Covers Eritrea's colonial history, its federation with and annexation by Ethiopia, the EPLF-led independence struggle, the 1993 UN-verified referendum and independence, and relations with Ethiopia to 2018, including the 1998–2000 border war and the Algiers Agreement. Post-independence internal governance is treated separately on the status page.
Eritrea, on the Red Sea coast of the Horn of Africa, was an Italian colony and later came under British administration.[1] Federated with Ethiopia in 1952, it was annexed as an Ethiopian province in 1962, beginning three decades of armed struggle for self-determination.[1] In 1993 a UN-verified referendum produced an overwhelming vote for independence, and Eritrea was admitted to the United Nations that May.[2][3]
Status verified as of
Eritrea has been an independent, UN-member state since 1993. See the status page for its post-independence governance.[3]
History
From Italian colony to independent state: federation with Ethiopia, annexation, the EPLF-led independence struggle, the 1993 referendum, and relations with Ethiopia since.
486 words · 3 min read
· Other
The Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), founded 1960, launched the armed independence struggle against Ethiopian rule under Hamid Idris Awate; the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) split from the ELF in 1970 and later became the dominant nationalist force.
Significance here: The start of the thirty-year armed struggle that ended with the 1991 EPLF victory and the 1993 referendum.
· Declaration
The Eritrean People's Liberation Front took control of Asmara and formed a Provisional Government, ending three decades of armed struggle and opening the path to the 1993 referendum.
Significance here: Ended the war with Ethiopia's Derg government and created the authority that organised the referendum.
· Referendum or popular consultation
Eritreans voted 23–25 April 1993 on whether Eritrea should become an independent sovereign state; the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative called the process free and fair.
Significance here: The vote whose result led directly to Eritrea's declaration of independence and UN membership.
· Recognition
Following the Security Council's recommendation, the General Assembly admitted Eritrea as the 182nd member of the United Nations.
Significance here: Formal international recognition of Eritrean statehood following the referendum.
· Conflict episode
A border war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, fought mainly around the town of Badme, lasted from 1998 until a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in June 2000.
Significance here: A large-scale war between Eritrea and Ethiopia five years after independence, leading to the Algiers Agreement.
· Agreement
Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace agreement in Algiers ending the border war and establishing a Boundary Commission to delimit and demarcate their shared border.
Significance here: Formally ended the border war and set the legal process that produced the 2002 boundary decision.
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
Claim: Eritrea was an Italian colony and later under British administration; it was federated with Ethiopia in 1952 under the sovereignty of the Ethiopian crown, and that federal status was abrogated in 1962 when the territory was incorporated into Ethiopia as a province, beginning three decades of struggle for self-determination.
Claim: Of votes cast, 1,098,015 (99.805%) were for Eritrean independence and 1,825 (0.17%) against, with 323 invalid votes and 53,838 tendered ballots.
Claim: The UN General Assembly decided to admit Eritrea to membership in the United Nations at its 104th plenary meeting on 28 May 1993, following the Security Council's recommendation of 26 May 1993; Eritrea became its 182nd member state.
Claim: The Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), founded in 1960, launched the Eritrean armed independence struggle on 1 September 1961 under the leadership of Hamid Idris Awate.
Claim: The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) split from the ELF in 1970; the two fronts fought each other at points in the 1970s-80s before the EPLF, which held its first Congress in January 1977, became the dominant nationalist force. Isaias Afwerki, who had joined the ELF in 1967, helped found the EPLF and was elected its Assistant Secretary-General in 1977.
Claim: Of 1,174,654 registered voters, 1,154,001 participated in the referendum voting, a turnout of 98.24%.
Claim: A border war between Eritrea and Ethiopia broke out in 1998 and was ended by a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement signed in Algiers on 18 June 2000; the Security Council resolution establishing a UN mission to support that agreement refers to the OAU Framework Agreement of 1998 on the conflict.
Claim: The Algiers Agreement, signed on 12 December 2000, provides that "the parties shall permanently terminate hostilities between themselves" and that each party shall refrain from the threat or use of force against the other.
Claim: In April 2002 the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission ruled that disputed towns along the border, including Badme, fell on the Eritrean side of the line; Ethiopia accepted the ruling only "in principle" and did not withdraw its forces, producing a prolonged "no peace, no war" stand-off. Attributed to The Borgen Project
Claim: On 9 July 2018 in Asmara, President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali of Ethiopia signed a Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship stating that "the state of war between Ethiopia and Eritrea has come to an end," that transport, trade, communications and diplomatic ties would resume, and that "the decision on the boundary between the two countries will be implemented."