The politics of Eritrea and the government of Eritrea take place in the framework of a single-party presidential republican totalitarian dictatorship. The President officially serves as both head of state and head of government. The People's Front for Democracy and Justice is the only political party legally permitted to exist in Eritrea. The popularly elected National Assembly of 150 seats, formed in 1993 shortly after independence from Ethiopia, elected the current president, Isaias Afwerki. There have been no general elections since its official independence in 1993. A new constitution was drafted in 1993 and ratified in 1997, but has not been implemented. Since the National Assembly last met in January 2002, President Isaias Afwerki has exercised the powers of both the executive and legislative branches of government.
The flag of Eritrea is the national flag of Eritrea. It was adopted on 5 December 1995. The flag combines the basic layout and colors from the flag of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front with an emblem of a wreath and an upright olive branch derived from the Eritrean flag from 1952 to 1962.
The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), colloquially known as Shabia or HGDEF, was an armed Marxist–Leninist organization that fought for the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. It emerged in 1973 as a far-left to left-wing nationalist group that split from the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF). After achieving Eritrean independence in 1991, it transformed into the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), which serves as Eritrea's sole legal political party.
Teseney, also spelled Tessenei or Tesseney, is a market town in western Eritrea. It lies south-east of Kassala in Sudan, on the Gash River. The city was much fought over in the Eritrean War of Independence during which much of it was destroyed. After the war, Tessenei has become a governmental administrative center with customs and agricultural offices and a military base.
The Eritrean Liberation Front, colloquially known as Jebha, was the main independence movement in Eritrea which sought Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia during the 1960s and the early 1970s. It was established in 1960 after Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie violated a 1952 UN resolution that guaranteed Eritrea the right to an autonomous government. Idris Muhammad Adam and other Eritrean intellectuals founded the ELF as a primary Pan Arab movement in Cairo, but the first attack was led by Hamid Idris Awate in 1961. Over the course of the 1960s, the ELF was able to obtain support from Arab countries such as Egypt and Sudan. However, tensions between Muslims and Christians in the ELF along with the failure of the ELF to ward off Ethiopia's 1967–1968 counter offensive internally fractured the ELF, causing it to split. By the mid 1970s, the ELF and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), an ideologically Maoist liberation movement, were the key liberation movements in Eritrea. The EPLF ultimately overtook the ELF as the primary Eritrean independence movement by 1977, and the ELF was subsequently defeated in 1981.
The Eritrean War of Independence was a war for independence which Eritrean independence fighters waged against successive Ethiopian governments from 1 September 1961 to 24 May 1991.
Hamid Idris Awate was an Eritrean revolutionary and prominent guerrilla commander, and a symbol of the Eritrean War of Independence and independence struggle.
The Ethiopian–Eritrean Federation was a coalition between the former Italian colony of Eritrea and the Ethiopian Empire. It was established as a result of the renunciation of Italy’s rights and titles to territorial possessions in Africa, inclusive of all its established territories or colonies made effective by the Treaty of Paris of 1947. The fate of Eritrea was contingent on numerous political, social, and economic ideals of Eritreans that ranged from leftists favoring independence, conservatives favoring Ethiopian crown rule, and Eritreans who favored a political union of the two sides of the spectrum. In an attempt to provide Eritrea with ultimate autonomy under an Eritrean curated constitution and governmental elections, UN Resolution 390 (A) was devised to implement such welfare to the individuals it was to be imposed upon.
The Eritrean Army is the main branch of the Eritrean Defence Forces and is one of the largest armies in Africa. The main role of the army in Eritrea is defense from external aggressors, border security, and developing national cohesion. Historically, the predecessor of the Eritrean Army, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), played a major role in establishing and defending the country's independence from Ethiopia in 1991 during the Eritrean War of Independence. Since then, the army has continued to be involved in low-level border conflicts with Ethiopia and several other neighbors, including Djibouti and Yemen, with the most notable one being the Ethiopian-Eritrean War from 1998 until 2000, which ended in a partial Ethiopian military victory and Eritrean boundary line victory. It is widely regarded as one of the largest and more capable armies in Africa, despite the country having a smaller population than most of its neighbors with around 250,000 to 300,000 personnel due to mandatory national service. Conscription became open ended since the war with Ethiopia and no demobilization has taken place.
The Royal Corps Of Eritrean Colonial Troops were indigenous soldiers from Eritrea, who were enrolled as askaris in the Royal Corps of Colonial Troops of the Royal Italian Army during the period 1889–1941.
The Eritrean–Ethiopian border conflict was a violent standoff and a proxy conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia lasting from 1998 to 2018. It consisted of a series of incidents along the then-disputed border; including the Eritrean–Ethiopian War of 1998–2000 and the subsequent Second Afar insurgency. It included multiple clashes with numerous casualties, including the Battle of Tsorona in 2016. Ethiopia stated in 2018 that it would cede Badme to Eritrea. This led to the Eritrea–Ethiopia summit on 9 July 2018, where an agreement was signed which demarcated the border and agreed a resumption of diplomatic relations.
The Saho People's Democratic Movement (SPDM) is an organized group in Eritrea, fighting for the self-determination of the Saho people. They are allied with the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation (RSADO), whom they have done joint operations with. The organization was founded in 1984, during the Eritrean War of Independence, and played a significant role in the struggle against Ethiopian rule.
The Oromo conflict is a protracted conflict between the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and the Ethiopian government. The Oromo Liberation Front formed to fight the Ethiopian Empire to liberate the Oromo people and establish an independent state of Oromia. The conflict began in 1973, when Oromo nationalists established the OLF and its armed wing, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). These groups formed in response to prejudice against the Oromo people during the Haile Selassie and Derg era, when their language was banned from public administration, courts, church and schools, and the stereotype of Oromo people as a hindrance to expanding Ethiopian national identity.
The Battle of Omal was the second battle in the Eritrean War of Independence, and took place on 14 September 1961. In the battle, Ethiopian police units attempted to avenge the defeat in the Battle of Adal, but after a fierce battle they retreated. The Battle of Omal was the first battle where the ELF lost a soldier, Mohammed Fayd.
The Agordat Operation was part of the Eritrean War of Independence, and took place on 12 July 1962.
The Battle of Togoruba took place on 15 March 1964, and was the first battle of the Eritrean War of Independence which involved the Ethiopian military instead of a Police unit. In the battle, an ELF unit led by Mohamed Ali Idris was able to defeat the Ethiopian Army. The ELF suffered 19 dead, while the Ethiopian Army suffered 84 dead and 22 wounded.
Ahmed Mohamed Jasir, is one of the most significant leaders in Eritrean history of struggle for independence from 1958 to 1990.
Awate or awate.com is a United States-based Eritrean news website.
The OLA insurgency is an armed conflict between the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), which split from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) in 2018, and the Ethiopian government, continuing in the context of the long-term Oromo conflict, typically dated to have started with the formation of the Oromo Liberation Front in 1973.
Opposition to Haile Selassie relied largely of internal administration of his country. While Haile Selassie made attempt to modernize the country and brought to global power since Italy's occupation in 1936–41, the later administration met with negative public attitude especially among educated people in universities and peasants.
Eritrean Liberation Front 
Ethiopian Empire 