Eritrea
Eritrea is a eastern African country of roughly 3.4M people, covering 117,600 km² with its capital at Asmara. Its economy is worth about $2.6B in nominal terms, anchored by mining, agriculture, fisheries.
- Population
- 3.4M
- Projected population, 2026
Source: UN World Population Prospects - Capital
- Asmara
- GDP
- $2.6B
- Area
- 117,600 km²
- Currency
- Nakfa
Map
Overview
Eritrea is a eastern African country of roughly 3.4M people, covering 117,600 km² with its capital at Asmara. Its economy is worth about $2.6B in nominal terms, anchored by mining, agriculture, fisheries.
Government
Eritrea operates as a presidential republic. Independence: 1993. Executive, legislative and judicial functions are exercised from Asmara.
Economy
Nominal GDP is approximately $2.6B, or around $770 per capita. The currency in circulation is the Nakfa. Leading sectors are mining, agriculture, fisheries.
Population
Eritrea has a projected population, 2026 of 3,378,727 people (United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects 2024 Revision, Online Edition — medium variant), a density of roughly 29 people per km². Values from 2024 onwards are medium-variant projections rather than live counts.
Cities
The largest urban centres are Asmara, Keren, Massawa. Asmara serves as the seat of government.
History
Modern Eritrea took shape through pre-colonial states, the colonial partition of the late nineteenth century, and independence in 1993. Our History section covers each period in depth.
Languages
Widely used languages include Tigrinya, Arabic, English. Official-language policy shapes schooling, courts and broadcasting.
Culture
Music, cuisine, film, textiles and sport in Eritrea form part of a fast-growing creative economy with an expanding export footprint.
Education
Primary enrolment is near-universal in most of the region; the constraints sit at secondary completion, technical training and higher-education funding.
Healthcare
Health spending across Africa averages about 5.7% of GDP. Eritrea's system combines public facilities, private providers and donor-funded programmes.
Business
Company registration, tax administration and access to finance are the practical determinants of doing business in Eritrea. See our Business section for sector reporting.
Investment
Investors typically look at mining, infrastructure and consumer services. Regulatory clarity and FX access are the recurring diligence questions.
Tourism
Visitors come for landscape, heritage and city life. Entry requirements, seasonality and internal transport are covered in our Travel guides.
Transportation
Road remains dominant; rail, ports and aviation capacity vary sharply and are the focus of most current infrastructure investment.
Infrastructure
Electricity access, broadband coverage and logistics quality are the three infrastructure metrics most closely tied to Eritrea's growth outlook.
Statistics
Full time series for population, GDP, trade, inflation, internet usage, education, health, tourism, agriculture and climate are published in The360Africa Data Center.
Frequently asked questions
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