Average Eritrea Quiz | 10 Questions | Geography

Answer: Italy

The Suez Canal was opened to shipping in November 1869, and the various European powers of the time began to squabble over the territory along the African coast, as they needed way-stations for their shipping. Italy annexed Eritrea and remained in power there until 1941 when the British invaded and seized the land.

Answer: Dahlak

During the years the country was under Italian control, 1890-1941, there was a prison there, but nowadays the islands are a protected nature reserve, home to rare species of birds, animals, and plants. Eritrea was the first country in the world to designate the entire coastline as a nature reserve.
Massawa is a town on the mainland coast, where visitors can take ship across to the Dahlak islands. Norah and Shumma are two of the islands.

Answer: An administrative district, like a county or State

Eritrea has six zobas, or administrative districts, which are then split into sub-zobas. The borders of each one are based on local terrain and watersheds, to ensure that each area has control of enough water for the needs of the population. This came about after the new government, which took office as Eritrea gained independence, considered the historical conflicts between regions and tribes, and wanted to prevent them flaring up in the future.

Answer: No rivers flow into the Depression at all

Only one river, the Awash, flows into the Afar Depression. The area around the town of Dallol is one of the hottest places anywhere on Earth, with dry season temperatures reaching highs of around 48-50 degrees Celsius! (around 118 - 120F) Even in the wet, or "cooler" season, the average daytime temperatures are around 25 degrees Celsius (77F).
The lowest point in Africa is Lake Assal, in Djibouti, which is within the Depression, and has an altitude of -153 metres.
Lucy, the fossilised remains of an Australopithecus afarensis woman, was found at a place named Hadar, in the Depression, which is also sometimes referred to as the Danikil Depression.

Answer: Amharic

Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia. In 1961, Ethiopia and Eritrea went to war as the Eritrean independence movement gained in popularity, and it took thirty years before the conflict ended, with the final independence of Eritrea being overseen by the UN in 1993. English is now the official administrative language of Eritrea, with Tigrinya and Arabic also being official languages.

Answer: Yemen

Originally belonging to Turkey, the Hanish Islands were abandoned in 1923, which was when Eritrea (under Italian control) claimed them. Once Eritrea was part of Ethiopia, both Ethiopia and Yemen laid claim to the islands, and their ownership was disputed.

In 1996, armed conflict broke out, and was ended when both countries agreed to submit to the judgement of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. Nowadays, most of the islands belong to Yemen, and some of the smaller ones, on the African side of the archipelago, belong to Eritrea.

Answer: Emba Soira

Emba Soira is also sometimes called Sowera, and is in a remote part of the central highlands of Eritrea.
Mount Stanley is the tallest peak in the Ruwenzori mountain range, on the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, and is also the tallest mountain in both those countries. Mawenzi is one of the three cones that make up Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania. Mount Meru is also in Tanzania, and is just over 40 miles from Kilimanjaro.

Answer: Made Them United

Asmara was founded in the 12th century, and there is evidence that there were settlements in the area even before that. It became the capital in 1897, under Italian rule, and after extensive rebuilding in the 1930s, the Italian administration renamed it "Piccola Roma" (Little Rome).

Answer: Win an Olympic medal

Tadese is a distance runner, and in Athens, in 2004, he won Eritrea's first ever Olympic medal when he took bronze in the 10,000m.

Answer: Camel

The emblem has a white camel on a dark blue background, with wreaths of golden leaves up each side. Underneath this is a banner with "The State of Eritrea" on it in English, Tigrinya, and Arabic.