Regions of Eritrea

The regions of Eritrea are the primary geographical divisions through which Eritrea is administered. Six in total, they include the Maekel/Central, Anseba, Gash-Barka, Debub/Southern, Northern Red Sea and Southern Red Sea regions.

Overview

Regions of Eritrea

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.

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

Regions

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

Sub-Regions

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

No.	Region (ዞባ)	Sub-region (ንኡስ ዞባ)
1	Maekel (ዞባ ማእከል)	Asmara, Berikh, Ghala-Nefhi, Semienawi Mibraq, Serejaka, Debubawi Mibraq, Semienawi Mi'erab, Debubawi Mi'erab
2	Anseba (ዞባ ዓንሰባ)	Adi Tekelezan, Asmat, Elabered, Geleb, Hagaz, Halhal, Habero, Keren, Kerkebet, Sel'a
3	Gash-Barka (ዞባ ጋሽ ባርካ)	Agordat, Barentu, Dghe, Forto, Gogne, Haykota, Logo-Anseba, Mensura, Mogolo, Molki, Guluj, Shambuko, Tesseney, La'elay Gash
4	Debub (ዞባ ደቡብ)	Adi Keyh, Adi Quala, Areza, Debarwa, Dekemhare, Mai Ayni, Mai Mne, Mendefera, Segeneiti, Senafe, Tserona
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