The story
Eritrea declared its independence on May 24, 1993, after a referendum on April 23 to 25 in which about 99.8 percent of voters chose independence. The result ended a war that began in 1961 and made Eritrea Africa's newest state at that time. Eritrea had been an Italian colony from the 1890s, a British-run territory in the 1940s and then, in 1952, part of a federation with Ethiopia that Ethiopia dissolved in 1962.
The fighting began with the Eritrean Liberation Front, and by the 1970s the Eritrean People's Liberation Front under Isaias Afwerki became dominant. Its fighters held out against Ethiopia's army, including after the Soviet-backed Derg took power in Addis Ababa in 1974. In 1991 the EPLF and the Ethiopian rebel coalition under the TPLF defeated the Derg, and the EPLF took Asmara on May 24, 1991. Eritrea and Ethiopia went to war again over borders in 1998 to 2000. Isaias has remained president since independence, with no national election held.
Why it mattered
- Eritrea's independence left Ethiopia landlocked.
- The border war of 1998 to 2000 killed many thousands and left a long hostile standoff.
- Eritrea's one-party rule has driven many into exile.
- Its fighters later joined the Tigray war in 2020.
Sources
- The second liberation (1988-1993) GlobalSecurity
- Isaias Afwerki Britannica
Drafted by AI (Claude) from the sources above and checked against them by AI; no historian has reviewed this page. Spot a mistake? Suggest a correction. How pages are made
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