Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Provinces of Eritrea
The provinces of Eritrea existed since pre-Axumite times and became administrative provinces from Eritrea's incorporation as a colony of Italy until the conversion of the provinces into administrative regions. Many of the provinces had their own local laws since the 13th century.
In Italian Eritrea, the Italian colonial administration had divided the colony into eight provinces (administrative regions) called Akele Guzay, Barka, Denkalia, Hamasien, Sahel, Semhar, Senhit and Serae. These administrative regions relied heavily upon the historical political boundaries in the region, including, but not exclusively, that of local nobility. These provinces of Eritrea were also used by the Federated Eritrean Government from 1952 to 1962 and as districts (awrajja) in Eritrea when it was annexed by Ethiopia from 1962 to 1991.
After independence, the Provisional Government of Eritrea converted the original eight provinces of Eritrea (from the Italian colonial period) to nine provinces by splitting the Barka province in two (the north known as Barka Province and the south as Gash-Setit Province), while at the same time separating Asmara from the rest of Hamasien. On April 15, 1996, the Government of Eritrea converted the then nine provinces of Eritrea into six administrative regions.
Akele Guzai (ምድረ ቡር ) was a historical province of Eritrea until 1996 when the newly Eritrean government consolidated all provinces into six regions. It extends from Dekemhare to the town of Senafe. The province's estimated population was 360,000 in 1990 and had an area of 8400 km2 km2, is mostly consisted of Tigrinya and Saho ethnic groups. Akele Guzai is home to more than three-fourths of the total Saho-speaking population in Eritrea. The Tigrinya people of Akele Guzai are mostly followers of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church while the Saho are predominantly majority from Sunni Muslim. The province of Akele Guzai is now mostly part of the Northern Red Sea Region and the Southern Region.
Akele Guzai is one of the most ancient regions of Eritrea. It has an inscriptional record going back to at least the 9th century BC, the earliest example of the Ge'ez script. The province was part of Dʿmt, which would evolve into the Kingdom of Aksum.
Akele Guzai's name has been connected to the Gaze of the Monumentum Adulitanum (which later medieval Greek notes in the margins associate with the Aksumite people). If the note regarding the Gaze is accurate, it would connect the name of Akele Guzai to the Agʿazyān or Agʿazi (Ge'ez speakers) of the Kingdom of Dʿmt in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. This connection has been rejected by linguists in modern times, however, due to the lack of the middle voiced pharyngeal fricative in the triliteral roots, which is usually preserved in Tigrinya.
Along with Agame in eastern Tigray, it was the main center of Aksumite culture, with a distinct sub-culture that separated the two regions from that of Central Tigray (Shire, Axum, Yeha), Central Eritrea (Serae, Hamasien, and Adulis), and frontier areas in northern Eritrea and the southern regions of Wag, Lasta and Angot in Ethiopia.
In the Middle Ages, parts of southern Akele Guzai were part of the larger province of Bur, Ethiopia, which also included Agame, some northeastern Afar lowlands, and the Buri Peninsula; southern Akele Guzai and Agame were part of "Upper" (La'ilay) Bur, while the lowlands were further distinguished as "Lower" (Tahtay).
Hub AI
Provinces of Eritrea AI simulator
(@Provinces of Eritrea_simulator)
Provinces of Eritrea
The provinces of Eritrea existed since pre-Axumite times and became administrative provinces from Eritrea's incorporation as a colony of Italy until the conversion of the provinces into administrative regions. Many of the provinces had their own local laws since the 13th century.
In Italian Eritrea, the Italian colonial administration had divided the colony into eight provinces (administrative regions) called Akele Guzay, Barka, Denkalia, Hamasien, Sahel, Semhar, Senhit and Serae. These administrative regions relied heavily upon the historical political boundaries in the region, including, but not exclusively, that of local nobility. These provinces of Eritrea were also used by the Federated Eritrean Government from 1952 to 1962 and as districts (awrajja) in Eritrea when it was annexed by Ethiopia from 1962 to 1991.
After independence, the Provisional Government of Eritrea converted the original eight provinces of Eritrea (from the Italian colonial period) to nine provinces by splitting the Barka province in two (the north known as Barka Province and the south as Gash-Setit Province), while at the same time separating Asmara from the rest of Hamasien. On April 15, 1996, the Government of Eritrea converted the then nine provinces of Eritrea into six administrative regions.
Akele Guzai (ምድረ ቡር ) was a historical province of Eritrea until 1996 when the newly Eritrean government consolidated all provinces into six regions. It extends from Dekemhare to the town of Senafe. The province's estimated population was 360,000 in 1990 and had an area of 8400 km2 km2, is mostly consisted of Tigrinya and Saho ethnic groups. Akele Guzai is home to more than three-fourths of the total Saho-speaking population in Eritrea. The Tigrinya people of Akele Guzai are mostly followers of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church while the Saho are predominantly majority from Sunni Muslim. The province of Akele Guzai is now mostly part of the Northern Red Sea Region and the Southern Region.
Akele Guzai is one of the most ancient regions of Eritrea. It has an inscriptional record going back to at least the 9th century BC, the earliest example of the Ge'ez script. The province was part of Dʿmt, which would evolve into the Kingdom of Aksum.
Akele Guzai's name has been connected to the Gaze of the Monumentum Adulitanum (which later medieval Greek notes in the margins associate with the Aksumite people). If the note regarding the Gaze is accurate, it would connect the name of Akele Guzai to the Agʿazyān or Agʿazi (Ge'ez speakers) of the Kingdom of Dʿmt in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. This connection has been rejected by linguists in modern times, however, due to the lack of the middle voiced pharyngeal fricative in the triliteral roots, which is usually preserved in Tigrinya.
Along with Agame in eastern Tigray, it was the main center of Aksumite culture, with a distinct sub-culture that separated the two regions from that of Central Tigray (Shire, Axum, Yeha), Central Eritrea (Serae, Hamasien, and Adulis), and frontier areas in northern Eritrea and the southern regions of Wag, Lasta and Angot in Ethiopia.
In the Middle Ages, parts of southern Akele Guzai were part of the larger province of Bur, Ethiopia, which also included Agame, some northeastern Afar lowlands, and the Buri Peninsula; southern Akele Guzai and Agame were part of "Upper" (La'ilay) Bur, while the lowlands were further distinguished as "Lower" (Tahtay).