named 1890 when it was an Italian colony, from Mare Erythreum, Roman name of the Red Sea, from Greek Erythre Thalassa, literally "Red Sea" (to the Greeks also including the Gulf of Arabia and the Indian Ocean), from erythros "red" (see red (1)).
Country in northeastern Africa bordered by Sudan to the north and west, Ethiopia to the south, Djibouti to the southeast, and the Red Sea to the east. Its capital is Asmara. After a long struggle, Eritrea declared its independence from Ethiopia in 1993. A border conflict with Ethiopia flared between 1998 and 2000.