East Africa – Culture, People, Economy, Geography and History


THE east africa is the most eastern region of the African continent, bathed by the Indian Ocean, and generally includes Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Seychelles, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Madagascar.

The region includes the peninsula called the “Horn of Africa” (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia) of special historical importance because, according to genetic and fossil evidence, it may have been where the modern humans.

culture and peoples

There are many different ethnic groups in the east africa.

Index

  • Oromo
  • Hutu
  • Somali

Oromo

O Oromo people it has approximately 40 million members and makes up 34% of the Ethiopian population, and is also found in Sudan and Kenya. The language of these people is the Oromo, which is part of the Afro-Asian language family. Currently, 60% of them follow Islam.

Historically, the Oromo ruled themselves through a democratic system called Gadaa (which means “era”), which elected men of different classes (“misiensa”) for judicial, political, ritual and religious. These leaders had an eight-year term when the next election took place.

Oromo people East Africa

Hutu

Living in Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, the Hutu people have about 18 million members and 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians are Hutus.

This group speaks the Rwanda-Urundi language, which is part of the Bantu idiomatic group. The history of these people is marked by conflicts with the ethnic group of the Tutsi people.

With the Belgian occupation of the territories of Burundi and Rwanda during the neocolonial period, artificial monarchies were established and guaranteed by the European power. When the Belgians withdrew (1959), however, there was a transfer of power and social inversion at a troubled time.

In Rwanda, this led to violence by the Hutu majority against the Tutsi minority. Tens of thousands of Tutsis were killed and many others fled to neighboring countries.

Later, Tutsis exiled from Burundi invaded Rwanda, prompting Rwanda to close its border with Burundi. In Burundi, a genocide campaign was conducted against the Hutu population in 1972 and around 100,000 Hutus died.

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Hutu people East Africa

Somali

O Somali people it has between 28 and 30 million representatives and gives the country Somalia its name. Their language is Somali. Almost all representatives follow Islam. Due to the Somali Diaspora episode, the culture and customs of this people were spread throughout the world.

The phenomenon of the flight of about one million citizens from Somalia occurred due to the country's civil war (1969). The main destinations were Kenya, Yemen and Ethiopia, but the number of Somali descendants in the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, UAE and other countries is very expressive.

Somali people East Africa

Economy

THE east africa it was an important point for European exploration, exploration and colonization in the 19th century. Today, tourism is an important part of the economies of Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles and Uganda.

The country with the highest GDP in the region is Ethiopia, with coffee, gold, leather products, oil seeds and ornamental flowers being its main export products. The Horn of Africa's geographic position also makes it a heavily trafficked region.

geography

Formed by the shock of tectonic plates that created the Rift of East Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, are the two highest peaks in Africa. The region also includes the world's second largest freshwater lake, Lake Victoria, and the world's second deepest lake, Lake Tanganyika.

Due to a combination of altitude, relief and global events such as El Niño, East Africa is unusually dry for a tropical region.

On the coast of Somalia, many years can pass without any rain. Rainfall density in Ethiopia and Eritrea is one of the factors that produce droughts or floods on the Nile.

History

During the period of the Great Navigations, the Portuguese had staging posts in the region of present-day Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique, which they used to reach India. The route of Vasco da Gama (who visited Mombasa in 1498) was used for centuries and left an influence in the region that persists to this day.

It is worth mentioning that during the European colonial domination, Ethiopia was the only country that managed to successfully resist, remaining an independent territory despite the Italian attacks.

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