Asmara Map

Description: This map shows streets, houses, buildings, cafes, bars, restaurants, hotels, monuments, parking lots, shops, churches, points of interest, and parks in Asmara City Center.

Description: This map shows streets, roads, buildings, churches, hospitals, and parks in Asmara.

Asmara is the capital and largest city of Eritrea, as well as the administrative centre of the Central (Maekel) Region. It lies at an elevation of about 2,325 metres (7,628 ft) above sea level on the Eritrean Highlands, making it one of the highest capital cities in the world.

The name derives from the Tigrinya Arbaete Asmera, traditionally interpreted as "the four (women) made them unite". According to local tradition, the women of four clans persuaded their men to unite and defend the area against bandits. The settlement grew from these four villages.

Italy occupied Asmara in 1889 and in 1897 moved the capital of its colony of Eritrea there from Massawa. The city grew rapidly in the 1930s, when it was a base for the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. During this period, architects built many structures in the Rationalist, Art Deco, Futurist and Novecento styles. Well-known examples include the Fiat Tagliero Building (1938), Cinema Impero (1937) and the Cathedral of St. Joseph, consecrated in 1923. Because of its Italian character, the city was sometimes called Piccola Roma ("Little Rome").

After the British captured the city in 1941, Asmara was under British administration until 1952. That year Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia, which annexed it in 1962. On 24 May 1991, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front entered the city, ending the Eritrean War of Independence. Eritrea formally became independent in 1993 after a referendum.

In July 2017, the city was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "Asmara: A Modernist African City".

The city has a mild climate because of its altitude, and most rain falls during the summer months. Tigrinya is the most widely spoken language. Asmara International Airport serves the city, and a narrow-gauge railway built in the Italian colonial era connects it with the port of Massawa.

Main sights in Asmara