Is Keren safe?
Eritrea · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Keren is a city in Eritrea, home to about 257k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,044 of 6,168, with a safety score of 52.6 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.
Emergency Ambulance 122244 · Fire 116 · Police 113
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country1 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Elevated homicide rate15.61 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 6× the global city median.
- Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Eritrea as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Within 25km of Eritrea’s land borders
Named in the official UK travel advice for Eritrea (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Keren.
How safe is Keren really?
No published homicide figure exists for Keren itself, so the national rate stands in: Eritrea recorded 16 homicides per 100,000 people in 2012 - roughly 6 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Eritrea at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2023-07-30). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 1 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Eritrea
Terrorism in Eritrea · Military activity in the Red Sea area · Local security measures · Armed civilians · Travel permits · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Personal ID · Internet and phone access · Photography · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Road conditions · Air travel · Sea travel · +1 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Eritrea — country-level, not specific to Keren. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 16 /100knational rate, 2012 · ~6× the global city median
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- no datacountry,
- Human development
- HDI 0.503country, 2023
- Income
- $1,720/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 257kurban centre · 16,056/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 37.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 54/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 26/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 13/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 4.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- no dataGeorgetown WPS Index · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 33.7 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.1 doctors /1k1.0 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 102 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Eritrea
- Drought
- 5.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 3.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 1.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Eritrea as a whole, not Keren specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Eritrea (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Eritrea; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Keren that gives 52.6/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Keren compared with Asmara
| Measure | Keren | Asmara | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 52.6 | 50.1 | +2.5 — better for Keren |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 16 /100k | 16 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 1 | −1 — better for Keren |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Eritrea, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Asmara →
Nearby cities
- Asmara 50.1
- Ghinda 52.6
- Massawa 52.6
- Adwa, Ethiopia 41.1
- Shire, Ethiopia 40.4
- Adigrat, Ethiopia 43.1
- Karora, Sudan 78.7
- Wadsharefy, Sudan 68.8
See Keren on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →