Eritrea was part of the first Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum until its decline in the 8th century. It came under the control of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, and later of the Egyptians. The Italians, with the consent of the British Goverment, captured the coastal areas in 1885, and the Treaty of Uccialli (May 2, 1889) gave Italy sovereignty over part of Eritrea. The Italians named their colony after the Roman name for the Red Sea, Mare Erythraeum, and ruled it up until World War II. The British recaptured Eritrea in 1941 from the Italians and later administered it as a UN Trust Territory until it became federated with Ethiopia on Sept. 15, 1952. It was made an Ethiopian province on Nov. 14, 1962. A civil war broke out against the Ethiopian government, led by rebel groups who opposed the union and wanted independence for Eritrea. Fighting continued over the next 32 years. The modern state of Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia following a thirty year war which lasted from 1961 to 1991. Eritrea's constitution adopted in 1997 stipulates that the state is a presidential republic with a unicameral parliamentary democracy. But the constitution was never ratified and since the outbreak of hostilities with Ethiopia in May of 1998, the country is under a de-facto state of emergency ruled by presidential decree. Eritrea is a multilingual and multicultural country with two dominant religions and nine ethnic groups. The country has no official language, but it has three working languages: Tigrinya, Arabic, and English.

The first Greeks arrived in Eritrea in the mid 19th century travelling through the Sudan and Egypt. In the town of Keren, VLASSIS FRANGOULIS established a small Community. The small church of St.John and the elementary school which were built then, are still maintained today. During the Italian census of 1894, there were already 178 Greeks living there.

The Greek community of Eritrea, with a history of about 100 years, was at its peak during the first decades of the Italian invasion and at some stage it reached approximately 400 people.

Even during the Fascist regime there were no clashes though many Greeks were rounded up and sent to Quoran in a concentration Camp. When the British took over the administration of Eritrea in 1941 they brought with them some high Greek Cypriot officers who, owing to their language and religion helped a lot of Greek families.

The first Greek Community of Asmara was founded in 1900. On the 14th January 1905 the first 'Constitution' was composed and on the 16th March 1910 this was officially recognised by order of King George 1st. This 'constitution' was then further ammended by a general meeting on the 21st August 1919 and approved by a new order on the 24th July, 1920. The Greek Community of Asmara was under the dependance of the Greek Embassy in Addis Abeba.