120 Million People, No Coast: The Port Ethiopia Can't Use (Animated Map)

Eritrea's port of Assab sits less than 100 kilometers from Ethiopia, a country of more than 120 million people with no coast. Yet almost none of Ethiopia's trade goes through it. On October 1, 2026, Ethiopia closed its embassy in Asmara and Eritrea cut all ties. We follow one container to find out why. The Bab el-Mandeb, the Port of Djibouti, the 750-kilometer railway to Addis Ababa, Eritrea's independence in 1993, the 1998 war, the UAE base in Assab, Abiy Ahmed's Red Sea speech, Somaliland and Berbera, and the new war in Tigray and Afar next to the Djibouti corridor. If you were Ethiopia, which coast would you choose? Tell us in the comments. Like the video and subscribe for more crises explained on the map.