Eritrea is a country situated in East Africa, bordering the Red Sea. With its capital at Asmara, Eritrea borders Sudan to the west, Ethiopia to the south, and Djibouti to the southeast, and the country is a mixture of desert and coastal areas. Its name comes from the Greek word for "Red", which refers to the Red Sea; Italy used the name "Eritrea" for its colony of Italian Eritrea from 1890 to 1945. The United Kingdom colonized Eritrea after World War II, and in 1951 the Ethiopian Empire annexed Eritrea. This led to the Eritrean War of Independence breaking out in 1961, and the Eritrean Liberation Front would fight both the monarchy and the communist Derg governments of Ethiopia until 29 May 1991, when a ceasefire was declared. In 1993, Eritrea became an independent country, and Ethiopia lost all of its coastal territories. Eritrea briefly fought Ethiopia in 1998-2000, and Eritrea skirmished with both Ethiopia and Djibouti. The big tent People's Front for Democracy and Justice under Isaias Afwerki had complete control over the one-party state, which united nationalists from all spheres of politics to support Afwerki's dictatorship. The state ran the press, and human rights were very poor in the country. Eritrea also had a system of indefinite mandatory military service, which made it possible for soldiers to remain soldiers for the rest of their lives, which international organizations and politicians equated to slavery. In 2014, Eritrea had a population of 6,380,803 people, with 55% being Tigrinya, 30% Tigre, 4% Saho, 2% Kunama, 2% Bilen, 2% Rashaida, and 5% others. Eritrea is diverse both ethnically and religiously, with 50% being Christian, 48% Muslim, and 2% other faiths.
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