ASMARA, the capital of the Italian colony of Eritrea, north east Africa. It is built on the Hamasen plateau, near its eastern edge, at an elevation of 7,765f t. It is some 40m. W.S.W. in a direct line from the seaport of Massawa but 75m. by railway. (The line from Massawa, which had reached Ghinda, at the foot of the plateau, in 1904, was completed to Asmara in 1912.) Pop.
(1931) 22,101, of whom 3,roi were Europeans. The natives are Abyssinian. The European quarter contains several fine public buildings. Fort Baldissera is built on a hill to the south-west of the town and is considered impregnable.
Asmara (Amharic, "good pasture place") is an old town. It was in the maritime province of northern Abyssinia, governed by the Bahar-nagash (ruler of the sea). By the Abyssinians the Ha masen plateau was known as the plain of the thousand villages, of which Asmara was one of the most prosperous, and it grew through being on the high road from Axum to Massawa. The Franco-Ger man War (1870) killed a project of W. Munzinger (q.v.) French consul at Massawa, to annex the Hamasen to France (cf. A. B. Wylde, Modern Abyssinia, . In 1872 Munzinger, now in Egyptian service, annexed Asmara to the khedivial dominions, but in 1884, owing to the rise of the Mandi, Egypt evacuated her Abyssinian provinces and Asmara was chosen by Ras Alula, the representative of the negus Johannes (King John), as his head quarters. Shortly afterwards the Italians occupied Massawa, and in 1889 Asmara. In 190o the seat of government was transferred from Massawa to Asmara, which is surrounded by rich lands, cultivated in part by Italian immigrants, and is a busy trading centre.