Visit Eritrea :: Geography




Eritrea has three distinct regions. The temperate central portion, where Asmara lies, is situated on a rocky highland plateau, which separates the two desert regions. These mountains fall away to reveal the eastern lowlands, characterised by the searing heat and humidity of the Eritrean salt pans, lapped by the Red Sea. To the west of the plateau stretches a vast arid desert area, extending over an opaque border into Sudan and the empty Sahara beyond. It is this desert that Eritrean refugees have to cross to reach the relative safety of the Sudanese refugee camps. Thousands make this journey every year.
Featured Areas	Dahlak

1. Asmara 2. Massawa 3. Keren 4. Dahlak 5. Sawa 6. W'ia 7. Assab	The Dahlak archipelago is made up of tiny, low lying white sand islands, each one surrounded by reefs teaming with wildlife. On the largest island is Dhalak Kebir, Eritrea’s maximum security prison, specifically for “political prisoners”, including those returned from Malta and Egypt. On Nakhura Island there is another maximum security prison, first established as a colonial prison in the 19th century to incarcerate Eritrean objectors to Italian rule.