Asmara, Eritrea
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Asmara ኣስመራ Asmera |
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| Nickname(s): Piccola Roma, ፒኮላ ሮማ ("Little Rome") | ||
 Asmara
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| Coordinates: 15°20′N 38°56′E / 15.333°N 38.933°E | ||
| Country | Eritrea | |
| Region | Maekel | |
| Districts | 13 | |
| Demonym | Asmarino | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor of Asmara | Semere Russom | |
| • Mayor of Zoba | Tewelde Kelati | |
| Area | ||
| • Capital | 17 sq mi (45 km2) | |
| Elevation | 7,628 ft (2,325 m) | |
| Population (2017) | ||
| • Capital | 804,000 | |
| • Density | 138.3/sq mi (53.38/km2) | |
| • Metro | 1,258,001 | |
| Time zone | EAT (UTC+3) | |
Asmara (Tigrinya: ኣስመራ?, Asmera), known locally as Asmera (meaning "They [feminine plural] made them unite" in Tigrinya), is the capital city and largest settlement in Eritrea. Home to a population of just over 1,000,000 inhabitants, it sits at an elevation of 2,325 metres (7,628 ft). The city is located at the tip of an escarpment that is both the northwestern edge of the Eritrean highlands and the Great Rift Valley in neighbouring Ethiopia.
Asmara is situated in Eritrea's central Maekel Region. It is known for its well-preserved colonial Italian modernist architecture. The city is divided into thirteen districts or administrative areas: Acria, Abbashaul, Edaga Hamus, Arbaete Asmara, Mai Temenai, Paradizo, Sembel, Godaif, Maekel Ketema or Downtown, Tiravolo, Gejeret, Tsetserat and Gheza Banda.
Originally, according to Eritrean Tigrinya oral traditional history, there were four clans living in the Asmara area on the Kebessa Plateau: the Gheza Gurtom, the Gheza Shelele, the Gheza Serenser and Gheza Asmae. These towns were frequently attacked by clans from the low land and from the rulers of "seger mereb melash" (which now is a Tigray region in Ethiopia). Until the women of each clan decided that to defeat their common enemy and preserve peace the four clans must unite. The men accepted, hence the name Arbate Asmera. Arbate Asmara literally means, in the Tigrinya language, "the four (feminine plural) made them unite". Eventually Arbate was dropped and it has been called Asmara which means "they [feminine, thus referring to the women] made them unite". There is still a district called Arbaete Asmara in the Administrations of Asmara. It is now called the Italianized version of the word Asmara. The westernized version of the name is used by a majority of non-Eritreans, while the multilingual inhabitants of Eritrea and neighboring peoples remain loyal to the original pronunciation, Asmera.
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