AEGEAN RELIGIONS AEGEAN RELIGIONS . In the north of Eritrea the highlands narrow and then end in a system of hills, where erosion has cut down to the basement rock. [26] Freedom of the press in Eritrea is extremely limited; the Press Freedom Index consistently ranks it as one of the least free countries. W Population World Africa Eastern Africa Eritrea Eritrea Population (LIVE) retrieving data. Christianity in Eritrea - Wikipedia While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. These areas are further divided into 58 districts. The highest point of the country, Emba Soira, is located in the center of Eritrea, at 3,018 meters (9,902ft) above sea level. Eritrea is one of the least developed countries. The most significant of these projects was the construction of a coastal highway of more than 500km connecting Massawa with Asseb, as well as the rehabilitation of the Eritrean Railway. [194] Per-capita expenditure on health is low.[194]. For other uses, see. [191] The National Malaria Protection Unit of the Ministry of Health registered reductions in malarial mortality by as much as 85% and in the number of cases by 92% between 1998 and 2006. In the perennial competition between cultivators and pastoralists over land, water, control of trade, and access to ports, religion has played an ideological role, and it remains a potent political force. [191] A major cause of death in newborns is severe infection. The Bisha gold mine in western Eritrea began operation in 2011 as a joint venture between a private Canadian-based company and the Eritrean government. Tigrinya | Encyclopedia.com Isaias Afwerki, who has been in power since independence was granted to the country in 1993. [179], Most of the languages spoken in Eritrea belong to the Ethiopian Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic family. [237] Ghirmay Ghebreslassie became the first Eritrean to win a gold medal at a World Championships in Athletics for his country when he took the marathon at the 2015 World Championships. Off the coast in the Red Sea is the Dahlak Archipelago, a group of more than 100 small coral and reef-fringed islands. The Italian Eritrean cuisine started to be practiced during the colonial times of the Kingdom of Italy, when a large number of Italians moved to Eritrea. However, the number of adherents of each faith is subject to debate. Eritrea - United States Department of State The country is virtually bisected by a branch of the East African Rift. At the time, Aksum was ruled by Zoskales, who also governed the port of Adulis. The Catholic dioceses in Eritrea are the Eparches of Asmara, Barentu, Keren and Segeneiti. The National Assembly elected independent Eritreas first president, Isaias Afwerki, in 1993. (17 January 2003), Denison, Edward; Ren, Guang Yu and Gebremedhin, Naigzy (2003). The situation has been further escalated by the continued efforts of the Eritrean and Ethiopian leaders in supporting opposition in one another's countries. However, in 1962, the government of Ethiopia annulled the Eritrean parliament and formally annexed Eritrea. In a letter dated 2006-01-13 Patriarch Abune Antonios was informed that following several sessions of the church's Holy Synod, he had been formally deposed. However, the number of adherents of each faith is subject to debate. [156][157] Badly damaged during WWII and in later fighting, it was closed section by section, with the final closure coming in 1978. Pulses, sesame seeds, vegetables, cotton, tobacco, and sisal also are produced. As of 1999, there is a total of 317 kilometres of 950mm (.mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}3ft1+38in) (narrow gauge) rail line in Eritrea. Barriers to education in Eritrea include traditional taboos, school fees (for registration and materials), and the opportunity costs of low-income households.[198]. [108] In Gash-Barka, snakes such as saw-scaled viper are common. Traditional instruments of Eritrean folk music include the stringed krar, kebero, begena, masenqo and the wata (a distant/rudimentary cousin of the violin). There are no reliable figures on religious affiliation. Principal imports include food, machinery, road vehicles, and chemicals and chemical products. Steam locomotives are sometimes used for groups of enthusiasts. It has been reported that entire families are thrown into jail. However, the Eritrean airline, Eritrean Airlines, has not been allowed to fly international flights due to security breaches as well as sanctions which has led international visitors to rely on airlines such as Ethiopian Airlines and Turkish Airlines to get to the country. In 1995, two new eparchies, Barentu and Keren, were established in Eritrea, and the Latin Church apostolic vicariate was abolished. The Aegean world is composed of three distinctive regions, all located at the Eastern edge of the Mediterranean: the island of Crete, the mainland of Greece, and the islands between the mainland and the coast of Anatolia. The population of Eritrea is relatively young overall, with about two-fifths under the age of 15 and more than one-fourth between the ages of 15 and 29. Eritreas population growth rate is slightly lower that the world average. To the east the plateau drops abruptly into a coastal plain. In Muslim communities in the Eritrean lowland, the women traditionally dress in brightly colored clothes. Accordingly, in 1951, the Ethiopic Rite Apostolic Exarchate of Addis Ababa was established, and the ordinariate for Eritrea was elevated to the rank of exarchate. [60], The kingdom is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as an important market place for ivory, which was exported throughout the ancient world. Granite, gold, copper, zinc, potash, and basalt are also mined. The creation of modern-day Eritrea is a result of the incorporation of independent, distinct kingdoms (for example, Medri Bahri and the Sultanate of Aussa) eventually resulting in the formation of Italian Eritrea. Subsequently, a population drift from the countryside to the towns was largely offset by emigration of Eritreans abroad. Following the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993, the newly independent Eritrean government appealed to Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria for Eritrean Orthodox autocephaly. Amongst the Tigrinya, the best known traditional musical genre is the guaila. The rest of the Christian population is primarily Roman Catholic with a small number of Protestants, stemming from the time of Italian colonial rule (18891941), when Roman Catholic and Protestant European missionaries introduced their own versions of Christianity into Eritrea. Its relations with Djibouti and Yemen are tense due to territorial disputes over the Doumeira Islands and Hanish Islands, respectively. The 1,347km (837mi) coastline, along with another 1,946km (1,209mi) of coast around its more than 350 islands, will come under governmental protection. [122][123][124] The stalemate led the president of Eritrea to urge the UN to take action on Ethiopia with the Eleven Letters penned by the president to the United Nations Security Council. Officially, conscripts, male and female, must serve for 18 months minimum, which includes six months of military training and 12 months during the regular school year to complete their last year of high school. The Tigre, who constitute nearly one-third of Eritreas population, speak the other major Eritrean languageTigr. Status of Societal Respect for Religious Freedom Section IV. A common traditional clothing for Christian Tigrinya highlanders consists of bright white gowns called zurias for the women, and a white shirt accompanied by white pants for the men. [204] Eritrean dishes are also frequently "lighter" in texture than Ethiopian meals. Ethiopian Culture - Religion Cultural Atlas In 2009, International Christian Concern said that over 3,000 Christians were being held prisoner in Eritrea, and alleged a December 2009 mass arrest of 30 mostly elderly women who were praying together in a house. They live a Nilotic life with a diverse dancing lifestyle. The area of cultivation is limited by climate, soil erosion, and the uneven surface of the plateau. [208][209][210][211][212][213] Asmara, a small town in the nineteenth century, started to grow quickly during 1889. [169], Sources disagree as to the current population of Eritrea, with some proposing numbers as low as 3.6 million[170] and others as high as 6.7 million. The Kurds and Turkmen are predominantly Sunni Muslims, but Iran's Arabs are both Sunni and Shii. Eritrea denied the claims. Tourism in Eritrea made up 2% of Eritrea's economy up to 1997. All other faiths and denominations are required to undergo a registration process. [171] Eritrea has never conducted an official government census. 18 April Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year war, but has been plagued by repression at home and tense relations with its neighbours. World Report 2021: Eritrea | Human Rights Watch Contemporary Eritrea is a multi-ethnic country with nine recognised ethnic groups. Eritrea is part of a 14-nation constituency within the Global Environment Facility, which partners with international institutions, civil society organizations, and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. [1] The Ethiopic Catholic Metropolitan Church now consists of seven sees, three in Ethiopia and four in Eritrea. The Pew Foundation in 2016 estimated the population to be 63 percent Christian and 37 percent Muslim. As of 2022 Reporters Without Borders considers the country to have the overall worst press freedom in the world, with the sole exception of North Korea, as all media publications and access are heavily controlled by the government. Eritrea was chosen by the Italian government to be the industrial center of Italian East Africa. [174], In addition, there exist Italian Eritrean (concentrated in Asmara) and Ethiopian Tigrayan communities. Berhane was named African Sportsman of the Year in 2013, while Teklehaimanot became the first Eritrean to ride the Vuelta a Espaa in 2012. For youth 1524, the overall literacy rate is 93.3% (93.8% for men and 92.7% for women).[201]. Roads that are considered primary roads are those that are fully constructed of asphalt (throughout their entire length) and in general they carry traffic between all the major cities and towns in Eritrea. Many believe that Abune Antonios was wrongly deposed and still consider him Patriarch. Religious Demography Section II. Following the adoption of U.N. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. He laid claim to both territories in a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Paris Peace Conference and at the First Session of the United Nations. The elephants seemed to have formed a symbiotic relationship with olive baboons. [citation needed]. View history Tools Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Asmara Eritrea as a country and the Eritrean community are multi-religious; Eritrea has two dominant religions: Christianity and Islam, with most estimates placing the Christian share of the population at approximately 60%. In a study of 200 escaped conscripts, the average service was 6.5 years, and some had served more than 12 years.[115]. [25] The Eritrean government has dismissed these allegations as politically motivated. Overview of the prevalence of Christianity in Eritrea, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region, P'ent'ay (Ethiopian-Eritrean Evangelicalism), "Catholic Dioceses in Ethiopia (by Type)", "Eritrea says not aware of mass arrest of Christians", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christianity_in_Eritrea&oldid=1154124665, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2023, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, This page was last edited on 10 May 2023, at 12:05. A petroleum refinery in the Red Sea port of Asseb, built by the Soviet Union for Ethiopia, was closed in 1997. North of the Gulf of Zula, the plain is only 10 to 50 miles (15 to 80 km) wide, but to the south it widens to include the Danakil Plain.