africa • ERI
Eritrea
Location marker · geographic overview
15° N / 39° ETHE WORLD, ONE COUNTRY AT A TIME
- Capital
- Asmara
- Population
- 3,535,603 2024
- Area
- 117,600 km² (year unavailable)
- Languages source-listed
- Arabic, English, Tigrinya
- Currency
- Eritrean nakfa (ERN)
- Geography
- Coastal country
Population: World Bank 2024. Other facts: REST Countries snapshot. Sources & limitations.
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Discover Eritrea
FROM THE TRAVEL GUIDE · Eritrea
Eritrea is a country in East Africa. Formerly an Italian colony, the country shares a common language and culture with its large neighbour, Ethiopia, which it was once a part of until Eritrea gained its independence in 1993. It used to be Africa's youngest country until 2011, which was when South Sudan gained its independence.
Landscape & landmarks
Church of Our Lady of the Rosary. With a bell tower that reaches high into the sky, this building, which was the principal church of the Italian colonials, is a sterling piece of Lombard-Romanesque architecture and a useful bearing point for lost travellers. […] Enda Mariam Orthodox Cathedral.Read the see section ↗
Food & everyday culture
Eritrean cuisine in the highlands (around Asmara) consists largely of spicy dishes and is very similar to Ethiopian food. The staple is a flat, spongy crepe or bread called injera, made from a batter of fermented grains. Spicy stews with meat and vegetables are served on top of it and eaten with the hands. This cuisine is generally found in many restaurants in the country.Read the eat section ↗
Excerpts from Wikivoyage contributors, revision 2026-08-30. CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected excerpts; wiki formatting removed; omissions marked […]. Guide wording and any figures belong to this dated source; they do not replace the atlas statistics above. Food descriptions are not official national-dish designations.
A little more to discover +
- National flower
- Not yet verified
- Official national dish
- Not yet verified
- Representative food
- Not yet verified
- Subregion
- Eastern Africa
- Calling code
- +291
- Internet domain
- .er
- Land border codes
- DJI, ETH, SDN
Quick facts
- Traffic keeps to the right side of the road. Source ↗
- The country-code web domain is .er. Source ↗
- The source lists monday as the start of the week. Source ↗
Population: World Bank 2024. Other facts: REST Countries snapshot. Source-matched September 26, 2026; not live data. Sources & limitations.