Eritrea is a country rich in culture, diversity and has multi ethnic heritages, which not many people know about. One of these heritages is the Greek Community of Eritrea.

In the 19th century after the Greek war of Independence many Greek merchants had set up homes and trade relations with countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea as well as with Alexandria in Egypt.

The merchants and their business ventures brought along many family members, Greek teaching schools and the Greek Orthodox church.

According to Costas, an Eritrean born in Asmara with Greek ancestors, the first Greeks arrived in Eritrea in the middle of the 19st century coming from Egypt and Sudan (www.mybaobab.com). Their first settlement was established in the Eritrean town of Keren by Vlassis Frangoulis and soon grew towards a community of 178 Greek settlers during the Italian census in 1894.

Asmara’s first Greek community was founded in 1900 and was at that time under the protectorate of the Greek Embassy in Addis Abeba. In their 100 years of history in Eritrea the Greeks reached their peak with around 400 people during the initial decades of the Italian intrusion of Eritrea.

In the course of the rule of the Italian fascists in Eritrea many Greeks were sent to a concentration camp in Quoran.

The strain caused to the Eritrean Greeks by the Italians ceased soon after the British took over the administration of Eritrea in 1941, because high ranking Greek Cypriot officers amongst the British Army came to their aid.

Latest estimates about the number of Greeks in Eritrea are from 2004 and show that around 30 Greeks live in the country today. Let us remember that the name Eritrea is derived from the Greek word Erythrea, which means red a colour known to symbolize blood, love and our heartbeat.

Happy National Day Eritrea

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