Eritrea

The main languages spoken in Eritrea are:
Tigrinya - the most widely spoken official language, spoken by ~50% of the population.
Arabic and English - also official languages.
Tigre (~30%), Saho, Kunama, Afar, Bilen, Nara, and Beja are also spoken, representing Eritrea's nine recognized ethnic groups.
Tigrinya, Arabic, and English are the three official languages of Eritrea, alongside several recognized national languages.

Geography

Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan

Map references: Africa

Area:
total: 117,600-120,000 sq km

Land boundaries:
border countries: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan

Natural hazards: frequent droughts; rare earthquakes and volcanoes; locust swarms; Nabro volcano (2,218 m) erupted in 2011

Geography - note: strategic geopolitical position along some of the world's busiest shipping lanes

People

Population: estimates range widely, from 3.6 to 6.7 million; Eritrea has never conducted an official government census (2024-2025 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 38.23%
65 years and over: 4% (2022 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 66.85 years
male: 64.25 years
female: 69.53 years

Infant mortality rate: 41.5 deaths/1,000 live births

Nationality:
noun/adjective: Eritrean(s)

Ethnic groups: Tigrinya 50%, Tigre 30%, Saho 4%, Afar 4%, Kunama 4%, Bilen 3%, Hedareb/Beja 2%, Nara 2%, Rashaida 1% (2021 est.; nine recognized ethnic groups)

Religions: Islam ~53% (mostly Sunni), Christianity ~46% (Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran)

Languages: Tigrinya (official), Arabic (official), English (official), Tigre, Kunama, Afar, other Cushitic languages

Literacy: total population approximately 74% (2015 est.); literacy rate has doubled over the past two decades through successful adult education programs

Population distribution: density highest in the center of the country, around the capital, Asmara, and Keren; smaller settlements exist in the north and south

Government

Country name:
conventional short form: Eritrea

Data code: ER

Government type: unitary one-party presidential republic under a totalitarian dictatorship

National capital: Asmara

Executive branch:
chief of state and head of government: President Isaias Afwerki (Eritrea's only president since independence)

Background: won independence from Italian colonial control in 1941; the UN established it as an autonomous region within the Ethiopian federation in 1952; Ethiopia's full annexation as a province in 1962 sparked a violent 30-year war for independence, ending in 1991 with Eritrean fighters defeating government forces; independence was overwhelmingly approved in a 1993 referendum; Isaias Afwerki's rule, particularly since 2001, has been marked by highly autocratic and repressive governance, including indefinite mandatory national conscription

Economy

Economy - overview: largely agrarian, command economy with a significant mining sector, controlled by the sole political party (People's Front for Democracy and Justice); a persistently poor country; nearly 80% of the population engages in subsistence agriculture; a substantial fiscal surplus exists due to tight government control, alongside high vulnerable debts and significant data integrity challenges

GDP (purchasing power parity): $2.534 billion (2024 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: variable, historically around 1.9-5% (2016-2017 range cited)

Currency: Eritrean nakfa (ERN)

Military

Military branches: Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF): Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force; People's Militia (2024)

Military service age and obligation: mandatory for all citizens ages 18-40; 18-month conscript obligation officially, though often extended indefinitely in practice (2024)

Transnational Issues

Trafficking in persons - tier rating: Tier 3 (2025)