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Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
border encompasses a roughly 1,033 km (641.9 mi) boundary between the two states. The borders are the Afar and
Tigray The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...
regions of Ethiopia Ethiopia is a federation subdivided into ethno-linguistically based regional states (Amharic: plural: ክልሎች ''kililoch''; singular: ክልል ''kilil''; Oromo language, Oromo: singular: ''Naannoo''; plural: ''Naannolee'') and charter ...
.


History


Creation

The creation of the modern border of
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
and
Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...
is rooted in the late 19th century, when the Italian shipping company claimed the northern end of Assab Bay in March 1870. The area was settled by the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
and
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and the Italians were introduced to the area in 1880. Under Emperor Yohannes IV, the Hewett Treaty was signed between the
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
and
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
to freely access the
Massawa Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for ...
coast to Ethiopia in an exchange to evacuate garrisons from Sudan, during the Mahdist War. After the death of Yohannes, Italian General Oreste Baratieri occupied the highlands along with the Eritrean coast, and proclaimed Eritrea as one of Italy's colonies. On 2 May 1889, the Treaty of Wuchale was signed between Ethiopia under
Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
Menelik II Menelik II ( ; horse name Aba Dagnew (Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 August 1844 – 12 December 1913), baptised as Sahle Maryam (ሣህለ ማርያም ''sahlä maryam'') was king of Shewa from 1866 to 1889 and Emperor of Et ...
and Italy that recognized the formation of
Italian Eritrea Italian Eritrea (, "Colony of Eritrea") was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Società di Navigazione Rubattino, Rubattino Shippin ...
. However, the Article 17 contradicted each version of
Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...
and Italian languages, as well as the Italian ambition to incorporate Ethiopia as protectorate of Italy, while the Amharic version granted Ethiopia greater autonomy. This resulted in the
First Italo-Ethiopian War The First Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the First Italo-Abyssinian War, or simply known as the Abyssinian War in Italy (), was a military confrontation fought between Kingdom of Italy, Italy and Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopia from 1895 to ...
, a war in which Ethiopia won against Italian forces, and ended with the Treaty of Addis Ababa in 1896. The Italians took territories beyond the Mareb- Belessa and May/Muni rivers while Menelik absorbed Tigray Province.


Cold War

After the Italian occupation of Ethiopia and the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, there was considerable dispute about the status of Eritrea. After the Italian communist victory over the 1946 Italian election, they wished it to be returned to Ethiopia and the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
also had a similar idea, despite fruitless diplomatic efforts. In 1952, the United Nations declared Eritrea to be one of the Ethiopian Provinces under Emperor Haile Selassie, and federated with Ethiopia, resulting in the
Eritrean War of Independence The Eritrean War of Independence was an War, armed conflict and insurgency aimed at achieving self-determination and independence for Eritrea from Ethiopian rule. Starting in 1961, Eritrean insurgents engaged in guerrilla warfare to liberate ...
among a few armed separatist movements, such as the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) formed in 1958. In the 1960s and 1970s, the armed movement of Eritrea continued offensive tactics towards the
Ethiopian government The government of Ethiopia () is the federal government of Ethiopia. It is structured in a framework of a federal republic, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, prime minister is the hea ...
until the 1974 coup d'état against Emperor
Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...
. In February 1980, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) declared war on the ELF, after which the ELF had a secret negotiation with the Soviet Union.


Eritrean–Ethiopian War

Under the Ethiopian Transitional Government, Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia following a UN-sponsored
referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
in 1993, this resulted in a 99.81% voting for independence. On 4 May 1993, Eritrea was officially recognized as a state. In late 1997, there was a skirmish between their borders. A border conflict was ignited no less than some months between Eritrea and Ethiopia in Badme after the Eritrean mechanized force penetrated the town, and fighting continued between Tigrayan militia and the security police. An Eritrea–Ethiopia Claims Commission was founded to ensure territorial claims under UN Charter Article 51. At the end of the war, Ethiopia occupied about a quarter of Eritrean territory. Under the premiership of Abiy Ahmed, the two countries restored their relations which led to the 2018 Eritrea–Ethiopia Summit on 9 July. In this summit, Ethiopia stated that Badme would cede to Eritrea and announced the resumption of their diplomatic relations.


See also

* Eritrea–Ethiopia relations * Geography of Eritrea * Geography of Ethiopia


References

Borders of Eritrea Borders of Ethiopia International borders {{DEFAULTSORT:Eritrea-Ethiopia border