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Although most anthropologists agree that human beings originated in Africa millions of years ago, today billions of people remain vastly ignorant about humanity’s birthplace. Historian Randall Fegley, a specialist in African history and area studies, has written widely in an effort to overcome that ignorance. Here he answers a number of questions about the African continent’s history and contemporary political scene, ranging from the Nubian influence on ancient Egypt to the present-day occupants of the Sahara. Fegley also provides a list of essential reference works on Africa, a guide to the best places to see wildlife, and tips for travelers who wish to traverse the continent.
Q: Is it possible to drive the length of Africa, from north to south?
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A: Yes, over the years a large number of people have driven from the Mediterranean coast of Egypt to the Cape of Good Hope near the southern tip of South Africa, a journey of more than 4,500 miles.
Road conditions are quite good in Egypt, but travel in northern Sudan and Ethiopia is particularly arduous. Here, the difficult physical journey is often impossible due to political reasons, particularly due to fighting in Sudan and Ethiopia and frequent border difficulties between Egypt and Sudan. Due to swamps, lack of bridges across the Nile, and many decades of conflict, traveling through southern Sudan is impossible. Ethiopia is the best alternative. The southern half of the journey has better roads and is much easier. From Ethiopia, the most direct route to South Africa passes through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.
For a good look at this route through Africa, I recommend the book and video series Pole to Pole, which documents Michael Palin’s 1991 journey from the North Pole to the South Pole.
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Q: What is the most popular sport in Africa?
A: Soccer (or as its usually called outside of the United States, football) is the most popular sport in Africa. While the origins of this sport are European and it came to Africa with European influence, Africa has made its mark on soccer. Particularly significant have been the achievements of local and national teams from Morocco, Nigeria, Cameroon, and South Africa. To learn more about soccer in Africa, check out African Football Confederation Online.
Along with soccer, the British sport of cricket is very popular in South Africa, which has also produced a number of tennis, golf, and swimming stars. Africans have also made a mark on the sport of distance running. Famous African runners have included Kenya’s Kip Keino and, more recently, Ethiopia’s Haile Gebreselassie.
Q: What former colonies in Africa have been the most stable since independence?
A: As much news from Africa often relates horrific problems of instability, answering this question is really refreshing. Success tends not to be seen as newsworthy, but some African nations have developments worth noting.
Since the 1960s a unique form of democracy combining British parliamentary ideas with African traditions has been functioning well in poor, landlocked Botswana, where a free press and a lively political system have developed. Less democratic but still stable, Kenya came to terms with its white minority, established a thriving tourist industry and free press, and became the center of East African political, economic, and cultural life. Under poet-president Léopold Sédar Senghor and his successors, Senegal has become a similar center for French-speaking West Africa. Cameroon has witnessed economic developments that have promoted stability. Until a military coup in the late 1990s, Côte d’Ivoire was a shining example of progress and stability. Morocco has been transformed from an absolute monarchy to an outward-looking constitutional monarchy. Tunisia and Egypt have also moved toward democracy, accompanied by economic, cultural, and tourist industry developments. However, Africa’s largest democracy, Nigeria, has had a history of civil strife, economic chaos, and military rule. Hence, democracy and stability are not necessarily the same.
Many African nations have had free elections. However, elections alone do not assure democracy or stability. Most African nations are undermined by poverty and lack the free presses and independent courts necessary for stable democracy.
Racked by violence for much of the 20th century, multiracial South Africa may have the continent’s highest potential for stability in the near future.
Q: Which current African leader has been in power the longest?
A: The longest-ruling African head of state is Gnassingbe Eyadéma, president of Togo since April 1967. Eyadéma had been the most important man in Togo since he led sub-Saharan Africa’s first military coup in 1963. At that time the world was astonished at the speed with which Eyadéma’s tiny army was able to overthrow Togo’s first president, Sylvanus Olympio, who was killed in front of the American Embassy as he fled for refuge.
Within a few years of this groundbreaking coup, most African countries experienced coups of their own. Some scholars believe that the ease with which Eyadéma was able to dispose of Togo’s democratically elected government was a factor leading to a seemingly contagious spread of military rule.
Over the years Togo has remained fairly stable and its capital, Lomé, has become a noted center of European-African cooperation. Eyadéma, distancing himself from his violent past, is now one of Africa’s elder statesmen.
Other long-serving African leaders include Gabon’s Omar Bongo, since November 1967; Libya’s Muammar al-Qaddafi, since September 1969; and Kenya’s Daniel arap Moi, since October 1978.
Q: Which African nations are monarchies?
A: Africa is currently home to three monarchies: Morocco, Lesotho, and Swaziland.
In the second half of the 20th century, a number of Africa’s most important monarchies disappeared. Military coups overthrew the monarchs of Egypt (1952), Libya (1969), and Ethiopia (1974). Of these, only the hereditary Ethiopian emperor has significant popular support today.
For many years an absolute monarchy, Morocco transformed its political system through the 1990s into a constitutional monarchy based on European models. In the far south of the continent, Lesotho and Swaziland are both led by kings. However, in the case of Lesotho, the army has often run the country. Both of these small kingdoms are dependent upon the Republic of South Africa.
Elsewhere throughout the continent a number of local monarchs are officially recognized as having special localized roles. These range from chiefs in Botswana to the king of Buganda in Uganda to many paramount chiefs throughout West Africa, the most notable being those of Ghana’s Ashanti. Though the British head of state, Elizabeth II, is not a traditional African monarch, she is recognized as the head of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is an association of Britain and her former colonies, many of which are African.
Q: What is the most ethnically diverse nation in Africa?
A: This is a difficult question, partly due to the rather vague meaning of the term ethnic diversity. If ethnic diversity means difference in race (color), then South Africa, with its great variety of black, white, Asian, and Coloured (mixed-race) groups, can be seen as the most diverse nation in Africa. If, on the other hand, religion is used as an indicator of ethnicity, as is often the case in many parts of Africa, then Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, could be seen as the most diverse. Then again, if language (often noted as tribal affiliations) is used to measure diversity, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan, each with hundreds of languages, have distinctions of being extremely—and often divisively—diverse.
If one combines factors of race, religion, and language, one could conclude that South Africa and the Sudan are tied in terms of their overall diversity. Quite apart from these large nations, tremendous cultural differences exist in smaller countries, such as Kenya, and even tiny ones, such as Djibouti and Equatorial Guinea.
Q: What were the most important African states at the start of European colonization?
A: Answering this question is rather complicated because the movement of Europeans to the interior of Africa began several hundred years after a European presence was established in the coastal areas. In the 1500s the Portuguese were able to make contact with a number of African states, including the Kongo Kingdom at the mouth of the Congo River, and with the Christian kings of Ethiopia. European traders heard of a large kingdom in southern Africa’s interior but never made contact. This was undoubtedly Mwene Mutapa, or Monomotapa, the culture that built the stone fortress town Great Zimbabwe.
During the era of the slave trade, important states developed among the Ashanti in Ghana and western Nigeria’s Yoruba. Further inland the Hausa established important states. By the 1800s the powerful Tukolor Empire blocked French entry into Mali, while in the remainder of West Africa the Islamic kingdom of the Fulani expanded southward. Elsewhere in Africa, important states were found in Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar, and throughout all of Arab-dominated North Africa.
Q: I am trying to assemble a reading list for the general reader interested in Africa. What books do you recommend for the following topics: history (ancient, colonial, and modern); exploration history (perhaps including travel journals or biographies); literature or popular novels; and any other outstanding books you are aware of that are suited for general interest.
A: This is quite a task! A good general reference:
Martin, Phyllis M., and Patrick O'Meara. Africa. Indiana University Press, 1995.
For a broad general history:
Oliver, Roland and Fage, J. D. A Short History of Africa (Harmondsworth UK: Penguin, 1988).
Among numerous books on ancient Africa, my recommendations are the following:
Adams, William Y. Nubia: Corridor to Africa (Princeton: Allen Lane, 1984).
David, Rosalie. Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998).
Davidson, Basil. The Lost Cities of Africa (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1970).
Many books have been written on the colonial era and exploration. My choices:
Pakenham, Thomas. The Scramble for Africa (New York: Avon, 1991).
West, Richard. Congo (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1972).
Kingsley, Mary. Travels in West Africa (London: Virago, 1982).
Alan Moorehead. The White Nile and The Blue Nile (several editions and publishers).
For Africa since colonialism:
Marnham, Patrick. Fantastic Invasion (London: Jonathan Cape, 1980).
Lamb, David. The Africans (New York: Vintage/Random House, 1987).
Jackson, Robert H., and Rosberg, Carl G. Personal Rule in Black Africa (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982).
Ungar, Sanford J. Africa (New York: Touchstone, 1989).
Specifically on Rwanda (a Pulitzer Prize winner):
Gourevitch, Philip. We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families (New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1998).
Two good guides to African literature:
Zell, Hans M.; and Bundy, Carol and Coulon, Virginia. A New Reader's Guide to African Literature (New York: Africana, several editions).
Strathern, Oona. Traveller's Literary Companion: Africa (Lincolnwood IL: Passport, 1995).
Other useful books that don't fit into the categories above:
Hultman , Tami. The Africa News Cookbook (Harmondsworth UK: Penguin, 1985).
Devine, Elizabeth, and Braganti, Nancy L. The Travelers' Guide to African Customs and Manners (New York: St. Martin's, 1995).
Also have a look at Lonely Planet's series of travel guides covering Africa.
Q: Is there a schism between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa?
A: Although the Sahara desert physically separates North Africa from the remainder of the continent, there is no clear line dividing human populations. More significant than physical separation is the interaction between Africa’s most important religious groups: Islam, Christianity, and traditional religions.
Islam is often seen as a force that makes North Africa different from areas to the south. However, Islam extends well into sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in West African countries such as Mali, Guinea, and Nigeria, where trans-Saharan trade long ago brought religious and cultural influences.
A great deal of conflict has occurred between Muslims on the one hand and Christians and African traditionalists on the other. This has led to protracted wars in Sudan and Chad and considerable instability and conflict in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. However, one would need to go back at least 1,000 years to see the Sahara as a clear cultural dividing line.
Q: Where are some good places to see African wildlife in the wild?
A: Africa has numerous natural environments, meaning that various plants and animals occur in different places. For example, the mountains of Ethiopia are ideal places to spot baboons. Rain-forest environments, such as southern Cameroon and the Congo River valley, host numerous species but are often inaccessible to travelers.
When most people think of African wildlife, it is the savanna areas of the continent’s east and south that come to mind. These grassy plains are the home of lions, cheetahs, giraffes, elephants, and dozens of varieties of antelope. Crocodiles and hippopotamuses are found near bodies of water. Particularly well-developed national parks and game reserves are found in Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Botswana’s Okavango Delta is a great but less visited wildlife environment. Due to political instability and decreasing numbers, two African species increasingly difficult to see in the wild are mountain gorillas in Rwanda and Uganda and black and white rhinoceroses in southern Sudan.
Poignantly, Africans often say that Westerners come only to see the animals and not the people. If you’re ever fortunate enough to visit that fascinating continent, I recommend that you try to arrange visits with the African people as well as touring the game parks.
Q: Why has the AIDS epidemic hit sub-Saharan Africa the hardest?
A: This is a good question. Africa’s AIDS epidemic has generated much controversy over the past two decades, and HIV/AIDS continues to affect sub-Saharan Africa more profoundly than any other region of the world. I am not satisfied with any single answer as to its cause. However, here are a few of the significant factors.
First, HIV/AIDS probably originated somewhere in central Africa, where the hot, humid climate is conducive to all sorts of diseases. The disease then spread throughout much of the continent where many poor countries’ health systems are rudimentary, and in some cases, nonexistent. Studies of the disease took considerable time and at first were very confusing. The often sexual nature of the disease’s spread was a factor in the unwillingness of many governments and peoples to admit a problem existed.
When governmental, medical, religious, and educational forces were mustered, they were often hampered by lack of resources. Poor schools, transportation, and communication delayed or prevented effective campaigns to combat the behaviors and superstitions accompanying the epidemic.
In some places, such as Uganda, campaigns have had an effect, but the disease continues to spread southward and westward at an ever-increasing rate. Prostitution and promiscuous sexual activity along many of the continent’s long-distance truck routes have been behaviors difficult to alter, and such behaviors encourage contagion. Meanwhile, AIDS has decimated a generation of African people.
Q: What was the Bantu migration?
A: The Bantu migration was a movement of people speaking languages of the Bantu family. Although no written languages existed to record the migration, anthropologists have studied the Bantu’s long progression, beginning before 300 bc and not yet completely finished at the time of the arrival of Europeans in southern Africa in the 1600s. The reasons for this migration are not clear but were probably environmental.
The Bantu’s original homeland was in the area around the present-day border of Nigeria and Cameroon. From this area they spread east along the tropical rain-forest zone to Lake Victoria and south through the rain forest to the Congo River. Later movements spread the Bantus all the way south to what is now South Africa. This migration displaced indigenous hunter-gatherers such as the pygmies and the San. Most Africans today speak Bantu languages.
Q: What is hindering the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
A: Efforts to ensure peace and stability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have always been difficult. Cultural diversity and a history of colonial rule, dictatorship, and foreign intervention have been major roadblocks.
At independence in 1960, the country was torn apart by regions trying to secede. Like most African countries, the Congo’s borders were determined by Europeans who often ignored local conditions. Given the region’s size and dense rain-forest environment, connections between its various ethnic groups have always been poor. Hence, many Congolese had little knowledge of other peoples beyond their own neighbors. Some groups were in conflict with others. Building a national identity has been nearly impossible. This atmosphere has fostered ethnic hatreds, which have blocked any path to peace up to the present.
Meanwhile, rivalry between the United States and the USSR brought competing ideologies and foreign manipulation, including support for rebels, assassinations, and political intrigue. This culminated in General Mobutu Sese Seko’s rule, an extremely corrupt regime that lasted 32 years and sapped the country of its income and stability.
Mobutu’s overthrow in May 1997 led to the return of the divided politics of the past. Support for the new Congolese leader, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, quickly disintegrated. Competition by superpowers over the Congo’s rich resources has been replaced by inter-African rivalries rooted in ethnic, ideological, and economic difficulties. The Congo’s neighbors, Rwanda and Uganda, supported various rebel groups, and Angola and Zimbabwe supported Kabila. Rebels seized the country’s eastern half and a deadlock has existed ever since, despite several rounds of peace negotiations.
Q: Does Egypt belong to Africa or the Middle East? It's on Africa, but you always hear about it involved with Middle Eastern politics.
A: Throughout history, one of Egypt's great strengths has been its position as a crossroads. Relatively close to Europe, it is the land bridge between Africa and Asia, and it is also the maritime link between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea (since the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869).
Egypt is the most populous Arab nation, and its capital, Cairo, has been Africa's largest city for centuries. It is situated at the end of the Nile, which is the world’s longest river. With all of this historical, geographical, and cultural prominence, confusion over Egypt's identity is understandable.
The Egyptians themselves have seldom thought in terms of belonging to one continent or another. The Nile Valley, the Mediterranean, the Sahara, and the Islamic world all blend together. Physically, the vast majority of the country is on the African continent. However, the Sinai Peninsula, at the country’s eastern side, is considered part of Asia.
In ancient times, links with Africa were very strong. However, since its invasion by the Assyrians in the 7th century BC, Egypt has tended to look to the Mediterranean and Middle East for its cultural, religious, political, and economic ties. Most Egyptians identify themselves racially as Arabs, and hence as Middle Easterners. But many also have Nubian (African) blood. Over the last 200 years, Egyptian links with the Sudan, Ethiopia, Libya, and other African countries have been strong. Egypt will undoubtedly continue to be enriched by its curious blending of the African and Middle Eastern worlds.
Q: What is the Great Rift Valley?
A: Created in geologically recent times, the Great Rift Valley is a massive fault line. It extends about 6,000 km (4,000 mi) from the Gulf of Aqaba (between the Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia) southward along the Red Sea, through East Africa to the Zambezi River basin. From north to south along the rift, lakes Albert, Edward, Victoria, Kivu, Tanganyika, and Nyasa (or Malawi) form the continent’s Great Lakes region and divide East Africa from Central Africa. Several volcanic peaks mark the northern sector of the Great Rift Valley’s course through Africa.
One of Africa’s most impressive natural features, the East African Rift system has caused fracturing, volcanism, the opening of the Red Sea, and the Arabian Plate’s northeastward drift over the past 66 million years. The valley’s natural beauty and rich wildlife bring many tourists to Kenya and Tanzania.
Q: What is the Horn of Africa?
A: The Horn of Africa is Africa’s easternmost region and includes the countries of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia. It is called the Horn because Somalia juts northeastward to a hornlike point, separating the Gulf of Aden from the rest of the Indian Ocean. Some scholars also include Sudan and the northeastern portions of Kenya.
Along with Egypt, the Horn of Africa was the site of some of the continent’s oldest civilizations, including Kush, in northern Sudan; Aksum, in Ethiopia and Eritrea; and Punt, believed to have been in what is now Somalia. Today the Horn of Africa is the setting of several very long conflicts, including Sudan’s civil war, border clashes between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and instability in Somalia that has resulted in northern regions of the country breaking away.
A good book on the region is The Horn of Africa edited by Charles Gurdon.
Q: What is kente cloth?
A: Kente cloth is a traditional woven fabric produced in southern Ghana by the Ashanti people. Its numerous patterns, often featuring yellows, reds, and oranges, indicate the origin and status of the person wearing it. Kente has special significance in the rituals associated with Ghana’s traditional hierarchy of chiefs and sub-chiefs.
This style of cloth has become a famous symbol of West Africa. Among one of the many treasured gifts presented to the United Nations to decorate its New York headquarters is a giant tapestry of kente cloth from Ghana.
Q: How did the ancient Nubian culture influence ancient Egypt in its ascendancy?
A: It is clear that the ancient Nubian and Egyptian civilizations influenced each other. Unfortunately, much of the cultural transmission occurred before written records were kept. It has often been assumed that Egypt, destined to become one of history's greatest powers, was the greater influence. However, much recent archaeological evidence, particularly around Kerma in the northern Sudan, suggests that Nubian influences on Egypt were also very strong.
The large-scale culture in northern Kush—later known as Nubia—was evident from prehistoric times. After Kush was occupied by Egypt, it had a special status within the empire of the pharaohs.
It is virtually impossible to untangle the types of economic, social, and technological influences that may have flowed north. The peoples to the south of Egypt clearly had a molding effect on the religion of their northern neighbors, particularly in passing on gods associated with animals such as birds, cattle, and crocodiles. As ancient Egypt was declining around 712 BC, the Kushites moved north to rule Egypt, as the 25th Dynasty, for more than half of a century.
The best book on Nubia is William Y. Adams's Nubia: Corridor to Africa.
Q: What are some of the great political or economic disasters that have occurred in Africa? What are some of the great political, economic, or cultural triumphs of the last 20 years?
A: The last 500 years have seen much tragedy in Africa. The greatest disaster to beset the continent was that of slavery by Europeans, Arabs, and Turks, which sapped Africa's manpower and energy.
Following the end of colonialism in the early 1960s, Africans faced other disasters. Encouraged by revolutionary rhetoric and artificially high post-World War II commodity prices, most new African governments initiated ill-conceived development plans. These plans often ended in high debts, rampant corruption, brutal dictators, and political instability. This instability, along with colonialism's lasting effects, has spawned Africa's most serious current problems. Seemingly endless ethnic conflicts in Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Nigeria, Chad, Angola, Ethiopia, and the Congo have cost many millions of lives and have intensified severe health problems, including malaria, AIDS, and malnutrition.
Along with noteworthy economic and political developments in individual nations, such as Morocco, Egypt, Kenya, Cameroon, Botswana, and South Africa, Africa has seen two major triumphs in the past century. The most recent is its victory over European and Middle Eastern colonial powers.
However, a seldom recognized achievement is Africa's triumph over many of its natural obstacles. A hundred years ago large areas of the continent were unmapped and inaccessible. Dealing with Africa's vast size and extremes in climate and terrain, both its inhabitants and invaders have overcome previously insurmountable barriers to connect the continent with itself and the outside world.
Q: Can you explain what is going on in Rwanda? Why are they fighting?
A: The situation in Rwanda is a complex web of ethnic discord. One group, the Tutsi, traditionally dominated; this group was bolstered by German and later Belgian colonial authorities. In 1959, just before independence, Rwanda's Hutu majority overthrew the Tutsi, who accounted for no more than 12 per cent of the population. Atrocities occurred and many Tutsi fled into neighboring Uganda.
The Hutu dominated the country until 1990, when the Tutsi-backed Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF)—a movement of Tutsi refugees and moderate Hutu—invaded Rwanda from Uganda. Then, in spring 1994, an airplane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and neighboring Burundi was shot down. Although responsibility for the shoot-down was never determined, the deaths were blamed on the RPF. This triggered anti-Tutsi massacres.
The RPF advanced toward the Rwandan capital of Kigali, and the Tutsi reciprocated the violence done to them, killing several thousand people.
The slaughter of some 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu ended with the RPF and a new generation of Tutsi leaders taking control. These same two ethnic groups, often taking on the appearance of socioeconomic classes, are also at conflict with each other in Burundi.
The situation in this highly populated region of Africa is not so much one of fighting as it is one of dominant groups slaughtering opponents who become defenseless. Two good books to read on this are Catherine Newbury's Cohesion of Oppression and Philip Gourevitch's We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families.
Q: Were the 1994 Rwandan massacres an example of genocide?
A: This question troubles me deeply. Rwanda is definitely the most recent example of genocide. Yet most of the world chose to look away.
According to international law, genocide is an attempt to eliminate a people. The term has only been with us since World War II (1939-1945), but genocide has occurred throughout history.
The Tutsi people dominated what is now Rwanda until the majority Hutu people overthrew them in the years before the country achieved independence in 1962. In the early 1990s the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) invaded the country. Then, in 1994, an airplane carrying the Rwandan president—a Hutu—was mysteriously shot down. Hutu extremists began murdering Tutsi people (as well as Hutu moderates). The elimination of the Tutsi people was a clearly expressed goal, as evidenced by government radio broadcasts. In 100 days, between 500,000 and 1 million people were murdered, a death rate faster than that of the Holocaust.
As the massacres were beginning, United Nations peacekeeping forces were removed. Foreign governments, including the United States, avoided using the term genocide, fearing that they would be pulled into an expensive and deadly conflict.
Eventually, the RPF took over, and tribunals have been established in Rwanda and Tanzania to prosecute those accused of genocide. The effects of victimization and guilt will linger in Rwanda for generations.
Philip Gourevitch’s We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families is an excellent book on Rwanda’s genocide. A detailed Human Rights Watch report is called Leave None to Tell the Story.
Q: Do people live in the Sahara?
A: The usual image of the Sahara, the world’s largest desert, is one of vast, barren sand dunes. However, a significant number of people live, work, and travel there. The most famous of these people are nomads, particularly the Bedouins (originally from the Arabian Peninsula) and the Tuareg in the desert’s west. These peoples move seasonally along ancient caravan routes, living in tents and often navigating by the stars and terrain.
Various peoples live around the Sahara’s oases and in cooler mountain areas where rainfall is more frequent. One of the largest communities is at the oasis of Al Khārijah (Kharga), in Egypt. Mountainous areas include the Ahaggar Mountains in southern Algeria and the Tibesti massif in northern Chad, where the isolated Toubou, or Teda, survive as a remnant of the once widespread Saharan language family.
More recently, modern technology has brought others to the desert. Inhabited by officials, traders, and descendents of slaves from settled areas beyond the Sahara, small cities such as Tamanrasset, Algeria, have sprung up along routes where long-distance trucks have replaced pack animals. Modern communities flourish near oil and natural gas fields in remote areas of Libya and Algeria.
Determining the number of people living in the Sahara is difficult. The vast area, coupled with the region’s limited governmental resources and widespread nomadic movements have made credible population censuses impossible. However, the number runs into millions.
Q: What are some traditions different African groups have in common? Are there any traditions everyone on the continent shares?
A: Few people outside of Africa realize how diverse that continent really is. For thousands of years the traditions of different cultures have evolved, often in isolation from one another because of Africa's challenging geographical barriers. This situation was fostered by the world's largest desert, its second largest rain forest, numerous other deserts, mountains, swamps, and non-navigable stretches of rivers.
Thus it is very difficult to speak of 'African traditions.' Some groups are polygamous; others are monogamous. Some trace their descent matrilineally (through the mother’s side); others trace it patrilineally (through the father’s side). Hunter-gatherers, farmers, and herders all have distinctive cultures. Also, the many groups in African have been influenced by Asia and Europe to different degrees.
Africans do share a few traditions that are associated with the family and the individual's position within the family. Weddings, funerals, and coming-of-age ceremonies differ greatly in ritual, style, and emphasis, but all celebrate the concept of family collectivity and the importance of one's ancestors and descendents. Numerous books, articles, Web sites, and other works have examined African traditions by looking at a sampling of ethnic groups. This is a good approach, but one must be wary of how many more differences exist.
Q: What are the prospects for peace in Somalia?
A: Somalia was created in 1960 when British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland were merged. From 1969 to 1991 Major General Mohamed Siad Barre ruled the country with Soviet assistance. Few others were allowed significant political roles in Somalia, a resource-poor country racked by famine and war with Ethiopia. An uprising against Barre forced him to flee the country in January 1991. Somalia, though almost linguistically homogenous, was splintered by numerous clan rebellions.
In May 1991 the former British territory broke away. Meanwhile, six groups vied for control of the capital, Mogadishu. By December 1992 a United Nations force, including 28,000 American troops, was deployed to disarm the factions and protect the flow of aid. This poorly defined mission, known as Operation Restore Hope, ended after American forces were withdrawn following a disastrous raid on the forces of warlord Mohamed Aidid. A stalemate ensued for years. No single group was able to assert power.
By 2000 the situation had become relatively calm and a new government was formed. However, former British Somaliland remains independent of its control.
Historically, Somalia has had little experience with mass democratic political participation or government by consent. Stability has been elusive, and prospects for peace depend on the goodwill of competing warlords.
Good books on this situation are David Laitin and Said Samatar’s Somalia: Nation in Search of a State, and Learning from Somalia by Walter Clarke and Jeffrey Herbst.
Q: How are women and minority groups treated in Egypt?
A: A defining characteristic of modern Egypt's identity is Islam. However, not all Egyptians are Muslim. About 10 percent are Christians—mainly members of the Coptic or Egyptian Orthodox Church. As a result of emigration, the country's once large Jewish minorities have been reduced to tiny, aging communities.
Non-Muslims have been restricted in terms of their occupational choices and have been denied permission to build or repair places of worship. While the Egyptian government has a good deal of commitment to international norms of human rights, radical Islamic groups have provoked much discord in the form of intimidation, rioting, and assassination.
Egyptian women have traditionally been among the least restricted women in the Islamic world. However, Islamist pressures similar to those faced by religious minorities such as the Copts also are obstacles to women. While Egypt's human rights record is comparatively good, much change is still needed in laws, policies, and attitudes if the country's religious minorities and women are to feel secure.
Two important role models for religious minorities and women have emerged in recent years: former United Nations secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali, a Copt, and Jehan Sadat, the widow of former president Anwar Sadat, who was assassinated by Muslim extremists in 1981.
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