Ethiopia vs Eritrea

Why people mix them up

Eritrea was part of Ethiopia for several decades until it became independent in 1993, so older maps show the two as one country. They are neighbours in the Horn of Africa, share much history and culture, and both use the Ge'ez script for their main languages. Their flags both combine green, red and a blue element, and people often ask why Ethiopia, a large country, has no coastline.

How to tell them apart

• Eritrea has a long Red Sea coastline; Ethiopia has been landlocked since Eritrea's independence.
• Ethiopia is far larger, roughly nine times the area of Eritrea.
• Ethiopia's flag has horizontal green, yellow and red stripes with a blue disc and a yellow star; Eritrea's has a red triangle pointing from the hoist, separating green and blue triangles, with a gold olive wreath.
• The capitals are Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Asmara (Eritrea). Asmara is known for its Italian-era modernist architecture.
• Ethiopia's federal working language is Amharic; Eritrea has no official language, with Tigrinya, Arabic and English among those most widely used.
• The currencies are the birr (Ethiopia) and the nakfa (Eritrea).

Memory hook

Eritrea is the Edge on the Red sea; Ethiopia is the Enormous highland country behind it. Ethiopia's flag has the star in a blue circle; Eritrea's has the olive wreath.

On the map

Find the Red Sea and follow its western shore south. Just before the strait at its southern end, the long, thin coastal country stretching along the shore is Eritrea. Directly inland, to its south and west, lies Ethiopia, a large, roughly round country on a high plateau, bordered by Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti. If the country you are tapping touches Kenya, it is Ethiopia.