Eritrea - History, Geography, Culture - Research Paper Example

 Obscure Country Project: Eritrea Figure 1:www.worldofmaps.net/en/africa/map-eritrea INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Eritrea is an obscure country from the African Continent. The official name of the state is of Eritrea (Hagere Ertra). The capital city of the country is named as Asmara A few other major cities of the country are Keren, Assab, Massawa, Afabet. Historically, Eritrea has existed as a separate political entity long before it established its stature as an autonomous country on the 24th of May 1993. It was in this year that the country gained independence from Ethiopia. The independence was the resultant of a referendum in which nearly 100 percent of Eritreans advocated separation from Ethiopia. Long before this in the year 1890 Eritrea fell under the colonial rule of Italy. Becoming a province of Italian East Africa in the year 1936. The Ethiopian forces joined hands with the Britishers to expel the Italians from the country and took over its charge in the year 1941. The British rule over the state under the UN Mandate continued for almost ten years. Eritrea was given solely under the federation of Ethiopia after this. Independence from this rule has given rise to the present day Eritrea. The territory of Eritrea has come under disputes even after its independence. A dispute over Hanish Islands and fishing rights in the Red Sea erupted with the country of Yemen in the year 1995. This conflict was resolved after the intrusion of UN. Both the countries complied with the organization’s verdict. In the year 1998 a territorial conflict erupted with Ethiopia. A ceasefire in the year 2000 was followed by an arbitration decision made by a boundary commission that represented both the countries. This decision has not been implemented upon as yet and thus the conflict has remained unresolved to date. Since the year 2005 3,300 troupes have been deployed at the mutual border of both the countries by the UN over a span of 25km on the Eritrean land. (History of the Nations). GEOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HABITAT The location of Eritrea is 15° N; 39° E. The neighboring nations of Eritrea are Djibouti, Ethiopia and Sudan. The coastline of t state is 1151 km long. The borders that connect the neighboring nations have the following lengths: With Ethiopia the border length is 912 km the border length with Djibouti is 113 km and finally that with Sudan is 605km. The sea limit that comes under the territory of Eritrea is 12 km long. The sea that this country borders is the Red Sea. The Total area of the country is 124,320 square kilometers. The time zone of the nations of 3 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. The topography of the country can be divided into the broad categories of an arid narrow lowland strip along the red sea, the north-central region (this region is an extension of the Ethiopian Plateau and is dissected by rivers valleys) and the plains on the west that border Sudan. The highest point in the Country’s physical region is at Emba Soira. The lowest point of the terrain is in Denakil Depression which is along the Red Sea. At some places, this depression is 130 km below sea level. (MongaBay 2006). The major rivers of the country include Setit River. This river comes into Eritrea after passing through Ethiopia and then passes onto Sudan later on. There are other rivers as well but they are usually dried and live only in the rainy season. Names of these rivers include Anseba, Barka and Mareb. Its inhabitants are racially, culturally and linguistically Tigrayan. The population of the country reaced 4.3 million in the year 2004. These statistics are in accordance with the studies of the UN. Nearly 120,000 Eritreans are living as refugees in the state of Sudan. About 20 percent of the country’s population lives in the urban areas while the rest of them reside in the rural areas. RESOURCES The natural resources of the nation include precious elements and minerals like copper, salt, gold, potash, zinc. (Eritrea Economic Statistics and Indicators 2011). Natural gas and oil are also few of the resources present. Moreover, fish and livestock are also Eritrea’s major resource. Deforestation is one of the major problems of Eritrea. Moreover, Desertification, Soil Erosion, Overgrazing and the damage that has occurred to the land as a result of land mines has left the land of the country in a very bad state. (MongaBay 2006). The industrial staure of the country was very firm when the nation was given to Ethiopia in the mid 1900s. Eritrea was neglected by the government of Ethiopia since then. After acclaiming its autonomous stature Eritrea has been at war most of the time. This has destroyed the once stable industrial stature of the country. The population of Eritrea, about 80% in number, practices agriculture as one of its major means of earning. This means is however, only 12.4 percent of the GDP. (Eritrea Economic Statistics and Indicators 2011). The large mineral deposits, which are a precious asset of the State of Eritrea, are yet unexplored due to a constant unrest created in the country. This unrest because of its status of unrest and war with Ethiopia CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF ERITREA The name of the official language of Eritrea is Arabic and Trigrinya. No official statistics exist however it has been observed that the country is inhabited by about 50 percent Sunni Muslims and about 40 % Orthodox Christians. Owing to the population trend both Muslim and Christian traditions prevail in the country. The two most import Muslim traditions of Eid al Fitr and Eid Al Adha are celebrated. Christmas is also celebrated with religious fervor and zeal. As a number of Italians were inhabited in the country before the Britishers took over the State the current traditional beverages of the country include traditional Italian beverages. The cloth wearing and dressing traditions of the country are quite varied. Most of the women prefer bright colored outfits. COMPARING LIVING IN ERITREA TO LIVING IN THE US Living in the US is extremely lavish as compared to living in Eritrea. The United States of America is a developed country. No land dispute of USA exists over its territory with any other of the country’s regime. Eritrea is a poor African nation while The US economy is its opposite. Constant wars over territorial conflicts with Ethiopia and earlier with Yemen have left with the menace of landmines embedded into the land of Eritrea. United States of America faces no such problems and its land is fully secure for its national and so harmful things such as the landmines exist there. More than half of the Eritrean population lives on less than on USD per day. Almost one third of the population gets lesser than 2000 calories per day due to poverty. Therefore living in Eritrea and US are poles apart where no man has any problem in eating to his heart’s desire everyday. REFERENCES: (2006).Eritrea. Retrieved From http://www.mongabay.com/reference/new_profiles/153.html (n.d.). Encyclopedia of the Nations: Eritrea-History. Retrieved from http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Eritrea-HISTORY.html Federal Research Division. (2005) Country Profile: Eritrea. Retrieved from http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Eritrea.pdf Economy Watch. (2011). Eritrea Economic Statistics and Indicators. Retrieved from http://www.economywatch.com/economic-statistics/country/Eritrea/ Read More