Eritrea

A Red Sea nation of nine ethnic groups, Eritrea blends highland Tigrinya traditions with Ottoman and Italian colonial layers visible in Asmara's modernist architecture.

Building & habitat Food & cooking Music & dance Language & oral Spirituality & rites

Knowledge in this place

Asmara modernist architecture

Asmara modernist architecture

Asmara's early-20th-century Italian rationalist and futurist buildings form a UNESCO-listed modernist city.

Building & habitat

Injera flatbread

Injera flatbread

A spongy sourdough flatbread made from teff, used as both plate and utensil for stews.

Krar lyre

A five- or six-string bowl lyre that accompanies sung poetry across the Eritrean highlands.

Tigrinya language

Tigrinya language

A Semitic language written in the Ge'ez script, spoken by the largest community in Eritrea.

Language & oral

Coffee ceremony

Coffee ceremony

A ritual roasting, grinding and three-round serving of coffee marking hospitality and community.

Spirituality & rites