Asmara (أسمرة), Eritrea

Grand Mosque of Asmara, Eritrea
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moschee_Asmara.JPG
Author: Reinhard Dietrich


Asmara (Arabic: أسمرة, Tigrinya: ኣስመራ) is the capital and largest city in Eritrea. Located 2,325 m (7,628 ft) above sea level, it covers 12,158 sq km (4,694.3 sq mi) and has a population of 650,000 people (2012 estimate).

Although most of the historic buildings in Asmara were built during the Italian colonial rule, the history of Asmara goes back as far as seven hundred years ago. It was a settlement of the Tigringa and Tigre tribe of natives. It was the provincial capital under local governor Ras Alula, who was entrusted the province by Emperor Yohannes IV. Under Ras Alula, Asmara grew into a bustling medieval town.

Street in Asmara, Eritrea
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asmara_street.jpg
Author: Jacopo


When the Italians occupied Eritrea in 1889, they made Asmara the capital. The appearance of the city underwent major facelift under the Italians, particularly in the 1930s, when they erected many new structures, mostly in the Art Deco style, earning Asmara the nickname of Piccola Roma or Little Rome.

The defeat of Italy in the Second World War brought the British to administer Asmara. In 1952 the United Nations resolved to have Eritrea annexed by Ethipia. The Eritreans were hostile to Ethiopian rule, and staged a violent struggle for independence which took the form of the Eritrean War of Independence. It brought independence to Eritrea in 1991. Asmara somehow escaped largely undamaged by the war, and once again became the national capital.

Asmara Central Market
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Central_Market_(8352535920).jpg
Author: David Stanley

Visiting Asmara

The Asmara International Airport (ASM), formerly known as the Yohannes IV International Airport, is the gateway to Eritrea. It is a small airport that cannot take large aircrafts such as the 747 and A380. The airport gets fligths from Cairo, Dubai, Frankfurt, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Karachi, Khartoum, Lahore, Nairobi, Port Sudan, Rome and Sana'a.

Places of Interest in Asmara

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