Geography Quiz Arcade

Eritrea 🇪🇷

Eritrea is a country in Africa with a population of 3,684,032. Its capital is Asmara. The official currency is ERN, and the main languages are Tigrinya, Arabic, English.

Quick facts

  • Capital: Asmara
  • Continent: Africa
  • Population: 3,684,032
  • Area: 117,600 km²
  • Density: 31.3 people per km²
  • Currency: ERN
  • Languages: Tigrinya, Arabic, English
  • ISO code: ER

Where Eritrea sits

Eritrea 🇪🇷 is one of 54 countries in Africa, with its capital at Asmara. It covers 117,600 square kilometres — 99th in the world — and is home to about 3,684,032 people, 131st globally.

The countries it shares a continent with include Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.

How Eritrea compares

Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Eritrea sits closest to Georgia and Uruguay. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Malawi and North Korea.

At 31.3 people per square kilometre it is about 1.9 times below the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by area than by population, so it is more spacious than its population alone suggests.

Tigrinya is listed as official in Eritrea alone. The ERN is used by Eritrea and no one else.

To see Eritrea next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.

How to remember Eritrea

Asmara is inland, about 2,325 m above sea level, not on the Red Sea coast. For the flag, look for a gold olive wreath on a red arrow pointing across green and blue.

The flag of Eritrea: red, green, blue and gold

🇪🇷 The flag is a red triangle pointing from the flagpole to the far side, dividing the flag into a green top and a blue bottom, with a gold olive wreath and branch on the red. Green stands for farming, blue for the riches of the sea, and red for the blood shed for freedom. The shape of the red triangle is said to mimic the shape of the country.

Region and neighbours

Eritrea is a country in the Horn of Africa with a long coast on the Red Sea, including the islands of the Dahlak Archipelago. It shares land borders with 3 countries: Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

Three facts about Eritrea

  1. Asmara was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2017 as 'Asmara: A Modernist African City'.
  2. Eritrea gained de jure independence in 1993, after an independence referendum.
  3. Eritrea has nine recognised ethnic groups, each with its own language.

Sources: Wikipedia: Eritrea, Wikipedia: Flag of Eritrea, Wikipedia: Asmara, CIA World Factbook.

Quiz yourself on Eritrea

Quizzes that include Eritrea

Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Eritrea those are:

Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.

Read more about Eritrea

Nearby countries

Frequently asked questions

What are the colours of the Eritrea flag?

The flag of Eritrea is a red triangle pointing from the flagpole to the far side, dividing the flag into a green top and a blue bottom, with a gold olive wreath and branch on the red. Green stands for farming, blue for the riches of the sea, and red for the blood shed for freedom. The shape of the red triangle is said to mimic the shape of the country.

Which countries border Eritrea?

Eritrea shares land borders with Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

How can I remember the capital of Eritrea?

Asmara is inland, about 2,325 m above sea level, not on the Red Sea coast. For the flag, look for a gold olive wreath on a red arrow pointing across green and blue.