Eritrea

Eritrea is a nation in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Sudan, Ethiopia, and Djibouti and by the Red Sea. In Eritrea, the religious majority are Orthodox Christian, while the second largest religious population is Muslim. According to official 2002 census figures, the religious composition of Eritrea was as follows: about 64% Christian (58% Orthodox, 5% Roman Catholic, and less than 1% Protestant), 36% Muslim, and less than 1% traditional believer or ethnoreligionist. While the greater proportion of the country is Christian, with an estimated population of more than 3 million (3,250,849) in 2009, the Muslim population is almost 2 million (1,854,000).

Christians and Muslims are not evenly distributed geographically around the country. Christians are the majority in only two of the six administrative regions in the central highlands, while Muslims are predominant in the lowlands, the remaining four regions hugging the coastline.

The geographic distribution for the two predominantly Christian provinces is as follows. In Debub, Christians constitute almost 89% (about 85% Orthodox, 4% Roman Catholic, and less than 1% Protestant) of the population, while 11% are Muslims and less than 1% are ethnoreligionists. The population in Maekel is 94% Christian (almost 89% Orthodox, 4% Roman Catholic, and more than 1% Protestant) and 5% Muslim.

In the lowlands, Muslims are the majority. Anseba comprises about 61% Muslims, 26% Orthodox, 13% Roman Catholic, less than 1% Protestant, and less than 1% ethnoreligionist. In Debubawi Keih Bahri, the population is approximately 62% Muslim, 36% Orthodox, 1% Roman Catholic, less than 1% Protestant, and less than 1% ethnore-ligionist. Gash-Barka is composed of 63% Muslims, 31% Orthodox, 4% Roman Catholics, 1% eth-noreligionists, and 1% Protestants. Semenawi Keih Bahri is composed of 87% Muslims, 12% Orthodox, and less than 1% of Roman Catholics, Protestants, and ethnoreligionists.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has had a strong influence on the country. Historically, these populations, many of which are from the Amhara of the Shoa and Hagerge regions of Ethiopia, have controlled the political structures of the region. From religious beliefs to calendars and land distribution, the Orthodox Church had a great impact on society from the 1500s to the 1800s. As it aligned with the Ethiopian monarchy in the mid-1800s, the Orthodox Church played a central political role by divinely ordaining emperors and exacting taxes. In the 1950s, the Orthodox Church played an important role in the country's efforts for political independence. During the 1970s and 1980s, both Christians and Muslims were highly involved in the struggle for liberation.

Muslim influence was felt beginning in the early eighth century CE. Trade and migration from the Arabian Peninsula built up the influence of Islam. [Page 355]In the 19th century, missionary activity by Sufi brotherhoods extended the reach of Islam. By the end of the century, most lowland groups were Muslim. After enjoying a period of proliferation in cultural institutions and communal life in the earlier part of the 20th century, Muslims experienced oppression and disintegration under Ethiopian rule as Eritrean autonomy decreased. Since liberation in 1991, Muslim communal life has been revitalizing itself at a cautious pace.

...