Regions of Eritrea

Eritrea

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Eritrea

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At the time of Independence in 1993 Eritrea was arranged into ten provinces. These provinces were similar to the nine provinces operating during the colonial period. In 1996, these were consolidated into six regions (zobas). The boundaries of these new regions are based on catchment basins.

Critics of this policy contend that the Government of Eritrea was erasing the historical fabric of Eritrea while proponents believe that these new Regional boundaries would ease historical land disputes. Furthermore proponents of this policy argue that basing boundaries on an important natural resource would ease the planning of its use.

Governance

Each region has a locally elected regional assembly while the local administrator is appointed by the President of Eritrea. During Cabinet meetings the President also meets with the Regional Administrators who report on the activities of their regions.

The Regional Assemblies are charged with developing a budget for local programs and hearing the concerns of the local populations. Local programs included cultural events, infrastructure such as feeder roads, and to promote afforestation.

Regions

Region	Map number	Population	Capital	Governor	ISO code	Former province
Maekel Region, ዞባ ማእከል	1	1,053,254	Asmara	Tewelde Kelati	ER-MA	Hamasien
Debub Region, ዞባ ደቡብ	2	1,476,765	Mendefera	Mustafa Nurhussein	ER-DU	Seraye, Akele Guzay
Gash-Barka Region, ዞባ ጋሽ ባርካ	3	1,103,742	Barentu	Kahsai Ghebrehiwot	ER-GB	Barka, Gash-Setit, Seraye
Anseba Region, ዞባ ዓንሰባ	4	893,587	Keren	Gegrgis Ghirmai	ER-AN	Senhit
Northern Red Sea Region, Semienawi Keyih Bahri ዞባ ሰሜናዊ ቀይሕ ባሕሪ	5	897,454	Massawa	Tsigereda Woldegiorgis	ER-SK	Semhar, Sahel
Southern Red Sea Region, Debubawi Keyih Bahri ዞባ ደቡባዊ ቀይሕ ባሕሪ	6	398,073	Asseb	Osman Mohammed Omer	ER-DK	Denkalia, Akele Guzay

Sub-Regions

The regions, followed by the sub-region, are:

No.	Region (ዞባ)	Sub-region (ንኡስ ዞባ)
1	Central (ዞባ ማእከል)	Asmara, Berikh, Ghala-Nefhi, Semienawi Mibraq, Serejaka, Debubawi Mibraq, Semienawi Mi'erab, Debubawi Mi'erab
2	Southern (ዞባ ደቡብ)	Adi Keyh, Adi Quala, Areza, Debarwa, Dekemhare, Mai Ayni, Mai Mne, Mendefera, Segeneiti, Senafe, Tserona
3	Gash-Barka (ዞባ ጋሽ ባርካ)	Agordat, Barentu, Dghe, Forto, Gogne, Haykota, Logo-Anseba, Mensura, Mogolo, Molki, Guluj, Shambuko, Tesseney, La'elay Gash
4	Anseba (ዞባ ዓንሰባ)	Adi Tekelezan, Asmat, Elabered, Geleb, Hagaz, Halhal, Habero, Keren, Kerkebet, Sel'a
5	Northern Red Sea (ዞባ ሰሜናዊ ቀይሕ ባሕሪ)	Afabet, Dahlak, Ghel'alo, Foro, Ghinda, Karura, Massawa, Nakfa, She'eb
6	Southern Red Sea (ዞባ ደቡባዊ ቀይሕ ባሕሪ)	Are'eta, Central Dankalia, Southern Dankalia, Assab