Eritrea

Eritrea is one of the world's youngest nations and one of its most isolated. After a thirty-year war for independence from Ethiopia - one of the longest conflicts in African history - it became a sovereign state in 1993. The celebration was short-lived. The government never held the promised elections, indefinite national military service became mandatory, and the country closed itself off from the outside world so thoroughly that it earned the nickname "Africa's North Korea." More Eritreans have fled the country per capita than almost any other nationality.

And yet, what's inside the borders is remarkable. Asmara, the capital, is a living museum of 1930s Italian Art Deco architecture - futurist cinemas, Rationalist government buildings, Cubist villas, and a Fiat Tagliero service station that looks like an airplane about to take off. UNESCO recognized the entire city center as a World Heritage Site in 2017. Beyond Asmara, the landscape drops from the highland plateau through terraced hillsides down to the Dahlak Archipelago in the Red Sea, where pristine coral reefs sit untouched by mass tourism. The Eritrean people, shaped by decades of struggle, are known for a fierce independence and quiet resilience that defines the national character.