Africa - peoples
Africa is populated by nearly 3,000 ethnic groups or
peoples. The vast majority of these have been
politically independent entities, but each group has its
own cultural characteristics. Historically, Africa's
ethnic composition has undergone major changes. Peoples
have merged and split up, expanded and wiped out, and
some ethnic groups have emerged during the 20th century
as a result of the administrative measures of the
European colonial powers. The colonial division of
Africa also meant that many ethnic groups were divided
between two or more colonial empires that became
nation-states during the 20th century.
The traditional political structure of ethnic groups
has varied from stateless societies that exercised
political authority only at the local level, to
hierarchically built kingdoms. With few exceptions,
these structures have either been dismantled, modified,
or lost their former significance in the colonial
centuries or in the time thereafter. However, the
indigenous ethnic power elites still have significant
political influence in many African countries today, and
the traditional rulers often play an important ritual
and symbolic role.
In stateless societies as well as in kingdoms,
patrilineal or matrilineal descent (ie inherited from
male and female line, respectively) was a fundamental
organizational principle. Even in the 1990's, this is
the case in so many places in the country. Often,
several generations live under the same roof, where an
older man is the head of an extended family. In the
cities, the kinship-based organization has often
crumbled, and the extended families here have been
increasingly replaced by nuclear families. There is also
a tendency for the family structure to collapse when
young men move to the cities to find work, leaving
women, children and older men in the countryside.
According to
Countryaah, North Africa is populated primarily by
Arabs and Berbers, who both speak Afro-Asiatic
languages. However, the Berbers have often been
assimilated with the Arabs, who since the 600's may have
come to North Africa in several waves. Farming, in many
places with irrigation, traditionally dominates in the
coastal areas, while cattle breeding is the dominant
occupation in the arid areas.
West Africa is characterized by a cultural and
linguistic diversity. Most of the peoples in the
savannah area live on agriculture, but there are also
cattle breeders who live as nomads. Trade plays an
important role; pre-colonial cities such as Timbuktu,
Gao and Agadèz were originally trading cities, and the
empires that dominated the savannah area before the 18th
century - Ghana, Mali, Songhay, Kanem and Bornu - became
rich and powerful in long-distance trade.
In the rainforest area along the Atlantic coast,
agriculture is dominant. Many of the peoples of the area
have traditionally organized themselves into states. The
strongest pre-colonial states, like the great empires of
the savannah, were based on long-distance trade, and
several of them became dependent on the transatlantic
slave trade.
In Central Africa, most ethnic groups speak Bantu
languages, and they are thought to have originated in
Cameroon, from where they spread east and south for
approximately 2000 years ago. Farming is the dominant
occupation in Central Africa, but small groups of
pygmies in Gabon, Congo (Brazzaville) and the eastern
part of the Democratic Republic of Congo live mainly as
hunters and gatherers. Many of the ethnic groups were
traditionally monarchically organized; in pre-colonial
times, there were several powerful kingdoms such as the
Congo, Luba and Lund kingdoms. The kingdom peaked in the
16th and 17th centuries, but participation in the
transatlantic slave trade led to the collapse of the
political organization.
East Africa is populated by several cattle-breeding
ethnic groups who speak Nilosahari or Afro-Asiatic
languages. Afro-Asian languages are also spoken by
some agricultural groups in Ethiopia such as amhara,
which has dominated the Ethiopian state since its
founding approximately 1270. But East Africa is above
all populated by Bantu-speaking ethnic groups with
agriculture as the main source of business. Many of
these peoples, such as Baganda in Uganda, were
previously significant kingdoms. Rwanda and Burundi have
also been hierarchically structured monarchies, ruled by
a minority of Tutsis. Along the coast, there have been
Arab settlements since the ninth century; the peoples
here are influenced by Arabic culture and speeches
Swahili. Especially on Zanzibar, the Arab influence is
strong, and between 1840 and 1964 the island was ruled
by an Arab dynasty that originated in Oman.
South Africa was originally populated by san, who
were hunters and gatherers, and by khoikhoi, who were
cattle breeders. San was eventually pushed into the
desert-like areas of Namibia and Botswana by the
immigrant Bantu people, and most khoikhoi have in recent
generations been part of a mixed population, which is
also influenced by Bantu people, Europeans and Asians.
With the exception of the herero in Namibia, which have
traditionally been cattle breeders, the main occupation
of the South African Bantu people is agriculture or a
mixture of farming and cattle breeding. European
settlers (Africans) settled in the southernmost parts of
South Africa from the 17th century, and the conflicts
that then arose between them and the local population
and between the local ethnic groups among themselves
led, among other things, to the zulu in the early 1800's
a strong kingdom in Natal. In other parts of South
Africa, strong states existed long before the arrival of
Europeans; most famous is the kingdom which the
Portuguese called Monomotapa. Monomotapa conquered large
parts of the present-day states of Zimbabwe and
Mozambique in the 15th century, but was defeated by the
Portuguese in the 17th century.
Madagascar was probably not inhabited until the
400's-500's by immigrants from Indonesia. These later
mingled with other peoples, most of whom were of African
descent. Rice is grown by all ethnic groups on the
island, but cattle breeding also plays an important
role, both economically and ritually. The politically
dominant group is the merina, which lives on the
plateau. Both the merina and the other ethnic groups in
Madagascar were politically monarchically organized; the
merina kings conquered most of the island in the 19th
century. Namibia's foreign policy
Namibia's foreign policy has been dominated by
relations with its neighbor in the south, South Africa.
But also the neighboring countries organized in the
regional association The Cooperation Organization for
Southern Africa, SADC has been important. In recent
years, relations with China and North Korea have become
more important to Namibia.
Strong neighbors
Relations with South Africa has been dominant in
Namibia's foreign policy, and was sometimes problematic
prior to the change of power in South Africa in 1994.
The South African apartheid -state held by Namibia's
independence back Walvis Bay -enklaven and Penguin
Islands - despite Namibian and international protests.
As the country's only deep-water port, Walvis Bay is of
particular importance to Namibia, and in 1993 the South
African government agreed to transfer the area and
islands to Namibia; The transfer took place on March 1,
1994. A territorial discrepancy with South Africa has
also been linked to the Orange River, which in the south
forms the border between the two countries. Following
the democratization in South Africa, the political ties
between the two countries have been strengthened.
The historically good relationship between SWAPO and
the MPLA government in Angola has led to good relations
with neighboring countries in the north. In 1994–1995, a
conflict with Botswana over the border crossing of the
Chobeel River occurred, and the case was transferred to
the International Court of Justice in 1995. This was
approved by Botswana in 1999, which both countries
accepted, and a final border demarcation between the two
countries was begun by a joint commission. Other unclear
boundaries along the Chobe, Kwando and Linyati rivers
were clarified in 2003. In 1996, Botswana expressed
great concern over Namibian plans to bring Okavango
water down to the capital Windhoek through a pipeline.
Lack of water is a major problem for Namibia.
In 1998, Namibia became militarily involved in the
conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, together
with Angola and Zimbabwe - under the auspices of the
Regional Cooperation Organization Southern Africa (SADC),
of which Namibia joined on its independence. About 2,000
Namibian soldiers were sent to Congo to fight on
President Laurent Kabila's side in the civil war.
Namibia was also drawn into the civil war in Angola,
giving Angolan government forces the opportunity to
operate from the Namibian side of the border in fighting
against the UNITA rebel movement. As a result, in
1999-2000 UNITA targeted targets in Northern Namibia,
including rockets.
Other connections
Following the death of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi in
2002, and subsequent peace in Angola, the situation in
northeast Namibia became calmer, with increased
cross-border trade. Namibia participated with soldiers
of the UN Liberal Force (UNMIL) from 2003. Chinese
President Hu Jintao visited Namibia in 2007, signing
agreements on aid and economic cooperation. Namibia has
had some contact with North Korea, and in 2017 was
accused by the UN panel of experts in North Korea of
breaking sanctions against the Asian country. Namibia
has rejected the charges.
From the days of the liberation struggle, SWAPO had a
close relationship with both the Eastern European and
Scandinavian countries, and all the Nordic countries
have supported Namibia with development assistance; In
1990, Norway made Namibia one of its priority
cooperation countries for aid, but aid has since been
reduced. Namibia continues to receive Norwegian
assistance, but development cooperation has assumed new
forms, where direct government assistance is channeled
to an even greater extent through Norwegian
organizations and institutions. The cooperation has been
concentrated on the two main sectors fisheries and
energy. |