Cultures of East Africa

1-Explain how the Indian Ocean has created East Africa’s cultural diversity. T he cultural diversity of East Africa comes from contact among people from many cultures through trade. M uch of East Africa’s long coastline borders the Indian Ocean. T he Indian Ocean provides a trade and travel route for East Africans as well as for the people living across the ocean to the east. T hese people include Arabs, Indians, and other Asians, even those from countries as far away from Africa as China and Malaysia.

Swahili A n ethnic group in East Africa that resulted from the mixing of African and Arab ways more than 1,000 years ago A lso a language

2-What is one of the strengths of the Swahili people? T heir ability to adapt to other cultures. A t the same time, the Swahilis try to preserve their heritage: The values, traditions, and customs handed down from their ancestors.

3-Where do the Swahilis live? A long East Africa’s coast from Somalia to Tanzania.

4-Why are east African nations promoting the use of the Swahili language? B y promoting the use of Swahili, East African nations are helping to preserve their African heritage and to establish unity among different peoples. S wahili is used among ethnic groups throughout the region for business and communication.

5-What two religions have large followings in East Africa? Islam was introduced to East Africa by Arab traders. Christianity spread into Ethiopia in the A.D. 300s after being introduced to North Africa when the area was a part of the Roman Empire. During the 1800s, Europeans pushed into Africa and spread Christianity even farther.

6-Explain the ideas Africans had about land before the 1800s. I ndividual Africans did not buy or sell land. The very idea of owning land did not exist. F amilies had the right to farm plots of land. E xtended families farmed the land to produce food for the whole group. –Men cleared the land and broke up the soil. –Women then planted the seeds, tended the fields, and harvested the crops.

7-Who introduced the idea of privately owned land to Africa? E uropean settlers. I n parts of East Africa, the British set up plantations.

8-What happened to the plantations when African countries became independent? T heir governments broke up the colonial plantations and sold the land to individual Africans. M uch of the land was poor farmland in areas where few people lived. I n fertile areas such as the Ethiopian Highlands and the Great Rift Valley, most of the land good for farming was already taken. M any people lived in these fertile areas.

9-Where have conflicts developed over land in East Africa? In densely populated countries such as Rwanda and Burundi conflicts have developed over land.

10-How do most Africans feel about the land where they grew up? M ost feel a strong bond to the land where they grew up

11-If asked where home is, what will most East Africans say? If asked where home is, an East African will usually name the village of his or her family or clan.

12-Explain how traditional East African ideas about land differ from those of Europeans who took over parts of Africa. Europeans: Individual ownership of land East Africans: Everyone owned and benefited from the land