Often referred to as Africa’s North Korea Eritrea is much much more than its repressive regime and human rights record. By the late 1930s it was the continent’s most modern city, boasting more traffic lights than Rome, as well as a multistorey car park. Asmara has a complete and reasonably functional drainage system. Unlike almost any other city in the developing world, it has very few slums.

The country is bounded to the southeast by Djibouti, to the south by Ethiopia, and to the west by Sudan.

On the political front there isn’t much to talk about since Eritrea has been a one-party state ruled by President Isaias Afwerki since it officially gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993. State-owned EriTel is the sole provider of telecom services and the service it provides is bad. State-owned Eri-Tv is the only television station based in the country.

Nakfa, is the Eritrean currency (1 USD = 15.0000ERN).

Culturally though, Eritrea has plenty to offer and there’s much to see and do in Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea. Eritrea’s population consists of several ethnic groups, each with its own language and cultural tradition. In addition to the languages spoken by the various ethnic groups, Arabic and English are widely understood. Italian is occasionally used as well.

The bulk of the people in the Eritrean highlands are Tigray. About one-half of Eritrea’s population is Christian, with members of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church accounting for some two-fifths. The rest of the Christian population is primarily Roman Catholic with a small number of Protestants, stemming from the time of Italian colonial rule (1889–1941), when Roman Catholic and Protestant European missionaries introduced their own versions of Christianity into Eritrea.

Sights N Sounds in Eritrea

Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea promises you a captivating scenery. The UN cultural agency, Unesco, has listed Asmara as a world Heritage site, describing it as an “exceptional example of early modernist urbanism at the beginning of the 20th Century and its application in an African context”.

The city is well planned with hardly any slums and converges on the palm-lined main street on which are located the Roman Catholic cathedral (1922) and the Grand Mosque (1937). Other notable structures include the former palace (now a government residence), the legislative assembly and the municipal buildings, and St. Mara’s (the main Ethiopian Orthodox church). Also the seat of Asmara University (founded 1958, university status 1968), the city has a public library and numerous secondary schools.

The city is also a busy agricultural marketplace and a major hide-tanning centre. Approximately, half of the city’s population is Christian and half is Muslim.

There are plans to modernise it but religiously adhering to the original master plan.

Keren, also spelled Cheren, and historically known as Sanhit,[2] is the second-largest city in Eritrea. It is situated around 91 kilometres (57 mi) northwest of Asmara at an elevation of 1,390 metres (4,560 ft) above sea-level. Keren grew around the Eritrean Railway to Asmara. The railway was later dismantled because of the war, although there are plans to rebuild it. It is an important commercial centre and was the scene of regular battles in both World War II and the Eritrean War of Independence. The city sprawls on a wide basin surrounded by granitic mountains on all sides. It serves as the capital of the Anseba region, and is home to the Bilen, Tigre, and Tigrinya ethnic groups.

Massawa is another beautiful city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea located at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago worth a visit.

Massawa was the capital of the Italian Colony of Eritrea until it was moved to Asmara in 1897. Today its an historical city having been settled by a succession of polities, including the Axumite Empire, Medri Bahri Kingdom, the Umayyad Caliphate, various Beja sultanates, the Ottoman Empire, the Khedivate of Egypt, Italy, Britain, and Ethiopia, until Eritrea’s independence in 1991.

How to get to Eritrea

Asmara International Airport, is the country’s largest airport and, as of 2017, the only one receiving regularly scheduled services.

Asmara or Asmera sits at an elevation of 2,325 metres (7,628 ft), making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude.

Asmara Palace Hotel, a 4 star hotel located in Asmara, 3.8 miles from Independence Stadium Asmara, has accommodations with a restaurant, free private parking, a fitness among other facilities and services.