Eritrea is a small East African state located on the shores of the Red Sea. This is one of the poorest countries in the world, besides, both the economic and political situation in it is unstable. The country is closely watched by the UN peacekeeping forces.
For the first time, the land, now the territory of Eritrea, was colonized by the Italians in the late 19th century.
There is no official language in Eritrea. In the course, mostly Arabic, Tigrinya and English.
In the middle of the 20th century, Eritrea became a de facto part of Ethiopia, and as a result, after a decade a war of independence broke out.
The War of Independence of Eritrea lasted thirty years.
In 1995, Eritrea embarked on a war with Yemen, and in 1998 – again with Ethiopia. Both wars ended in defeat for Eritrea.
Most of the territory of Eritrea is under constant threat of volcanic eruptions.
The national currency of Eritrea is called nakfa. Eritrean coins are minted not from alloys, as usual, but from stainless steel.
On the reverse side of the Eritrean denomination of 10 nakfa is depicted a slightly remodeled Soviet locomotive “Ural”.
More than half of the Eritreans do not have access to clean drinking water.
Every year, the locust inflicts enormous damage to the agriculture of Eritrea.
In the capital of Eritrea, there is a monument to Alexander Pushkin.
Eritrea is a duo-confessional country, Muslims and Christians are about equally divided.
Virtually all food consumed in Eritrea is procured in other countries, since the local climate makes agriculture very difficult. A similar situation exists in neighboring Djibouti.
In 2000, 2011 and 2012, football players from the Eritrea national football team fled the country, finding themselves outside of it.
