Product Code Database
East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the region is recognized in the United Nations Statistics Division scheme as encompassing 18 sovereign states and 4 territories. It includes the Horn of Africa to the North and Southeastern Africa to the south.
The East African Community, an economic and political bloc, currently includes the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania. Notably, the African Great Lakes region overlaps significantly with these countries.
Inside of Somalia there are two unrecognised states; Somaliland and Puntland, although Puntland still wants to join back with Somalia, for now it is independent. Adjacent to these mainland territories are island nations and territories such as the Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles, Réunion, Mayotte, and the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean.
Regions including portions of Mozambique and Madagascar, often aligned with Southern Africa, share significant historical and cultural connections with East Africa, particularly through the Indian Ocean's maritime networks. Sudan is also sometimes included due in part because it is a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) free trade area.
According to both genetic and fossil evidence, it has been posited that Archaic humans evolved into anatomically modern humans in the Horn of Africa around 200,000 years ago and dispersed from there. The recognition of Homo sapiens idaltu and Omo Kibish as anatomically modern humans would justify the description of contemporary humans with the subspecies name Homo sapiens sapiens. Because of their early dating and unique physical characteristics idaltu and kibish represent the immediate ancestors of anatomically modern humans as suggested by the Out-of-Africa theory.
In 2017 finds of modern human remains, dating to ca 300,000 years ago in Jebel Irhoud in Morocco, suggested that modern humans arose earlier and possibly in a larger area of Africa than previously thought.
East Africa is one of the earliest regions where Homo sapiens are believed to have lived. Evidence was found in 2018, dating to about 320,000 years ago, at the Kenyan site of Olorgesailie, of the early emergence of modern behaviors associated with Homo sapiens, including: long-distance trade networks (involving goods such as obsidian), the use of pigments, and the possible making of projectile points. It is observed by the authors of three 2018 studies on the site, that the evidence of these behaviors is approximately contemporary to the earliest known Homo sapiens fossil remains from Africa (such as at Jebel Irhoud and Florisbad Skull), and they suggest that complex and modern behaviors had already begun in Africa around the time of the emergence of Homo sapiens.
In September 2019, scientists reported the computerized determination, based on 260 , of a virtual Human skull of the last common human ancestor to / H. sapiens, representative of the earliest Homo sapiens, and suggested that Homo sapiens arose between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago through a merging of populations in South Africa and East Africa.
The migration route of the "Out of Africa" theory probably occurred in East Africa through the Bab-el-Mandeb. Today at the Bab-el-Mandeb straits, the Red Sea is about wide, but 50,000 years ago it was much narrower and sea levels were 70 meters lower. Though the straits were never completely closed, there may have been islands in between which could be reached using simple rafts. Some of the earliest hominin skeletal remains have been found in the wider region, including fossils discovered in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia, as well as in the Koobi Fora in Kenya and Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania.
The southern part of East Africa was occupied until recent times by Khoisan , whereas in the Ethiopian Highlands the donkey and such crop plants as teff allowed the beginning of agriculture around 7,000 BCE.Jared Diamond; ; p. 103; Lowland barriers and diseases carried by the tsetse fly, however, prevented the donkey and agriculture from spreading southwards. Only in quite recent times has agriculture spread to the more humid regions south of the equator, through the spread of cattle, sheep and crops such as millet. Language distributions suggest that this most likely occurred from Sudan into the African Great Lakes region, since the Nilotic languages spoken by these pre-Bantu farmers have their closest relatives in the middle Nile basin.
The Kingdom of Aksum was a trading empire centered Eritrea and northern Ethiopia.David Phillipson: revised by Michael DiBlasi (2012). 9780199735785, Oxford University Press. . ISBN 9780199735785 It existed from approximately 100–940 CE, growing from the proto-Aksumite Iron Age period to achieve prominence by the 1st century CE. The kingdom is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as an important marketplace for Ivory trade, which was exported throughout the ancient world. Aksum was at the time ruled by Zoskales, who also governed the port of Adulis. Periplus of the Erythreaean Sea , chs. 4, 5 The Aksumite rulers facilitated trade by minting their own Aksumite currency. The state also established its hegemony over the declining Kingdom of Kush.
After their movements from their original homeland in West Africa, Bantus also encountered in central east Africa peoples of Cushitic origin. As cattle terminology in use amongst the few modern Bantu pastoralism groups suggests, the Bantu migrants would acquire cattle from their new Cushitic neighbors. Linguistic evidence also indicates that Bantus most likely borrowed the custom of milking cattle directly from Cushitic peoples in the area.J. D. Fage, A History of Africa, Routledge, 2002, p.29
On the coastal section of the African Great Lakes region, another mixed Bantu community developed through contact with Muslim Arab and Persian people traders, leading to the development of the mixed Arab, Persian and African Swahili Coast. The Swahili culture that emerged from these exchanges evinces many Arab and Islamic influences not seen in traditional Bantu culture, as do the many Afro-Arab members of the Bantu Swahili people. With its original speech community centered on the coastal parts of Tanzania (particularly Zanzibar) and Kenya—a seaboard referred to as the Swahili Coast—the Bantu Swahili language contains many Arabic language loan-words as a consequence of these interactions.Daniel Don Nanjira, African Foreign Policy and Diplomacy: From Antiquity to the 21st Century, ABC-CLIO, 2010, p.114 Its important to note that Kiswahili grammar and structure are purely African and Bantu even if its vocabulary has non-African influence in the same way English remains a Germanic language regardless of its vocabulary being heavily influenced by Latin and French among other languages.
The earliest Bantu inhabitants of the east coast of Kenya and Tanzania encountered by these later Arab and Persian settlers have been variously identified with the trading settlements of Rhapta, Azania and Menouthias referenced in early Greek and Chinese writings from 50 CE to 500 CE,Casson, Lionel (1989). The Periplus Maris Erythraei. Lionel Casson. (Translation by H. Frisk, 1927, with updates and improvements and detailed notes). Princeton, Princeton University Press.Chami, F. A. (1999). "The Early Iron Age on Mafia Island and its relationship with the mainland." Azania Vol. XXXIV 1999, pp. 1–10.Chami, Felix A. 2002. "The Egypto-Graeco-Romans and Paanchea/Azania: sailing in the Erythraean Sea." From: Red Sea Trade and Travel. The British Museum. Sunday 6 October 2002. Organised by The Society for Arabian StudiesMiller, J. Innes. 1969. Chapter 8: "The Cinnamon Route". In: The Spice Trade of the Roman Empire. Oxford: University Press. Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the Weilue 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢 : A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. Draft annotated English translation. See especially Section 15 on Zesan = Azania and notes. ultimately giving rise to the name for Tanzania. These early writings perhaps document the first wave of Bantu settlers to reach central east Africa during their migration.
Between the 14th and 15th centuries, large African Great Lakes kingdoms and states emerged, such as the BugandaRoland Oliver, et al. "Africa South of the Equator", in Africa Since 1800. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 24–25. and Karagwe kingdoms of Uganda and Tanzania.
The Republic of Venice had gained control over much of the trade routes between Europe and Asia. After traditional land routes to India had been closed by the , Portugal hoped to use the sea route pioneered by da Gama to break the once Venetian trading monopoly. Portuguese rule in the African Great Lakes region focused mainly on a coastal strip centered around Mombasa. The Portuguese presence in the area officially began after 1505, when flagships under the command of Don Francisco de Almeida conquered Kilwa Kisiwani, an island located in what is now southern Tanzania.
In March 1505, having received from Manuel I of Portugal the appointment of viceroy of the newly conquered Portuguese India, he set sail from Lisbon in command of a large and powerful fleet, and arrived in July at Quiloa (Kilwa Kisiwani), which yielded to him almost without a struggle. A much more vigorous resistance was offered by the Moors of Mombasa. However, the town was taken and destroyed, and its large treasures went to strengthen the resources of Almeida. Attacks followed on Hoja (now known as Ungwana, located at the mouth of the Tana River), Barawa, Angoche, Pate Island and other coastal towns until the western Indian Ocean was a safe haven for Portuguese commercial interests. At other places on his way, such as the island of Anjediva Island, near Goa, and Kannur, the Portuguese built forts, and adopted measures to secure the Portuguese supremacy.
Portugal's main goal on the Swahili coast was to take control of the spice trade from the Arabs. At this stage, the Portuguese presence in East Africa served the purposes of controlling trade within the Indian Ocean and securing the sea routes linking Europe to Asia. Portuguese naval vessels were very disruptive to the commerce of Portugal's enemies within the western Indian Ocean and were able to demand high tariffs on items transported through the sea due to their strategic control of ports and shipping lanes. The construction of Fort Jesus in Mombasa in 1593 was meant to solidify Portuguese hegemony in the region, but their influence was clipped by the United Kingdom, Dutch Empire and Arab incursions into the Great Lakes region during the 17th century. The Omani Arabs posed the most direct challenge to Portuguese influence in the African Great Lakes region. By this time, the Portuguese Empire had already lost its interest on the spice trade sea route due to the decreasing profitability of that business. The Arabs reclaimed much of the Indian Ocean trade, forcing the Portuguese to retreat south where they remained in Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique) as sole rulers until the 1975 independence of Mozambique.
Omani Arab colonization of the Kenyan and Tanzanian coasts brought the once independent city-states under closer foreign scrutiny and domination than was experienced during the Portuguese period. Like their predecessors, the Omani Arabs were primarily able only to control the coastal areas, not the interior. However, the creation of clove plantations, intensification of the slave trade and relocation of the Omani capital to Zanzibar in 1839 by Seyyid Said had the effect of consolidating the Omani power in the region.
Arab governance of all the major ports along the Swahili coast continued until British interests aimed particularly at ending the slave trade and creation of a wage-labour system began to put pressure on Omani rule. By the late nineteenth century, the slave trade on the open seas had been completely outlawed by the British and the Omani Arabs had little ability to resist the British navy's ability to enforce the directive. The Omani presence continued in Zanzibar and Pemba until the Zanzibar Revolution in 1964. However, the official Omani Arab presence in Kenya was checked by German and British seizure of key ports and creation of crucial trade alliances with influential local leaders in the 1880s.
Portugal had first established a strong presence in southern Mozambique and the Indian Ocean since the 15th century, while during this period their possessions increasingly grew including parts from the present northern Mozambique country, up to Mombasa in present-day Kenya. At Lake Malawi, they finally met the recently created British Protectorate of Nyasaland (nowadays Malawi), which surrounded the homonymous lake on three sides, leaving the Portuguese the control of lake's eastern coast. The British Empire set foot in the region's most exploitable and promising lands acquiring what is today Uganda, and Kenya. The Protectorate of Uganda and the Colony of Kenya were located in a rich farmland area mostly appropriate for the cultivation of cash crops like coffee and tea, as well as for animal Animal husbandry with products produced from cattle and goats, such as Domestic goat, beef and milk. Moreover, this area had the potential for a significant residential expansion, being suitable for the relocation of a large number of British nationals to the region. Prevailing climatic conditions and the regions' geomorphology allowed the establishment of flourishing European-style settlements like Nairobi, Vila Pery, Vila Junqueiro, Porto Amélia, Maputo and Entebbe.
The France settled the largest island of the Indian Ocean (and the fourth-largest globally), Madagascar, along with a group of smaller islands nearby, namely Réunion and the Comoros. Madagascar became part of the French colonial empire following two military campaigns against the Kingdom of Madagascar, which it initiated after persuading Britain to relinquish its interests in the island in exchange for control of Zanzibar off the coast of Tanganyika, an important island hub of the trade. The British also held a number of island colonies in the region, including the extended archipelago of Seychelles and the rich farming island of Mauritius, previously under the French sovereignty. The German Empire gained control of a large area named German East Africa, comprising present-day Rwanda, Burundi and the mainland part of Tanzania named Tanganyika. In 1922, the British gained a League of Nations mandate over Tanganyika which it administered until Independence was granted to Tanganyika in 1961. Following the Zanzibar Revolution of 1965, the independent state of Tanganyika formed the United Republic of Tanzania by creating a union between the mainland, and the island chain of Zanzibar. Zanzibar is now a semi-autonomous state in a union with the mainland which is collectively and commonly referred to as Tanzania. German East Africa, though very extensive, was not of such strategic importance as the British monarchy colonies to the north: the inhabitation of these lands was difficult and thus limited, mainly due to climatic conditions and the local geomorphology. Italy gained control of various parts of Somalia in the 1880s. The southern three-fourths of Somalia became an Italian protectorate (Italian Somaliland).
Meanwhile, in 1884, a narrow coastal strip of Somaliland came under British control (British Somaliland). This Somaliland protectorate was just opposite the British colony of Aden on the Arabian Peninsula. With these territories secured, Britain was able to serve as gatekeeper of the sea lane leading to British Raj. In 1890, beginning with the purchase of the small port town of Asseb from a local sultan in Eritrea, the Italians colonized all of Eritrea. In 1895, from bases in Somalia and Eritrea, the Italians launched the First Italo–Ethiopian War against the Orthodox Empire of Ethiopia. By 1896, the war had become a total disaster for the Italians and Ethiopia was able to retain its independence. Ethiopia remained independent until 1936 when, after the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, it became part of Italian East Africa. The Italian occupation of Ethiopia ended in 1941 during World War II as part of the East African Campaign. The French also staked out an East African outpost on the route to French Indochina. Starting in the 1850s, the small protectorate of Djibouti became French Somaliland in 1897.
Kenya has enjoyed relatively stable governance. However, its politics have been turbulent at times, including the attempted coup d'état in 1982 and the 2007 election riots.
Tanzania has known a stable government since independence although there are significant political and religious tensions resulting from the political union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964. Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous state in the Tanzania.
Tanzania and Uganda fought the Uganda–Tanzania War in 1978–1979, which led to the removal of Uganda's despotic leader Idi Amin.
Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda have each faced instability and ethnic conflict since independence, most notably, they experienced the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the 1993 Burundi genocide and the subsequent Burundian Civil War. Rwanda and Uganda continue to be involved in related conflicts outside the region.
Djibouti, as well as the Puntland and Somaliland regions of Somalia, have seen relative stability. Canada's Africa Oil starts Somalia seismic survey – Reuters
South Sudan peacefully seceded from Sudan in 2011, six and a half years after a peace agreement ended the Second Sudanese Civil War. South Sudanese independence was nearly derailed by the South Kordofan conflict, particularly, South Sudanese independence was nearly derailed by a dispute over the status of the Abyei, and Abyei and South Kordofan's Nuba Hills both remained sources of tension between Juba and Khartoum .
The geography of East Africa is often stunning and scenic. Shaped by global plate tectonic forces that have created the East African Rift, East Africa is the site of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, the two tallest peaks in Africa. It also includes the world's second largest freshwater lake, Lake Victoria, and the world's second-deepest lake, Lake Tanganyika.
The unique geography and apparent suitability for farming made East Africa a target for exploration, exploitation and colonialism in the nineteenth century. Today, tourism is an important part of the economies of Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles, and Uganda. The easternmost point of the continent, that is Ras Hafun in Somalia, is of Archaeology, History and Economy importance.
| Muyinga |
| Mombasa (915,101; 2009 est.) |
| Gitarama |
| Mwanza |
| Gulu |
| Ali Sabieh |
| Keren |
| Dire Dawa |
| Hargeisa |
| Mutsamudu |
| – |
| Toamasina (326,286) Madagascar City Population |
| Beau Bassin-Rose Hill |
| Dzaoudzi |
| Saint Paul |
| Anse Etoile |
| Malakal |
| Blantyre (783,296; 2012 est.) |
| Nampula |
| Kitwe |
| Bulawayo |
Rainfall generally increases towards the south and with altitude, being around at Mogadishu and at Mombasa on the coast, whilst inland it increases from around at Garoowe to over at Moshi near Kilimanjaro. Rainfall in most of East Africa east of the Rwenzoris and Ethiopian Highlands is characterised by two main rainfall seasons, the long rains from March to May and the short rains from October to December. This is usually attributed to the passage of the Intertropical Convergence Zone across the region in those months, but it may also be analogous to the autumn monsoon rains of parts of Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and the Brazilian Nordeste. West of the mountains, the rainfall pattern is more typically tropical, with rain throughout the year near the equator and a single wet season in most of the Ethiopian Highlands from June to September — contracting to July and August around Asmara. Annual rainfall here ranges from over on the western slopes to around at Addis Ababa and at Asmara. In the high mountains rainfall can be over .
Rainfall variability is influenced by both El Niño events and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole. El Niño events tend to increase rainfall except in the northern and western parts of the Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands, where they produce drought and poor Nile floods. Similarly, a positive Indian Ocean Dipole result in warm sea-surface temperatures off the coast of East Africa and lead to increased rainfall over East Africa. Temperatures in East Africa, except on the hot and generally humid coastal belt, are moderate, with maxima of around and minima of at an altitude of . At altitudes of above , are common during the dry season and maxima typically about or less.
In the African Great Lakes region, Niger-Congo languages of the Bantu languages branch are most widely spoken. Among these languages are Gikuyu language, Luhya language, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Sukuma language, Luganda and many others. Swahili language, with at least 80 million speakers as a first or second language, is an important trade language in the Great Lakes area. It has official status in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.
Nilotic languages, such as Luo languages, Kalenjin, Maasai language and Nuer language, are spoken in lesser numbers, primarily in the African Great Lakes and Nile Valley.
Indo-European languages, such as English language, French language, Portuguese and Italian language, remain important in higher institutions in some parts of the larger region.
/ref> several countries in the region are struggling economically, with their situation worsened by political instability, such as the economy of South Sudan which stagnated due to the South Sudanese Civil War.
|
|
