Place · city

Asmara

Asmara is the capital of Eritrea, on the highland plateau at about 2,300 metres. A village grew into a city after the Italians made it the capital of their colony in the 1890s, and in the 1930s it was rebuilt with modernist and Art Deco buildings. During the Eritrean War of Independence it was an Ethiopian stronghold until 1991. Its centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Asmara
Image: Tigernssnowy7 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 5 state histories

Italian EritreaBritish Administration of EritreaEritrea (federation)People's Democratic Republic of EthiopiaState of Eritrea

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Asmara. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/asmara
MLA
“Asmara.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/asmara. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Asmara.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/asmara.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Asmara’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/asmara (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻