The culture of Eritrea is the collective cultural heritage of the various populations native to Eritrea. Eritrea has nine recognized ethnic groups. Each group have their own unique traditions and customs but some traditions are shared and appreciated among different ethnic groups. The local culture consists of various, and often quite similar, traditions practiced by the nation's many Cushitic and Ethiopian Semitic-speaking Afro-Asiatic ethnic groups, in addition to those practiced by the area's Nilotic minorities. Eritrean culture is in some ways similar to the cultures of other countries in the region.