Asmara

Asmara (pop. 275,400), capital of Eritrea. The city is situated on a plateau about 7,000 ft (2,134 m) above sea level and has road and rail connections to the interior and to the Red Sea port of Massawa, about 40 mi (64 km) away. Industrial centre with production of textiles, soap and food. Seized by Italy in 1889, the town became the administrative seat of the colony of Eritrea in 1900. Awarded to Ethiopia by the UN in 1952, Eritrea became a province in 1962. From the 1970s the Eritrean guerillas waged a war of independence and the control of Asmara has been contested. When Asmara was captured by the Eritreans in the early 1990s independence was on its way and formally achieved in 1993.