Everything about East Africa totally explained
East Africa is the
easternmost
region of the
African
continent, variably defined by
geography or
geopolitics. It is traditionally comprised of the following countries:
Sudan is often included in this region.
Madagascar is also sometimes included, but has close cultural ties to
Southeast Asia and the islands of the
Indian Ocean.
Geography and climate
Some parts of East Africa have been renowned for their concentrations of wild animals, such as the "
big five" of
elephant,
buffalo,
lion,
leopard and
black rhinoceros, though populations have been declining under increased stress in recent times, particularly the rhino and elephant.
The geography of East Africa is often stunning and scenic. Shaped by global plate tectonic forces that have created the
Great Rift Valley, East Africa is the site of
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 climate of East Africa is rather atypical of equatorial regions. Because of a combination of the region's generally high
altitude and the
rain shadow of the westerly
monsoon winds created by the
Rwenzori Mountains and
Ethiopian Highlands, East Africa is surprisingly cool and dry for its latitude.
The lower-lying lands of northern Kenya and
Greater Somalia are indeed extremely dry. In fact, on the coast of
Somaliland and
Puntland many years have no rain whatsoever. Elsewhere the annual 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. Unusally, most of the rain falls in
two distinct
wet seasons, one centred around April and the other in October or November. 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 Rwenzoris and Ethiopian highlands 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 in East Africa is influenced by
El Niño events, which 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.
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,
frosts are common during the dry season and maxima typically about or less.
The unique geography and apparent suitability for
farming made East Africa a target for
European
exploration,
exploitation and
colonialization in the nineteenth century. Today,
tourism is an important part of the economies of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
History
Arab and Portuguese eras
The
Portuguese were the first Europeans to explore the region of current-day
Kenya,
Tanzania, and
Mozambique,
Vasco da Gama having visited
Mombasa in 1498. Gama's voyage was successful in reaching
India and this permitted the Portuguese to trade with the
Far East directly by sea, thus challenging older trading networks of mixed land and sea routes, such as the
Spice trade routes that utilized the
Persian Gulf,
Red Sea and
caravans to reach the eastern Mediterranean. 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
Ottoman Turks, Portugal hoped to use the sea route pioneered by Gama to break the once Venetian trading monopoly. Portuguese rule in East Africa focused mainly on a coastal strip centred in Mombasa. The Portuguese presence in East Africa officially began after 1505, when flagships under the command of
Don Francisco de Almeida conquered
Kilwa, an island located in what is now southern
Tanzania. In March 1505, having received from
Manuel I the appointment of viceroy of the newly conquered
territory in India, he set sail from
Lisbon in command of a large and powerful fleet, and arrived in July at Quiloa (
Kilwa), which yielded to him almost without a struggle. A much more vigorous resistance was offered by the
Moors of Mombasa, but 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 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 Angediva, near
Goa, and
Cannanore, the Portuguese built forts, and adopted measures to secure the Portuguese supremacy. Portugal's main goal in the east coast of Africa was take control of the
spice trade from the
Arabs. At this stage, the Portuguese presence in East Africa served the purpose of control trade within the Indian Ocean and secure 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
British,
Dutch and
Omani Arab incursions into the region during the 17th century. The Omani Arabs posed the most direct challenge to Portuguese influence in East Africa and besieged Portuguese fortresses, openly attacked naval vessels and expelled the Portuguese from the Kenyan and Tanzanian coasts by 1730. 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.
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 East African 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 1964
revolution, but 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.
Period of European Imperialism
East Africa during the
19th and early
20th century became a theatre of competition between the major imperialistic European nations of the time.
During the period of the
Scramble for Africa, almost every country comprising present day East Africa to varying degrees became part of a European
colonial empire.
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 husbandry with products produced from cattle and goats, such as
goat meat,
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 and
Entebbe.
The
French 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 – until then under British control – became part of the
French colonial empire being ceded in exchange for the island of
Zanzibar an important hub of
spices trade, off the coast of
Tanganyika. The British as well held a number of island colonies in the region. The
Seychelles an extended
archipelago and the rich farmland island of
Mauritius, previously under the French
sovereignty, were as such.
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, wasn't of such strategic importance as the
British Crown's 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 northern Somalia came under British control (
British Somaliland). This northern 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 India.
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.
Conflicts
Until recently most governments were
illiberal and
corrupt, and several countries were riven with political coups, ethnic violence and oppressive dictators. Since the end of colonialism, the region has endured:
Ethiopian Civil War
Eritrean War of Independence
Eritrean-Ethiopian War
Ogaden War
Somali Civil War
Second Sudanese Civil War
Darfur Conflict in Sudan
Burundi Civil War
Lord's Resistance Army insurgency in Uganda
Rwandan Genocide
Kenya and Tanzania have enjoyed relatively stable governments. However politics has been turbulent at times, including the attempted coup d’état in 1982 and the 2007 election riots in Kenya.
Djibouti and the Puntland and Somaliland regions of Somalia have also seen relative stability.
Tanzania has known 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 now a semi-autonomous state in the United Republic of Tanzania. Tanzania and Uganda fought the Uganda-Tanzania War in 1978–1979, which led to the removal of Uganda's despotic leader Idi Amin.
Further Information
Get more info on 'East Africa'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://east_africa.totallyexplained.com">East Africa Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
