Eritrea - Ministry of Information

Eritrea emerged as a political entity in 1890 with the advent of Italian colonization, like most of other African-Asian countries, took on their present political and territorial shapes with the advent of European colonialism. The name “Erythraea” which means “red” in Greek has been given to the Red Sea by Greek merchants. When Italy colonized Eritrea, it had the following political, economic and military motives: To make use of Eritrea for industrial and commercial purpose; to exploit the natural resources and cheap labor; to get market for its industrial products; to develop and expand settlement of Italians in Eritrea; and to make Eritrea as a base for further colonial expansion.

In course of time, many city-states appeared. Some of the famous city-states were Adulis, Kohaito, Tekond’a, Keskese and Metera in Eritrea, and Yiha and Axum in Tigray.