believed to have been related to central African pygmies and, after several thousand years of hefty cultural intermingling, had established strong trade relations with neighbouring ethnic groups. The powerful kingdom of Aksum, sited in what is now the north of Ethiopia, began to make its presence felt in the first century AD, relying heavily on the ancient port of Adulis in Eritrea to handle its sea-going goods. Not content with merely being the facilitators of Aksum's foreign trade, the Eritreans marketed their own stuff overseas, including loads of the black volcanic rock obsidian (prized in the making of jewellery) and tortoiseshells fresh from the Red Sea. The unconventional arrival of Christianity in the land, via shipwrecked Christian Syrian merchants, saw it quickly becoming the religion of choice; it subsequently exerted a profound influence on the development of Eritrean culture.
Extractions: Encyclopedia Eritrea Eritrea formed part of the ancient Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum until the 7th cent. Thereafter Ethiopian emperors maintained an intermittent presence in the area until the mid-16th cent., when the Ottoman Empire gained control of much of the coastal region. Beginning in the mid-19th cent. Ethiopia struggled against Egypt and Italy for control of Eritrea. In the 1880s, Italy occupied the coastal areas around Aseb and Massawa, and by 1890 had extended its territory enough to proclaim the colony of Eritrea (named after the Roman term for the Red Sea, Mare erythraeum Ethiopia In World War II, Eritrea was captured (1941) by the British. Ethiopia had long demanded control of Eritrea on the ground of ethnic affinity, but Britain occupied Eritrea after the war and, beginning in 1949, administered it as a UN trust territory. In 1950 the United Nations decided that Eritrea was to be made independent as a federated part of Ethiopia, and in late 1952 this decision became effective. In late 1962 the Eritrean assembly voted to end the federal status and to unify Eritrea with Ethiopia. After 1962, Eritreans who opposed union carried on sporadic guerrilla warfare against Ethiopia and the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) was founded. In 1972 a rival insurgent group, the Eritrean Popular Liberation Forces (EPLF), was formed and battled the ELF for supremacy.
Extractions: About Eritrea Brief Info People Languages History ... Constitution History of Eritrea Early history 19th century expansion Italian influence Colonial rule ... 1997 The border conflict Early history Evidence of pre-humans has been discovered in the Buia region of Eritrea. The discovery may be one of the oldest ever found, and is similar to the famous "Lucy" find. Evidence of human presence begins in the 8th millennium B.C., beginning with Pygmoid, Nilotic, Kushitic (the Afar) and Semitic (Tiginya) peoples. In the sixth century B.C., Arabs spread to the coast of present day Eritrea, in search of ivory and slaves for trade with Persia and India. Their language evolved into Ge'ez, related to today's Amhara, still spoken by Chistian priests in Eritrea and Ethiopia. Ancient rock paintings During the 3rd and 4th century AD, Eritrea was part of the kingdom of Axum which spread from Meroe in Sudan right across the Red Sea to Yemen. The capital of Axum was in the highlands of Tigray (now a province in Ethiopia), and the main port was at Adulis which is now called Zula in Eritrea. This Kingdom was based upon trade across the Red Sea and was founded by Semetric people originally from Arabia. Christianity was the predominant faith of Axum introduced through contact with traders throughout the region.
Extractions: Encyclopedia Eritrea Eritrea formed part of the ancient Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum until the 7th cent. Thereafter Ethiopian emperors maintained an intermittent presence in the area until the mid-16th cent., when the Ottoman Empire gained control of much of the coastal region. Beginning in the mid-19th cent. Ethiopia struggled against Egypt and Italy for control of Eritrea. In the 1880s, Italy occupied the coastal areas around Aseb and Massawa, and by 1890 had extended its territory enough to proclaim the colony of Eritrea (named after the Roman term for the Red Sea, Mare erythraeum Ethiopia In World War II, Eritrea was captured (1941) by the British. Ethiopia had long demanded control of Eritrea on the ground of ethnic affinity, but Britain occupied Eritrea after the war and, beginning in 1949, administered it as a UN trust territory. In 1950 the United Nations decided that Eritrea was to be made independent as a federated part of Ethiopia, and in late 1952 this decision became effective. In late 1962 the Eritrean assembly voted to end the federal status and to unify Eritrea with Ethiopia. After 1962, Eritreans who opposed union carried on sporadic guerrilla warfare against Ethiopia and the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) was founded. In 1972 a rival insurgent group, the Eritrean Popular Liberation Forces (EPLF), was formed and battled the ELF for supremacy. After Emperor Haile Selassie 's overthrow in a military coup in 1974, the two insurgent groups united to fight against the Ethiopian government's forces. Fighting increased and by 1976 the Eritreans had virtually forced the government forces out of the province. However, the Ethiopian government, with massive amounts of aid and troops from the USSR and Cuba, was able to defeat the Eritreans in 1978. After their defeat the insurgents were forced to return to sporadic guerrilla warfare. During the 1980s the rebels continued their attacks on Ethiopian troops and eventually Eritreans controlled most of the countryside.
Extractions: Eritrea Sections [edit this] This is no World66 image. It was found using an Internet search. more.. [Change image] [Upload image] Eritrea officially celebrated its independence on May 24 1993 becoming the world's newest nation. Prior to Italian colonization in 1885 what is now Eritrea had been ruled by the various local or international powers that successively dominated the Red Sea region. In 1896 the Italians used Eritrea as a springboard for their disastrous attempt to conquer Ethiopia. Eritrea was placed under British military administration after the Italian surrender in World War II. In 1952 a UN resolution federating Eritrea with Ethiopia went into effect. The resolution ignored Eritrean pleas for independence but guaranteed Eritreans some democratic rights and a measure of autonomy. Almost immediately after the federation went into effect however these rights began to be abridged or violated. In 1962 Emperor Haile Sellassie unilaterally dissolved the Eritrean parliament and annexed the country sparking the Eritrean fight for independence that continued after Haile Sellassie was ousted in a coup in 1974. The new Ethiopian Government called the Derg was a Marxist military junta led by strongman Mengistu Haile Miriam.
Extractions: Eritrea was awarded to Ethiopia in 1952 as part of a federation. Ethiopia's annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a 30-year struggle for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean rebels defeating governmental forces; independence was overwhelmingly approved in a 1993 referendum. A border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 remains unresolved. Submit Free, Full Service Africa Vacation Planner Here Click here to save money, time and stress planning, making reservations, or booking your Africa vacation with our full service Virtuoso Travel Consultants We are recommended, authorized Virtuoso Africa Travel Consultants, and will arrange every little detail to make sure you have a wonderful, carefree vacation experience at no extra charge! You may call our Africa Travel Consultants, but first- we'd really appreciate it if you complete our " Africa Vacation Planner" so we have all your requirements beforehand and are prepared to present you with all your options and up-to-the-minute specials. Thank you very much!
History background report for Eritrea. part of the Countries of the World ReferenceCenter profile for Eritrea. Country List ». Backgrounds eritrea history.
Extractions: History: Historical perspective: On 29 May 1991, ISAIAS Afworki, secretary general of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), which then served as the country's legislative body, announced the formation of the Provisional Government in Eritrea (PGE) in preparation for the 23-25 April 1993 referendum on independence for the Autonomous Region of Eritrea; the referendum resulted in a landslide vote for independence, which was proclaimed on 27 April 1993.