The region was historically called Medri Bahri (Land of the Sea).

The borders between Italian Eritrea and the Ethiopian Empire were defined in the 1889 Treaty of Wuchale.

After Italy conquered Ethiopia in 1936 and established the colony of Italian East Africa, Eritrea became part of it.

During World War II it fell under British military occupation and came under United Nations supervision in 1951.

After the Ethiopian revolution in 1974 the province was put under the reign of the Derg and later the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.