Tropical Africa South Africa. Sub-regions of North and Tropical Africa

Africa is a huge continent, the main inhabitants of which are people, which is why it is called "black". Tropical Africa (about 20 million km 2) covers a vast territory of the continent, and divides it with North Africa into two unequal parts. Despite the significance and vastness in tropical Africa, there are the least of this continent, the main occupation of which is agriculture. Some countries are so poor that they do not have railways, and movement on them is carried out only with the help of cars, trucks, while residents move on foot, carrying loads on their heads, sometimes overcoming considerable distances.

Tropical Africa is a collective image. It contains the most paradoxical ideas about this region. These are the humid and tropical deserts of Africa, and huge wide rivers, and wild tribes. For the latter, the main occupation is still fishing and gathering. All this is tropical which would be incomplete without its unique flora and fauna.

Tropical forests occupy a solid territory, which, however, is decreasing every year due to the deforestation of this precious pearl of nature. The reasons are prosaic: the local population needs new territories for arable land, in addition, valuable tree species are found in the forests, the wood of which brings good profits on the market in developed countries.

Twisted with vines, with dense lush vegetation and unique endemic flora and fauna, they shrink under the onslaught of Homo sapiens and turn into tropical deserts. The local population, occupied mainly by arable farming and animal husbandry, does not even think about high technologies - it is not for nothing that the emblems of many countries still contain the image of a hoe as the main tool of labor. All residents of large and small settlements are engaged in agriculture, except for men.

The entire female population, children and the elderly, grow crops that serve as the main food (sorghum, corn, rice), as well as tubers (cassava, sweet potato), from which they make flour and cereals, bake cakes. In more developed areas, more expensive crops are cultivated for export: coffee, cocoa, which is sold to developed countries both as whole beans and squeezed oil, oil palm, peanuts, as well as spices and sisal. Carpets are woven from the latter, strong ropes, ropes and even clothes are made.

And if it is so difficult to breathe in the humid equatorial forests due to the constant evaporation of large-leaved plants and the mass of water and air moisture, the tropical deserts of Africa are practically devoid of water. The main territory, which eventually turns into a desert, is the Sahel zone, which stretches across the territory of 10 countries. For several years, not a single rain fell there, and deforestation, as well as the natural death of the vegetation cover, led to the fact that this area turned into a practically scorched and cracked barren wasteland. The inhabitants of these places have lost their main means of subsistence, and are forced to move to other places, leaving these territories as zones of ecological disaster.

Tropical Africa is a unique part, which includes a vast territory, unique and original. It is polar different from North Africa. Tropical Africa is still a territory full of secrets and mysteries, this is a place that, once seen, one cannot help but fall in love.

Africa is a part of the world with an area of \u200b\u200bwith islands of 30.3 million km 2, this is the second place after Eurasia, 6% of the entire surface of our planet and 20% of the land.

Geographical position

Africa is located in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres (most), a small part in the Southern and Western. Like all large fragments of the ancient mainland Gondwana, it has a massive outline, large peninsulas and deep bays are absent. The length of the continent from north to south is 8 thousand km, from west to east - 7.5 thousand km. In the north it is washed by the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, in the northeast by the Red Sea, in the southeast by the Indian Ocean, in the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Africa is separated from Asia by the Suez Canal, from Europe by the Strait of Gibraltar.

Main geographical features

Africa lies on an ancient platform, which determines its flat surface, which in some places is dissected by deep river valleys. On the coast of the mainland there are few lowlands, the northwest is the location of the Atlas Mountains, the northern part, almost completely occupied by the Sahara desert, is the Ahaggar and Tibetsi highlands, the east is the Ethiopian highlands, the southeast is the East African plateau, the extreme south is the Cape and Draconian mountains The highest point in Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro (5895 m, Masai plateau), the lowest is 157 meters below sea level in Lake Assal. Along the Red Sea, in the Ethiopian Highlands and to the mouth of the Zambezi River, the world's largest fault in the earth's crust stretches, which is characterized by frequent seismic activity.

Rivers flow through Africa: Congo (Central Africa), Niger (West Africa), Limpopo, Orange, Zambezi (South Africa), as well as one of the deepest and longest rivers in the world - the Nile (6852 km), flowing from south to north (its sources are on the East African plateau, and it flows, forming a delta, into the Mediterranean Sea). The rivers are high-water only in the equatorial zone, due to the large amount of precipitation there, most of them are characterized by a high flow rate, have many rapids and waterfalls. In lithospheric faults filled with water, lakes were formed - Nyasa, Tanganyika, the largest freshwater lake in Africa and the second largest after Lake Superior (North America) - Victoria (its area is 68.8 thousand km 2, length 337 km, max depth - 83 m), the largest salty drainless lake is Chad (its area is 1.35 thousand km 2, located on the southern outskirts of the largest desert in the world, the Sahara).

Due to the location of Africa between two tropical belts, it is characterized by high total solar radiation, which gives the right to call Africa the hottest continent on Earth (the highest temperature on our planet was recorded in 1922 in El Azizia (Libya) - +58 C 0 in the shadow).

On the territory of Africa, such natural zones are distinguished as evergreen equatorial forests (the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, the Congo depression), in the north and south turning into mixed deciduous-evergreen forests, then there is a natural zone of savannahs and light forests, extending to Sudan, East and South Africa, to Sevre and southern Africa savannas are replaced by semi-deserts and deserts (Sahara, Kalahari, Namib). In the southeastern part of Africa there is a small zone of mixed coniferous-deciduous forests, on the slopes of the Atlas Mountains - a zone of hard-leaved evergreen forests and shrubs. The natural zones of mountains and plateaus are subject to the laws of altitudinal zonation.

African countries

The territory of Africa is divided among 62 countries, 54 are independent, sovereign states, 10 are dependent territories belonging to Spain, Portugal, Great Britain and France, the rest are unrecognized, self-proclaimed states - Galmudug, Puntland, Somaliland, the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). For a long time, the countries of Asia were foreign colonies of various European states and only by the middle of the last century gained independence. Africa is divided into five regions based on geographic location: North, Central, West, East and South Africa.

List of African countries

Nature

Mountains and plains of Africa

Most of the African continent is a plain. There are mountain systems, uplands and plateaus. They are presented:

the Atlas Mountains in the northwestern part of the continent;
the Tibesti and Ahaggar uplands in the Sahara Desert;
Ethiopian highlands in the eastern part of the mainland;
Dragon Mountains in the south.

The highest point in the country is Mount Kilimanjaro, with a height of 5,895 m, belonging to the East African Plateau in the southeastern part of the mainland ...

Deserts and savannas

The largest desert zone of the African continent is located in the northern part. This is the Sahara desert. On the southwestern side of the continent is another smaller desert, the Namib, and from it, inland to the east, is the Kalahari Desert.

The territory of the savanna occupies the main part of Central Africa. In terms of area, it is much larger than the northern and southern parts of the mainland. The territory is characterized by the presence of pastures typical for savannahs, low shrubs and trees. The height of grassy vegetation varies depending on the amount of precipitation. It can be almost desert savannas or tall grasses, with grass cover from 1 to 5 m in height...

Rivers

On the territory of the African continent is the longest river in the world - the Nile. Its direction of flow is from south to north.

In the list of major water systems of the mainland, Limpopo, Zambezi and the Orange River, as well as the Congo, which flows through the territory of Central Africa.

On the Zambezi River is the famous Victoria Falls, 120 meters high and 1,800 meters wide...

lakes

The list of large lakes of the African continent includes Lake Victoria, which is the second largest freshwater reservoir in the world. Its depth reaches 80 m, and its area is 68,000 square kilometers. Two more large lakes of the continent: Tanganyika and Nyasa. They are located in the faults of the lithospheric plates.

There is Lake Chad in Africa, which is one of the world's largest endorheic relict lakes that have no connection with the oceans ...

Seas and oceans

The African continent is washed by the waters of two oceans at once: the Indian and the Atlantic. Also off its coast are the Red and Mediterranean Seas. From the Atlantic Ocean in the southwestern part of the water form the deep Gulf of Guinea.

Despite the location of the African continent, coastal waters are cool. This is influenced by the cold currents of the Atlantic Ocean: the Canary in the north and the Bengal in the southwest. From the Indian Ocean, the currents are warm. The largest are Mozambique, in the northern waters, and Needle, in the southern ...

Forests of Africa

Forests from the entire territory of the African continent make up a little more than a quarter. Here are subtropical forests growing on the slopes of the Atlas Mountains and the valleys of the ridge. Here you can find holm oak, pistachio, strawberry tree, etc. Coniferous plants grow high in the mountains, represented by Aleppo pine, Atlas cedar, juniper and other types of trees.

Closer to the coast there are forests of cork oak, in the tropical region evergreen equatorial plants are common, for example, mahogany, sandalwood, ebony, etc...

Nature, plants and animals of Africa

The vegetation of the equatorial forests is diverse, there are about 1000 species of various tree species: ficus, ceiba, wine tree, olive palm, wine palm, banana palm, tree ferns, sandalwood, mahogany, rubber trees, Liberian coffee tree, etc. . It is home to many species of animals, rodents, birds and insects living right on the trees. On earth live: bush pigs, leopards, African deer - a relative of the okapi giraffe, large apes - gorillas ...

40% of the territory of Africa is occupied by savannahs, which are huge steppe areas covered with forbs, low, thorny shrubs, milkweed, and stand-alone trees (tree-like acacias, baobabs).

Here there is the largest accumulation of such large animals as: rhinoceros, giraffe, elephant, hippopotamus, zebra, buffalo, hyena, lion, leopard, cheetah, jackal, crocodile, hyena dog. The most numerous animals of the savannah are such herbivores as: bubal (family of antelopes), giraffe, impala or black-fifth antelope, various types of gazelles (Thomson, Grant), blue wildebeest, and in some places there are rare jumping antelopes - springboks.

The vegetation of deserts and semi-deserts is characterized by poverty and unpretentiousness, these are small thorny shrubs, separately growing bunches of herbs. In the oases, the unique Erg Chebbi date palm grows, as well as plants that are resistant to drought conditions and the formation of salts. In the Namib Desert, unique velvichia and nara plants grow, the fruits of which feed on porcupines, elephants and other animals of the desert.

Of the animals, various species of antelopes and gazelles live here, adapted to the hot climate and capable of traveling great distances in search of food, many species of rodents, snakes, and turtles. Lizards. Among mammals: spotted hyena, common jackal, maned ram, Cape hare, Ethiopian hedgehog, dorcas gazelle, saber-horned antelope, Anubis baboon, wild Nubian donkey, cheetah, jackal, fox, mouflon, there are permanently living and migratory birds.

Climatic conditions

Seasons, weather and climate of African countries

The central part of Africa, through which the equator line passes, is in a low pressure area and receives sufficient moisture, the territories north and south of the equator are in the subequatorial climatic zone, this is a zone of seasonal (monsoonal) moisture and arid desert climate. The extreme north and south are in the subtropical climate zone, the south receives precipitation brought by air masses from the Indian Ocean, the Kalahari Desert is located here, the north has the minimum amount of precipitation due to the formation of a high pressure area and the peculiarities of the movement of the trade winds, the largest desert in the world is the Sahara, where the amount Precipitation is minimal, in some areas it does not fall at all ...

Resources

African Natural Resources

In terms of water resources, Africa is considered one of the least prosperous continents in the world. The average annual volume of water is only enough to meet primary needs, but this does not apply to all regions.

Land resources are represented by large areas with fertile lands. Only 20% of all possible land is cultivated. The reason for this is the lack of the proper volume of water, soil erosion, etc.

The forests of Africa are a source of timber, including species of valuable varieties. The countries in which they grow, the raw materials are exported. Resources are misused and ecosystems are slowly being destroyed.

In the bowels of Africa there are deposits of minerals. Among those sent for export: gold, diamonds, uranium, phosphorus, manganese ores. There are significant reserves of oil and natural gas.

Energy-intensive resources are widely represented on the continent, but they are not used due to the lack of proper investments...

Among the developed industrial sectors of the countries of the African continent, one can note:

the mining industry that exports minerals and fuels;
the oil refining industry, distributed mainly in South Africa and North Africa;
chemical industry specializing in the production of mineral fertilizers;
as well as the metallurgical and engineering industries.

The main agricultural products are cocoa beans, coffee, corn, rice and wheat. In the tropical regions of Africa, oil palm is grown.

Fishing is poorly developed and accounts for only 1-2% of the total volume of agriculture. The indicators of animal husbandry are also not high, and the reason for this is the infection of livestock with tsetse flies ...

culture

The peoples of Africa: culture and traditions

About 8,000 peoples and ethnic groups live on the territory of 62 African countries, which in total is about 1.1 billion people. Africa is considered the cradle and ancestral home of human civilization, it was here that the remains of ancient primates (hominids) were found, which, according to scientists, are considered the ancestors of people.

Most of the peoples in Africa may number from several thousand people to several hundred living in one or two villages. 90% of the population are representatives of 120 peoples, their number is more than 1 million people, 2/3 of them are peoples with more than 5 million people, 1/3 - peoples with more than 10 million people (this is 50% of the total population of Africa) - Arabs , Hausa, Fulbe, Yoruba, Igbo, Amhara, Oromo, Rwanda, Malagasy, Zulu...

There are two historical and ethnographic provinces: North African (the predominance of the Indo-European race) and Tropical-African (the majority of the population is the Negroid race), it is divided into such areas as:

West Africa. The peoples speaking the Mande languages (Susu, Maninka, Mende, Wai), Chadic (Hausa), Nilo-Saharan (Songhai, Kanuri, Tubu, Zagawa, Mawa, etc.), Niger-Congo languages (Yoruba, Igbo, Bini, nupe, gbari, igala and idoma, ibibio, efik, kambari, birom and jukun, etc.);
Equatorial Africa. Inhabited by Buanto-speaking peoples: Duala, Fang, Bubi (Fernandese), Mpongwe, Teke, Mboshi, Ngala, Komo, Mongo, Tetela, Cuba, Kongo, Ambundu, Ovimbundu, Chokwe, Luena, Tonga, Pygmies, etc.;
South Africa. Rebellious peoples and Khoisan speakers: Bushmen and Hottentots;
East Africa. Bantu, Nilotic and Sudanese groups of peoples;
North East Africa. Peoples speaking Ethio-Semitic (Amhara, Tigre, Tigra.), Cushitic (Oromo, Somalis, Sidamo, Agau, Afar, Konso, etc.) and Omotian languages (Ometo, Gimirra, etc.);
Madagascar. Malagasy and Creoles.

In the North African province, the main peoples are considered to be Arabs and Berbers, belonging to the South Caucasian minor race, mainly practicing Sunni Islam. There is also an ethno-religious group of Copts who are direct descendants of the Ancient Egyptians, they are Monophysite Christians.

Part of Africa south of the Sahara.

Ancient history According to most scientists, Africa is the cradle of mankind. The finds of early hominids there are up to 3 million years old. A number of finds aged from 1.6 to 1.2 million years belong to the same species of hominid, which in the process of evolution led to the appearance of Homo sapiens. The formation of ancient people took place in the grassy savannah zone, then they spread throughout the continent. The tools of the Acheulean culture are fairly evenly distributed throughout Africa. However, due to the uniqueness of historical conditions and the natural environment, the archaeological cultures of Africa are not always comparable with the traditional nomenclature). The Late Stone Age in Africa was characterized by a transition from hunting and gathering to a productive economy. The transition to agriculture and cattle breeding began in different regions at different times, but in general ended in most territories by the middle of the 4th millennium BC. e. By the end of the ancient period, iron tools spread in sub-Saharan Africa. The cultures of the Bronze Age did not develop on the African continent, but there was a transition from the Neolithic stone industry to iron tools. Most scientists believe that iron metallurgy was borrowed from Western Asia c. middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. From the Nile Valley iron metallurgy gradually spread to the west and southwest. The earliest Iron Age culture south of the Sahara is the Nok culture (Central Nigeria, 5th century BC - 3rd century AD). Iron industry in Central and East. Africa dates back to about the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. The appearance of iron in the south of the territory of the modern Democratic Republic of the Congo (in the upper reaches of the Lualaba River and in the Shaba region) is also dated. OK. 5th-9th centuries in Shaba and in the south of modern Nigeria, independent centers for the smelting and processing of copper developed. The spread of iron tools, facilitating the clearing of land for crops, contributed to the development of new areas that were previously inaccessible to human habitation, primarily the tropical forest zones on both sides of the equator. The process of mass migration to the south and southeast of peoples speaking the languages of the Bantu family began, as a result they settled throughout Africa south of the equator. In the course of these migrations, which continued until the beginning of the 2nd millennium, the Bantu moved around the zone of equatorial forests, some of their groups mastered the forest areas bordering the savannah. Bypassing the forest zone, the Bantu pushed back to the north and south the ancient population of the east and southeast of the mainland. In southern Africa, the spread of agriculture and tools of the Iron Age is also associated with the migrations of the Bantu peoples there. Their gradual spread across the southern part of the mainland lasted for centuries. It went in two streams. One moved along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and reached modern Namibia. Other groups moved in three ways: to the territory of modern Zambia, to the territory of modern Zimbabwe through Malawi and to the territory of the modern South African province of KwaZulu-Natal through Mozambique. By the 3rd century Bantu reached the borders of modern South Africa, and by the 4th century. spread across a number of areas. The Bantu were highly organized peoples with a developed social hierarchy, their relationship with the San (Bushmen) and Koi (Hottentots, Nama) South. Africa included both peaceful coexistence and war. Displacement dignity in unfavorable natural conditions of the area Yuzhn. Africa had an inhibitory effect on the development of their economy and social organization, they never created a productive economy. OK. 9th century BC e on the territory of Kush in Lower Nubia, the state of Meroe arose, which soon extended its power to Upper Egypt. In the VI century. BC e - VIII century. n. e. Meroe was the largest center of ferrous metallurgy in Africa south of the Sahara, bronze and gold metallurgy, and jewelry craft also developed. The peoples of Tropical Africa in ancient times maintained trade relations with the Mediterranean, Front and South. Asia. Precious metals, precious stones, exotic animals, and later slaves were exported from Africa. Salt, grain, handicrafts were imported. By the turn of the new era, the Sahara had finally turned into a desert, so an important role in the development and strengthening of ties between the societies of Zap. and Central Sudan from the North. Africa and the Nile Valley were played by the use of a camel imported from Asia Minor to the North for trans-Saharan transport. Africa by the Romans. There were also maritime contacts across the Indian Ocean, as evidenced by a large migration at the beginning of a new era from the South. Asian population groups of Indonesian origin on about. Madagascar, which became one of the foundations of the Malgash ethnos. There were three regions of Afro-Mediterranean and Afro-Asian contacts: the Nile Valley, the West. and Central Sudan, coastal regions of East. Africa. In the Middle Ages and Modern times, the social organization of the peoples of Africa was diverse. Along with locally large states, there was the so-called primitive periphery - peoples who did not create other social structures, except for communal-tribal ones. A large role was played by the geographical factor - soil fertility, proximity to the external centers of civilization, etc. The main cell of society was and remains the community, which, as a rule, is an association of several family and clan groups. Even in modern times, among most African peoples, the transition of the community from tribal to neighboring was not fully completed. A number of reasons contributed to the emergence of supra-communal structures. In the supra-communal structure, as a rule, the “best” community was singled out, from which the supra-communal leaders, the conical clan, were nominated. A universal structure for all mankind on the way to the formation of a state is the chiefdom, an ethnically homogeneous structure, familiar with social and property inequality, division of labor and headed by a leader, often sacralized. The chiefdom is a relatively complex structure that had several levels of government - central, regional and local. Social inequality in the chiefdom is not very pronounced - the life of the leader is not too different in quality from the life of his subjects. The states that emerged in pre-colonial Africa were early states (with the exception of Ethiopia). They had a clear administrative-territorial division, they were headed by a hereditary supreme ruler, who was often deified by his subjects or was a high priest. The population of the early states, as a rule, belonged to different peoples - the "main" and the conquered. The institutions of the tribal society harmoniously grew into the early African states, the tribal aristocracy and family ties played an important role. Western Sudan Geographically, Sudan is a part of Tropical Africa, stretching in a wide belt from west to east of the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to Ethiopia. Conditional border Zap. and Vost. Sudan - lake. Chad. In Zap. Sudan in the IV-XVI centuries. successive states of Ghana, Mali and Songhai. Ghana flourished in the 7th-9th centuries, Mali in the 12th-14th centuries, Songhai in the 15th-16th centuries. From the 13th century Islam became the state religion in Mali, and then in Songhai. In the second half of the XV century. Songhai subjugated the main commercial and cultural centers of the West. Sudan - Timbuktu and Djenne. To the south in the XIV-XV centuries. several states of the Mosi people arose, the first of which was Ouagadougou. In the VIII-IX centuries. appeared in the middle of the thirteenth century. the state of Kanem reached its greatest prosperity to the east of the lake. Chad. At the end of the XIII century. the state fell into decline, from the end of the XIV century. its center has moved to the southwest of the lake. Chad in the region Born. The state of Bornu reached its highest power in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. In the XII-XIII centuries. increased migration to the West. Fulbe people in Sudan. Fulbe (Fulani, Pel) is one of the mysteries of the region. Anthropologically, they differ sharply from their neighbors in thinner features and lighter skin, but they speak one of the local languages. Some scientists consider the Fulani to be newcomers from the Vost region. Sudan - Ethiopia. At the end of the XIV century. in Masina in the middle delta of the Niger, the Fulbe state developed, in the 16th-17th centuries. subjected to attacks by neighbors, which caused a chain of new migrations of the Fulani. The statehood of the Hausa originated in the 13th century, and in the 14th-15th centuries. Islam spread. The military-political estate and the clergy grew. The Khausan emirates in the Middle Ages were in the sphere of influence of Mali, and then - the Songhai state. It was from there, from Timbuktu, that Arabic writing came, on the basis of which the Hausa created their own alphabet - ajam. After the fall of the Songhai state in 1591, the centers of trans-Saharan trade and Muslim theology moved to the Hausan emirates. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. the cities of Katsina and Kano rise, in the 18th century. - Zamfara and Gobir in the west of the Land of Hausa. But in 1764 Gobir defeated Zamfara and became, along with Katsina, the chief of the Hausan city-states. In Zap. Fulbe settled in Sudan from the XIII-XIV centuries. on the territory of several modern states. They created states on the Futa Toro Plateau (Senegal) and the Futa Jalon Plateau (Guinea). In 1727-1728, the Fulbe began a jihad under the leadership of Ibrahim Sambegu Bariya. The locals were assimilated by the Fulani. The established state was characterized by a high level of cultural development. Here writing was widely spread, and not only Arabic, but also in the Fulbe language. The country was ruled by the supreme head of the alma, who was elected by the Council, which in turn was elected by the Fulba nobility. The emergence of the Sokoto Caliphate was associated with the name of Osman dan Fodio (1754-1817). He was the son of a teacher of the Koranic school. In 1789 he received the right to preach, then he created a religious community of the discontented. In his writings, Osman dan Fodio spoke out against the Sarki regime, the ruler of Gobir. In 1804, he declared himself the head of all Muslims (amir-el-muminin), began a jihad against the rulers of Gobir, and in 1808 the rebels captured Alcalava, the capital of Gobir. Osman dan Fodio announced the end of jihad. He proclaimed himself caliph of the new Sokoto empire. In 1812 the caliphate was divided into two parts - western and eastern. They were led by the brother and son of Osman, Dan Fodio, respectively. The emirates that were part of the caliphate were ruled by the so-called royal emirs, local representatives of the Fulba nobility, active participants in jihad. Below, power was exercised by a whole pyramid of governors from the Fulban aristocracy, including judges - alkali. After the death of Osman dan Fodio in 1817, his son Mohammed Belo became the head of the Caliphate. He kept the old Hausan emirates within their borders under the rule of the Fulban aristocracy. In the second half of the XIX century. the Sokoto caliphate was a relatively stable large state. One of the centers of civilization in the region in modern times is the city-state of the Yoruba. The genesis of statehood began among the Yoruba in the 10th-12th centuries; the cradle of their statehood and culture is Ile-Ife in the southwest of modern Nigeria. In modern times, the city of Oyo becomes one of the notable centers of the Yoruba. It was founded around the 14th century, and from the 17th century. the period of its rise and expansion begins, which lasted two centuries. As a result, the state of Oyo became one of the largest military-political formations in the region. From 1724, Oyo waged war with neighboring Dahomey, which was conquered in 1730. As a result, Oyo significantly expanded territorially and gained access to the Atlantic Ocean. However, at the beginning of the XIX century. Dahomey again fell away from Oyo, weakened by internecine wars and internal strife. Oyo finally fell in 1836 under the blow of the Sokoto Caliphate. The state of Dahomey was formed c. 1625. Its ethnic basis was the Aja people of the Fon group. The rise of Dahomey took place by the beginning of the 18th century. The capture of the slave ports of Ardra (Allada) and Vida on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, which took place in 1724-1725, contributed to the further strengthening of the state. The same fact, however, also contributed to the subjugation of Dahomey by the powerful neighbor Oyo, who needed access to the ocean coast. From 1730 Dahomey became a tributary of Oyo, and the son of its ruler was sent there as a hostage. In 1748, an agreement between Dahomey and Oyo consolidates the established relationship of dependence. At the end of the XVIII - beginning of the XIX century. a new rise of Dahomey begins, and it falls away from Oyo. Dahomey's eastern neighbor was Benin. The heyday of this state, the ethnic basis of which was the Edo people, fell at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries. The new rise of Benin began in the 19th century, but was interrupted by the French conquest. The so-called bronzes of Benin are widely known - reliefs and heads made of bronze with extraordinary skill. For the first time, Europe became acquainted with Benin bronzes, when in 1897, during the looting of the palace, its treasures and even bas-reliefs from the outer walls were taken out. Nowadays, any major art museum exhibits Benin bronzes. Art historians divide them into 3 periods: early - until the middle of the 16th century, middle - 16th-18th centuries. and late - the end of the XVIII-XIX centuries. With the development of the transatlantic slave trade in the delta of the river. Several political entities emerged in Niger, which are commonly called mediator states. The most important of them were Ardra (Allada) and Vida, the ethnic basis of which was the Aja people. The slave trade caused a transformation in the social organization of these cities. Traditionally, settlements were divided into quarters (polo), and those, in turn, into sub-quarters (vari). The settlements were ruled by a meeting of the entire adult population, headed by an elder - amayonabo. He served as the high priest and commander of the army. With the development of the slave trade in the region in the XVIII-XIX centuries. the power of the amayonabo was strengthened, and the wari was transformed into a new type of social organization - the house. The house, unlike the vari, included not only blood relatives, but also slaves. The main source of acquiring slaves was not capture, but purchase. Slave markets developed in the cities of the delta. The Ashanti people live in the north of modern Ghana. The basis of the Ashanti economy in modern times was left by the slave trade and the gold trade. The basis of the ethno-social organization of the Ashanti was Oman - the union of family and tribal communities. Each community was headed by a council of elders, military detachments were created on the basis of the communities. The army of each Oman was an association of such detachments. The clear Ashanti military organization was unparalleled in the region. The Omans were self-sufficient structures, but at the very end of the 17th century. Ashanti created the so-called confederation - the association of the Omans - to fight their neighbors. The first asantehene (supreme leader) - Osei Tutu - united all the Ashanti under his rule in 1701 and ruled for 30 years. Subsequent rulers controlled more and more lands, and by the beginning of the twentieth century. Asantehene power extended almost to the entire territory of modern Ghana. Central and Eastern Sudan Kanem was located at the northern tip of the lake. Chad. Gradually, the center of this association of the ancestors of the modern Kanuri people shifted to the west in the region. Born. The basis of the economy that existed until the middle of the XVI century. powers Kanem-Born was trans-Saharan trade with the countries of the North. Africa, interested in obtaining purely African goods - ivory and slaves. In exchange, northern Nigerian territories received salt, horses, fabrics, weapons produced in Europe and the Maghreb countries, and various household goods. Significant difficulties were caused by the constant raids of the Saharan Tuareg tribes united for these purposes. In the western part of the East. Sudan in the XVI-XIX centuries. the Sultanate of Darfur existed. Its ethnic basis was the For (Konjara) people. At the beginning of the XIX century. The population of the Sultanate was ca. 3-4 million people, and the army reached the number of 200 thousand people. The power of the Sultan was almost absolute. He had a chief council of the highest nobility, a small privy council, and several especially important dignitaries. The sultanate was divided into provinces headed by the governors of the sultan, who had police forces at their disposal - detachments of armed slaves. The villagers had to pay a tax in kind to the sultan up to 1/10 of their income - in grain, leather, meat, etc. The same applied to the nomadic Arabs who lived on the territory of the sultanate. The country was dominated by a subsistence economy, but there was exchange and markets. The role of money was played by tin and copper rings, bars of salt, and slaves. The Sultanate also conducted foreign trade, exporting slaves, camels, ivory, ostrich feathers, and gum arabic. Firearms, metals, fabrics, paper, etc. were imported. Cities stood on caravan routes, the capital of the sultanate was the city of El Fasher. In 1870 the Sultanate of Darfur recognized its dependence on Egypt. In the eastern part of the East. Sudan in the XVI-XIX centuries. the Sultanate of Sennar existed. Its ethnic basis was the Fung people. Sennar was an association under the rule of the fungi of a whole chain of territories along the Nile from the third threshold in the north to Sennar proper (the Blue Nile) in the south. The Sultanate lived by irrigated agriculture, its inhabitants skillfully built canals, dams and water mills. They grew wheat, millet, corn, gourds, peppers and cotton. They bred cattle - meat, dairy and draft - and were skilled in the manufacture of a special cotton fabric. The principles of government were based on Sharia law. The Sultan, with him - a council of the nobility from the highest dignitaries, a secret council of four, the chief judge - a qadi. Dependent provinces paid more taxes, and the Sennar proper paid a poll tax, a tax on livestock and land, and 1/10 of the crop. Construction was widely developed in the Sultanate - even in the villages there were fortified castles, while in the cities the rich quarters consisted of adobe houses with a flat roof. The capital of the Sultanate, the city of Sennar, totaled by the end of the 18th century. OK. 100 thousand inhabitants. Slave labor was widely used in the country - up to 8 thousand slaves worked on the Sultan's lands alone. The army was also strong, numbering several tens of thousands of soldiers. Sennar was a country of Muslim learning, Arabic served as the state language, the percentage of literate people who studied in schools at mosques was high. From the founding of the Sultanate to 1912, historical chronicles were kept. The Sultanate of Sennar was captured by Khedive Egypt in 1821. Ethiopia In the first centuries of the new era, the Aksumite kingdom was formed on the territory of modern Ethiopia. In the 4th-6th centuries, during its heyday, the hegemony of Aksum extended to Nubia, where the states of Mukurra, Aloa and Nabatia replaced the ancient Meroitic kingdom. During this period, Christianity began to spread there (in the 4th-6th centuries in Aksum, in the 5th-6th centuries in Nubia). In the first half of the XI century. Aksumite kingdom finally collapsed. By the New Age, Ethiopia is already a fairly vast and militarily powerful state, the economic basis and political superstructure of which allow us to speak of the presence of developed feudalism in the country. In the middle of the XVI century. the country entered a devastating 30-year war with the once vassal Muslim sultanates. Calling on the help of the Portuguese, armed with firearms, Ethiopia with great difficulty managed to defeat the Muslim army and defend its independence. Attempts by the Portuguese clergy to convert the country's population to Catholicism caused stubborn resistance from the Ethiopian clergy and flock, who did not want to move away from the "pure faith of the fathers." An important factor in the history of Ethiopia was the mass migration of the Oromo tribes from the Red Sea coast. Within two centuries, the Oromo managed to capture the fertile regions of the country, including in its central part. The country was in a state of self-isolation, and under pain of death, Europeans were forbidden to be within its borders. The main content of domestic political life was the constant internecine wars of the feudal lords for the expansion of their possessions. Centrifugal tendencies, which intensified by the middle of the 18th century, led to the “time of princes”. The power of the emperor was purely nominal, and the country turned into a conglomerate of virtually independent region-states. With the weakening of the central government, there was a process of strengthening and development of certain parts of Ethiopia, primarily the Shoah. Second half of the 19th century - a time of unceasing struggle for the creation and strengthening of a centralized Ethiopian state, for the preservation and strengthening of statehood. The “scramble for Africa” that began during this period between the Western European imperialist powers made the process of creating a strong and united Ethiopian state a task of prime necessity. This problem was solved during the reign of three emperors who went down in history as unifying emperors: Tewodros II, Yohannys IV and Menelik II. Acting in different ways depending on the specific historical situation, they succeeded to varying degrees in suppressing the resistance of the separatist feudal lords and in strengthening the central government. Through the efforts of Menelik II, that Ethiopia was created, which lasted until the revolution of 1974, at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. the country acquired modern geographical outlines, an administrative reform was carried out, and its own currency appeared. A cabinet of ministers was created, postal and telegraph services were organized, and the first European-style schools were opened. The end of the 19th century, known in the historiography of Africa as the period of the "scramble for Africa", was also alarming for Ethiopia. Italy was especially active in the Horn of Africa region. Unable to impose her protectorate on Ethiopia through diplomacy, she decided to achieve her goal by force. The Italo-Ethiopian war of 1895-1896 resulted in three battles: at Amba-Alag, at Mekel and Adua. In the decisive battle on the night of March 1, 1896, the skillful leadership of Emperor Menelik, the courage of the Ethiopian soldiers, coupled with the tactical mistakes of the Italian command, led to the complete defeat of the colonialists. East Africa The territories lying between the African Great Lakes are called the East African Inter-Lakes. Here, at the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennia, the state of Kitara arose, which flourished in the 12th-14th centuries. The state was formed as a result of the interaction of agricultural and pastoral peoples. The agricultural culture was brought by the peoples of the Bantu group, the pastoral culture was brought by the peoples of the Nilotic group, who came to the Mezhozerje, as they say, from the Ethiopian highlands. By the beginning of the New Age, Kitara had to cede leadership in the Mezh-lake region to its former small and inconspicuous southern province - Buganda, whose inhabitants were called "Baganda". Buganda became one of the largest states in pre-colonial Tropical Africa. From Kitara, Buganda inherited the division into provinces, but here they were divided into smaller districts. Each province or district was headed by a governor appointed directly by the supreme ruler - a tavern. Kabaka was considered a link with the spirits of their ancestors, who ascended to the legendary founder of Buganda. Kabaka had absolute power. Clans, or clans, were a stable unit of social organization. The elders or their representatives occupied certain court posts, which were hereditary, and at first made up the majority of the administrative class. However, in the XVIII century. there is a gradual formation and strengthening of the service aristocracy, on which the taverns increasingly relied. Buganda reached its greatest prosperity under the tavern Mutesa I (reigned 1856-1884), who created the beginnings of a standing army and a fleet of war canoes. Mezhozerie developed in relative isolation from the outside world. Merchants, including slave traders from the coast of the Indian Ocean, came here only in the second half of the 18th century. They, representatives of the Swahili civilization, brought Islam with them. The first Christian Europeans were seen in Buganda only in 1862, they were the famous English travelers J. Speke and J. Grant. And in 1875 another famous traveler, G. M. Stanley, visited Buganda. On his initiative, European missionaries appeared in the country, followed by colonial expansion. In the 7th-8th centuries on the ocean coast. Africa, at the junction of local cultures and Islamic culture, brought by settlers from Arabia and Persia, the Swahili civilization arose. By the XIII century. coastal trading settlements grew into large city-states of Kilwa, Pate, Lamu, etc. The Swahili civilization was a hotbed of trade and stone urban construction, a rich spiritual culture flourished here, which was characterized by lyrical songs and epic poems in the local Swahili language. Chronicles were kept in every city-state. The Swahili city-states fell into decline after the Great Geographical Discoveries, as a result of which the Portuguese gradually seized the initiative in maritime trade - the basis of the economic prosperity of the Swahili civilization. The successor of this civilization was the Zanzibar Sultanate, which arose at the behest of the Omani Sultan Sayyid Said. By 1832, he moved there, including in his possessions up to 300 large and small neighboring islands. Clove plantations were established on Zanzibar and neighboring islands, which became the basis of the economic prosperity of the Sultanate. Another important article was the slave trade - the sultanate became one of its largest centers, supplying slaves from the hinterland of the East. Ariki to the Middle East. After the death of Sayyid Said in 1856, his empire was divided between the heirs into two parts - the Omani and Zanzibar sultanates. The Zanzibar sultans pursued an active foreign policy; consulates of all the leading European powers and the United States were opened on the island. Zanzibar became the gateway to the East. Africa for European goods, and the slave market was closed in 1871 by Sultan Seid Bargash under pressure from European powers. In the course of the "scramble for Africa", the Zanzibar Sultanate eventually became dependent on Great Britain. Equatorial Africa Central Africa is one of the most difficult regions for human life. Here, dense tropical forests give way to plateau savannahs, rising in ledges from the ocean deep into the continent. On the easternmost of these plateaus, Shaba, the Bantu, in the course of their migrations, consolidated at the turn of the 1st-2nd millennia and began secondary migrations. By the beginning of the New Age, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean south of the mouth of the river. Bakongo settled to the south of them, in the territory of modern Angola - bambundu, in the interfluve of Kasai and Sankuru - bakuba, on the Shaba plateau - baluba, and in the northeast of Angola - balunda. In the XIII century. south of the river mouth. Congo, on the territory of modern Angola, the state of the Congo arose, the rulers of which - the manikongo - as a result of contacts with the Portuguese in the 15th century. adopted Catholicism. During its heyday (XVI - first half of the XVII century), the Congo was divided into 6 provinces, there were many court positions with magnificent titles. In the second half of the XVII century. internecine wars broke out in the country more than once. The so-called Antonian heresy contributed to the final collapse of the state, when a certain prophetess Beatrice appeared in the country, announcing that St. Anthony. She preached, in particular, hatred for the missionaries and the king who was in their hands. Beatrice was burned at the stake in 1706, and her supporters were defeated by the royal troops only in 1709. After that, practically only the province surrounding the capital, Mbanza-Kongo (San Salvador), remained from the Congo. The state of Angola (Ndongo) arose on the southern periphery of the Congo c. 15th century It was populous and polyethnic. The basis of its economy was shifting agriculture and cattle breeding, as well as metal processing (iron and copper), pottery and weaving. Ndongo had a strong army at that time, numbering up to 50 thousand soldiers. It was this circumstance that determined the stubborn resistance of the state to Portuguese penetration (the so-called Angolan wars from 1575). Resistance to the Portuguese was led by Nzinga Mbandi Ngola (born c. 1582), first a princess, and from 1624 the ruler of Ndongo. She waged a long war with the Portuguese, concluding an alliance with Holland in 1641 against them. In October 1647 Angolan-Dutch troops defeated the Portuguese. However, they took revenge in 1648. The death of Nzinga in 1663 contributed to the further decline of Ndongo, and from the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries. Portugal subjugates Angola. In the depths of Equatorial Africa, the states of the Bakuba, Baluba and Balunda peoples successively reached their peak. The first, called Bushongo, arose towards the end of the 16th century. , flourished in 1630-1680, is known, in particular, for the slave guard and the specialization of judges in various types of cases. The heyday of the Luba state - the end of the 18th - the beginning of the 19th centuries. At that time, it extended from west to east for 600 km. The title of the supreme ruler of the state is mulohve. Under him, there was a council of nobility and a nominal mother co-ruler. The title of the supreme ruler of the balunda state is muata yamvo. The state reached its peak in the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries. The expansion of the balund to the east led to the emergence of approx. 1750 state of Kazembe, arranged according to a similar pattern. By the end of the XVIII century. Kazembe became the dominant force in the south of what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia. The state conducted trade with the East African ocean coast and in 1798-1799 successfully repulsed the attacks of the Portuguese military expedition. The states of the hinterland of Equatorial Africa had much in common. For a long time they developed almost in complete isolation. At the head of each of them was the supreme hereditary ruler, determined by the norms of maternal law. Under the ruler, there was a council of nobility and numerous courtiers. Each state had several levels of administration. The residence of the ruler was in an urban-type settlement, but the location of the capital was constantly changing. The state of Bakuba was the most stable in composition, the Baluba state was less stable, and even less stable was the Balunda state. In general, it can be noted that these were typical of the so-called early African states. South Africa Africa is one of the regions of anthropogenesis. Australopithecus remains were found here. It is believed that it was in this region that the formation of the Khoisanids took place: the Saan (Bushmen) and the Khoi, or Nama (Hottentots). They are considered a sub-race of the Negroid race. The Saan are hunters and gatherers. Koi (Nama) have long since switched to cattle breeding, by the beginning of the New Age they formed conical clans. Archaeological excavations show that already at the end of the XV century. Bantu began to appear in the region. Bantu South. Africa by the New Age, there was a property inequality. There was a supreme elder, he had advisers, below were the elders of the exogamous clans. From time immemorial, their associations were not tribal, but territorial. The clan was the basic unit of social organization; in parallel, conical clans were formed and chiefdoms were formed. In the interfluve of the Zambezi and Limpopo, starting from the 9th century. civilization of Zimbabwe. The ethnic basis is the Karanga and Rozvi peoples, two branches of the Bantu-speaking Shona people. Civilization lasted ca. 10 centuries, known for large stone buildings for public and cultural purposes. In the XV century. one of the rulers of the state took the title of Mwene mutapa, and the state became known as Monomotapa. Its decline, like that of the Swahili city-states, was brought about by the Portuguese conquests in the East. Africa and the Portuguese monopolization of maritime trade in the Indian Ocean. On April 6, 1652, a fort was founded at the foot of Table Mountain, which became the beginning of the city of Kapstaada (now Cape Town). The Dutch East India Company established a stronghold there. Some of its employees became farmers, and farmers also moved directly from the Netherlands. The population of the Cape Colony also grew rapidly due to immigrants from German lands, and later French Huguenots. The development of farming led to a massive drive of the Nam from the land. Wars accompanied the entire subsequent history of the whites in southern Africa - this was the main way of the territorial expansion of the Cape Colony. From 1654, the East India Company imported slaves from the island of Madagascar into the Cape Colony. The Boers became a new ethnic group that arose in Yuzhn. Africa as a result of mixing immigrants from the Netherlands, German lands, France. Their language - Cape-Dutch (now Afrikaans) - gradually moved away from classical Dutch. The system of administration of the Cape Colony remained almost unchanged until it passed into the hands of the British in 1806. The colony was headed by a governor. He presided over the Political Council, which played the role of the highest authority in the colony. The provinces were ruled by landdrosts, who headed the respective councils. There was no standing army, but farmers were required to perform military service in the event of hostilities. The possessions of the Dutch East India Company on the Cape is the first settlement, or resettlement, colony on the African continent, immigrants from Europe settled there forever and ran a productive economy. Since 1806, British rule was finally established in the Cape Colony. In 1820-1821, more than 5,000 families of settlers came to the Cap, as a result, the white population of the colony doubled. The Boers became a minority even among the whites. In 1808, the British authorities on the Cape banned the slave trade, and in 1834, the prohibition to own slaves. All this undermined the foundations of the Boers' economy and overwhelmed their patience. The Boers decided to leave the Cape Colony, which they once founded. The most large-scale migration, carried out under the leadership of Peter Retief, began in 1835, having received the name of the Great Trek. Over 5 thousand Boers crossed the river. Orange and left the Cape Colony. By 1845 the number of settlers had increased to 45,000. In 1839, the South-East. In Africa, an independent Boer state arose - the Republic of Natal. However, after 4 years, the British captured this territory as well. Afrikaners were forced to migrate again to the hinterland of the South. Africa, where two new republics were formed: in 1852 the Republic of South Africa (since 1856 it was also called the Transvaal) with its capital in Pretoria, and in 1854 the Orange Free State with Bloemfontein as its capital. Since the size of many farms reached 50-100 thousand acres, the labor of native laborers and slaves was actively used. From the very beginning of the existence of the Cape Colony, there were anti-colonial uprisings and uprisings by the Khoi, and then by the Bantu-speaking peoples. The eastward expansion of the Cape Colony led to protracted wars with the Xhosa people. The so-called Kaffir wars continued with varying success from the 70s of the XVIII century. until the 80s of the XIX century. The development of the South African Bantu was not uniform. The processes of ethnic consolidation manifested themselves to the greatest extent among the Zulu and Sotho. In the 1820s and 1840s, these processes, which coincided with the expansion of European expansion and the Great Trek, were called "umfekane" - "grinding" in the Zulu language. In the course of this complex phenomenon, the Zulu ethnos appeared and the so-called empire of Chaka arose. At the same time, the Ndebele ethnos was formed and the Mzilikazi empire arose, the Basotho ethnos and the Mshweshwe empire arose. During the Great Trek, the Boers clashed with the Zulus, who had a well-trained regular army. December 16, 1838 on the river. In Buffalo, a decisive battle took place between the army of Chaka's successor, Dingaan, and several hundred Boer settlers. The Boers, armed with firearms, killed more than 3,000 Zulus. After the defeat of Dingaan, his state fell apart. The Zulus were first left the territory north of the river. Tugela, but then these lands were captured by Europeans. The autochthonous population of Namibia are the Saan (Bushmen). Later, the Nama and the Herero came there. Migrating to the north of modern Namibia, the Ovambo have long bred large and small cattle, the main agricultural crops for them were cereals. At the beginning of the New Age, they had social supra-clan structures - chiefdoms and early states. Herero constantly moved in search of pastures and water, overcoming great distances. Their economic unit was a community headed by an elder, but by the middle of the 19th century. the institution of omukhona - a hereditary supra-communal leader - and chiefdoms appeared. These chiefdoms were completely independent. One of these omuhon was Magarero (Kamagerero, the self-proclaimed paramount chief of the Herero), who came to the fore during the wars against the Nama (1863-1870). Separate Nama groups moved northward into the territory of modern Namibia. One of the manifestations of the Umfekane process was the invasion of Namaz-speaking groups to the Eagles there. Their invasion disrupted the traditional way of life of the local population and the fragile socio-political balance in these parts. In the 1830s and 1850s, the Orlam leader Jonker Afrikaaner subjugated many Nama and Herero groups and created a military territorial entity whose authority extended to most of the central regions of modern Namibia. After the death of Jonker Afrikaaner in 1861, his state collapsed, but the Herero kept the Nama in constant fear. Wars between the Herero and the Nama continued intermittently for almost the entire 19th century. In 1890, in the face of a common danger for the Herero and Nama - German colonialism - peace was finally concluded between them. The giant island of Madagascar is inhabited mainly by representatives not of the Negroid, but of the Mongoloid race, speaking the languages of the Malayo-Polynesian family. Archaeological finds indicate that the formation of the peoples inhabiting Madagascar took place in the course of numerous migrations and assimilation of immigrants from Indonesia, East. Africa and countries of the Arab East. By the beginning of the XVI century. The island has approx. 18 ethnic groups differing from each other in the form of economic activity. In the XVI-XVII centuries. several early political formations arose on the territory of Madagascar, the most significant of them is Imerina, the ethnic basis of which was the geldings. Until the end of the XVIII century. Imerina experienced a period of civil wars. Andrianampuinimerina became the unifier of the state. By this time, three main social strata had developed there: the nobility, ordinary community members, and patriarchal slaves. 19th century - the time of the rapid development of Imerina as a single state. Radama I (reigned 1810-1828) created a regular army according to the European model, numbering up to 10 thousand people, and managed to subdue almost all the peoples who lived in the lowland coastal regions of the island. Under him, missionaries opened schools, the first printing press appeared, and the foundation was laid for the introduction in 1876 of universal free education for children from 8 to 16 years old. The construction of the first canal in the coastal zone of the island began, and in 1825 a sugar factory was opened. The throne of Radama in 1828 was inherited by his wife Ranavaluna I, who continued to strengthen the state, under her the first legal code was published - the Code of 46 Articles. The last absolute monarch of Imerina, Radama II, opened the doors to the island to the French, signing an agreement with them in 1862. In 1863-1896, the de facto ruler of Imerina was the prime minister and husband of three queens, Rainilaiarivuni. In 1868 he declared Christianity in the form of Anglicanism (see Church of England) the state religion of Imerina. Under him, Madagascar flourished. The legislative system and the state apparatus were strengthened. French expansion to the island resumed in 1882. As a result of two Franco-Malagasy wars (1883–1895), France abolished the local monarchy and in June 1896 declared the island its colony. Neither the heroic armed resistance of the inhabitants of Madagascar, nor the firm position of their ruler helped. The colonial division of Africa The colonial division of Africa began in the last quarter of the 19th century. An important stage was the Berlin Conference on the division of the river basin. Congo (November 1884 - March 23, 1885). Russia also participated in it, the German Chancellor O. Bismarck presided over the conference. On February 26, 1885, the most important document of the conference, the Final Act, was adopted, declaring freedom of trade in the Congo basin, its estuaries, and neighboring countries. The so-called principle of “effective occupation” was established, i.e., the colonial powers were obliged not only to declare their sovereignty over a particular territory, but also to create a management system there, impose taxes, build roads, etc. The colonial division of Africa ended in mostly towards the end of the 19th century. As a result, the entire Tropical and South. Africa, with the exception of Liberia and Ethiopia, found itself in one form or another in colonial dependence on the metropolises - Great Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Italy. Tropical and South Africa in the XX - early XXI century. In the history of the Tropical and Southern. Africa in the 20th century there are several defining moments that are closely related to key events in world history. These were the results of the First World War of 1914-1918 and the emergence of the mandate system; the impact of the victory in World War II 1939-1945 of the Anti-Hitler coalition; the confrontation between the capitalist and socialist blocs and the acceleration of decolonization (the year of Africa - 1960). An equally important milestone was the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. The final formation of colonial regimes in most African possessions took place at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. XX century in the Tropical and Southern. Africa is the time of formation and evolution of colonial societies. Colonial society is not an intermediate historical stage of "modernization" or transition from pre-capitalist society to capitalist, but a special social phenomenon with its own laws of development, social groups, political institutions, etc. Colonial society as a type of sociality does not end with the achievement of political independence by African countries, but remains there with some modifications almost to this day. The colonies gradually turned into agrarian-raw material appendages of the metropolises. S. x. and the emerging industry of the African colonies (mainly mining and manufacturing) were designed mainly for export. On the lands appropriated by the Europeans, large farms or plantations arose. Dealing with pre-capitalist societies, the colonial authorities themselves inevitably used pre-capitalist methods of their exploitation, such as forced labor, as well as mass expulsions of Africans from the lands and their resettlement in reserves. The latter was characteristic of the resettlement colonies, in particular Kenya, Sev. and Yuzhn. Rhodesia (Zambia and Zimbabwe), Southwest. Africa (Namibia). The clash of pre-capitalist societies with the realities of European capitalism led to the fact that the capitalist way of life in Africa was not purely capitalist: as a rule, forced labor or the labor of otkhodniks was used there. The otkhodnik is one of the central social figures of the colonial society. This is an individual who spends part of his life on earnings (seasonally, sporadically, or in several years on an accord basis), but is not excluded from his original economy, where his family continues to live and work. In reality, the colonial peasant is a otkhodnik, a laborer with an allotment, a community worker who practically leads a subsistence economy, etc. An important element in the social structure of colonial societies is the so-called native leaders and rulers. Having become part of the colonial system, they contributed to the integration of ordinary community members into the colonial society, performing the functions of "native" administrations on the ground - collecting taxes, organizing public works, maintaining law and order. Even at the dawn of the history of colonialism in Africa, many of its peoples with weapons in their hands tried to defend their independence. Herero and Nama uprisings in the Southwest. Africa (1904-1907), Maji-Maji uprising of 1905-1907 in the German East. Africa and other performances inevitably waited for defeat due to the inequality of forces. The “mastering” of the African continent by European powers, the formation and evolution of colonial societies gave rise to new forms of African protest. At the first stage, until the end of the First World War, the struggle of the Africans developed not so much against colonialism as such, but for the regulation of relations between the colony and the mother country. Later, anti-colonial protest took on new forms and was realized in other spheres of life. For many years, in many parts of Africa, one of the most important forms of anti-colonialism was Afro-Christian and Islamic movements and sects. Passive protest resulted in non-payment of taxes, boycott of European goods, flight to neighboring colonies, etc. The decolonization of the African continent was not a straightforward process with a predetermined goal. In the 20 years between the wars, the public consciousness of Africans began to form ideas about the possibility of alternative ways of development - not only under the auspices of the European metropolises, but also within the framework of self-government, the principles of which were widely discussed by numerous socio-political organizations that arose at that time (African National Congress of South Africa , established in 1912, the National Congress of British West Africa, established in 1920, and other movements and parties). Of great importance in their formation were the ideas of pan-Africanism, which originated in the New World and fought against discrimination against all peoples of African descent. Socialist and communist ideas were also of some importance, especially in the South. Africa, where the Communist Party arose as early as 1921 and was admitted to the Communist International. Political parties of the modern type, which put forward demands for the independence of their countries, arose in Africa mainly after the Second World War. It was these organizations that led the movement for political independence in the third stage of decolonization, which began with the end of World War II. The allies in this struggle, which bore peaceful and armed forms, for the African peoples were, first of all, the countries of the Eastern Bloc and various international, regional and national non-governmental organizations. The United Nations and its specialized bodies, which constantly enriched the international legal foundations of this process, had a great influence on the formulation of the general principles of the decolonization process. The Fifth Pan-African Congress (1945) proclaimed a course towards achieving independence. Mass parties arose, old ones were established and new political leaders came to the fore. The British colony of the Gold Coast was the first to gain independence in 1957, taking the historical name of Ghana. In 1960, 17 African colonies gained political independence at once, mostly former possessions of France, which is why it went down in history as the year of Africa. Further, in the 60s, the British colonies in Tropical Africa became independent, after the Portuguese revolution, in 1975 - the former Portuguese possessions, in 1980 - the British South. Rhodesia, known as Zimbabwe. The declaration of independence of the last colonies of Black Africa falls on the 1990s: in 1990, Namibia, occupied by South Africa, gained independence, and in 1994, the special colonial regime was ended in South Africa, where, after the first general elections, a black majority government came to power. The delay in the process of decolonization of the continent in its southern regions can be explained primarily by the peculiarities of the development of so-called internal colonialism in countries with a complex ethnic composition of the population. In addition, it should be borne in mind that decolonization has always been seen as an important aspect of the confrontation in the ideological struggle between the Eastern and Western blocs, which allowed or deliberately provoked the emergence of “hot spots” within the framework of the Cold War. The decolonization of Africa did not lead to the resolution of all its former problems. Moreover, in the course of decolonization, new ones were outlined or emerged. In particular, the most serious problem that many African countries faced either on the eve of independence or shortly after its declaration was separatism. In Uganda, on the eve of independence, Buganda attempted secession. In Zaire (the former Belgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), immediately after independence, two provinces were separated - Katanga and Kasai. In Nigeria in 1967-1970 there was a civil war with the seceded "Republic of Biafra". Until today, a tense balancing act continues between the need to respect the right of peoples to self-determination, which is recorded in many international documents, including the fundamental documents of the UN, and the principle of maintaining territorial integrity, protected by every capable modern state. Another problem is the search by African countries for their place in the world, including the problem of choosing a model for socio-economic and political development, alliances with leading world and regional blocs. Another important problem faced by African countries was the need for spiritual decolonization, which has been discussed since the middle of the 19th century. said prominent members of the African intellectual elite, considering such a liberation a priority and much more important than obtaining the status of an independent state. In general, economic, political and ethnic problems in the Tropical and South. Africa at the end of the twentieth century. escalated. The average African's standard of living continued to fall. The militarization of many countries has intensified. A number of new and some old hotbeds of instability and conflicts have emerged in Somalia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, the Congo and other countries.

Russian Historical Encyclopedia

The total area of Tropical Africa is more than 20 million km 2, the population is 600 million people. It is also called Black Africa, since the vast majority of the population of the subregion belongs to the equatorial (Negroid) race. But in terms of ethnic composition, individual parts of Tropical Africa differ quite strongly. It is most complex in West and East Africa, where at the junction of different races and linguistic families, the greatest "interlacing" of ethnic and political boundaries arose. The population of Central and South Africa speaks numerous (with dialects up to 600), but closely related languages of the Bantu family (this word means "people"). Swahili is the most widely spoken language. And the population of Madagascar speaks the languages of the Austronesian family. .

There is also much in common in the economy and settlement of the population of the countries of Tropical Africa. Tropical Africa is the most backward part of the developing world, within its borders are 29 least developed countries. Now it is the only major region world, where the main sphere of material production is agriculture.

About half of the rural residents are engaged in natural Agriculture, the rest - low-commodity. Hoe tillage prevails with the almost complete absence of a plow; It is no coincidence that the hoe, as a symbol of agricultural labor, is included in the image of the state emblems of a number of African countries. All major agricultural work is done by women and children. They cultivate root and tuber crops (cassava or cassava, yams, sweet potatoes), from which they make flour, cereals, cereals, flat cakes, as well as millet, copgo, rice, corn, bananas, and vegetables. Animal husbandry is much less developed, including because of the tsetse fly, and if it plays a significant role (Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia), it is carried out extremely extensively. In the equatorial forests there are tribes and even peoples who still live by hunting, fishing and gathering. In the zone of savannahs and tropical rainforests, the basis of consumer agriculture is the slash-and-burn system of the fallow type.

Against the general background, areas of commercial crop production stand out sharply with a predominance of perennial plantations - cocoa, coffee, peanuts, hevea, oil palm, tea, sisal, spices. Some of these crops are cultivated on plantations, and some - on peasant farms. It is they who primarily determine the monocultural specialization of a number of countries.

According to the main occupation, the majority of the population of Tropical Africa lives in rural areas. The savannahs are dominated by large riverside villages, while the tropical forests are dominated by small villages.

The life of the villagers is closely connected with the subsistence farming they lead. Local traditional beliefs are widespread among them: the cult of ancestors, fetishism, belief in the spirits of nature, magic, witchcraft, and various talismans. Africans believe. that the spirits of the dead remain on earth, that the spirits of the ancestors strictly monitor the deeds of the living and can harm them if any traditional commandment is violated. Christianity and Islam brought from Europe and Asia also became quite widespread in Tropical Africa. .

Tropical Africa is the least industrialized (apart from Oceania) region of the world. Only one fairly large mining area has developed here, the Copper Belt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia. This industry also forms several smaller areas, which you already know.

Tropical Africa is the least urbanized region in the world(See Figure 18). Only eight of its countries have millionaire cities, which usually rise like lone giants above numerous provincial towns. Examples of this kind are Dakar in Senegal, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nairobi in Kenya, Luanda in Angola.

Tropical Africa also lags far behind in the development of the transport network. Its pattern is determined by the "penetration lines" isolated from each other, leading from the ports to the hinterland. In many countries there are no railways at all. It is customary to carry small loads on the head, and at a distance of up to 30-40 km.

Finally, in T In tropical Africa, environmental quality is rapidly deteriorating. Desertification, deforestation, depletion of flora and fauna have assumed the most menacing proportions here.

Example. The main area of drought and desertification is the Sahel zone, stretching along the southern borders of the Sahara from Mauritania to Ethiopia across ten countries. In 1968-1974. not a single rain fell here, and the Sahel turned into a scorched earth zone. In the first half and in the middle of the 80s. catastrophic droughts have recurred. They claimed millions of human lives. The number of livestock has been greatly reduced.

What happened in the area came to be called the "Sahelian tragedy". But it is not only nature that is to blame. The onset of the Sahara is facilitated by overgrazing, the destruction of forests, primarily for firewood. .

In some countries of Tropical Africa, measures are being taken to protect flora and fauna, and national parks are being created. First of all, this applies to Kenya, where international tourism in terms of income is second only to coffee exports. . (Creative task 8.)

Includes a territory (an area of about 10 million square kilometers with a population of 170 million people) adjacent to the Mediterranean, populated mainly by Muslim Arabs. The countries located on this territory (, Western Sahara,), due to their geographical location (coastal, neighboring in relation to the countries and) and a higher (in comparison with the states of Tropical Africa) level of economic and industrial development, are more involved in ( export of oil, gas, phosphorites, etc.).

The economic life of North Africa is concentrated in the coastal zone. Almost the entire population of the region is concentrated in the same band.

Tropical Africa includes a territory located south of, within which, in turn, they distinguish, and. The overwhelming majority located on their territory belongs to the equatorial (Negroid) race. It is distinguished by great diversity (there are more than 200 peoples), multinational states predominate.

The main area of activity of the population is agriculture (with the exception of the countries of South Africa, in whose economy industry and the service sector play a decisive role). Tropical Africa is the most economically backward, least industrialized and least urbanized part of the developing world. Of the 49 countries within its borders, 32 belong to the group of "least developed countries in the world". Per capita GNP in the countries of East, West and Central Africa is several times (5-7 or more times) less than in the countries of North and South Africa.

Among the countries located south of the Sahara, it occupies a special place.

Firstly, by its geographical position, it no longer belongs to Tropical Africa.

Secondly, in terms of socio-economic development, it does not belong to developing countries. This is a country of “settlement capitalism”. It accounts for: 5.5% of the territory, 7% but 2/3 of its GDP, more than 50% of the manufacturing industry and the car park.

In Africa, the largest industrial region of the Witwatersrand has formed with a center in, which plays the role of the "economic capital" of the country.

In the MGRT, the face of South Africa is represented by the mining industry (gold, platinum, diamonds, uranium, iron, manganese ore, coal), some manufacturing industries (, as well as the production of certain types of agricultural products (cereals, subtropical crops, fine-wool sheep breeding, cattle cattle).

South Africa has the most dense transport network on the continent, large seaports.

However, the effects of the apartheid policy are still being felt in the country's economy. There are big differences between "whites" on one side and "blacks" and "coloreds" on the other. Therefore, South Africa is often called a country with a dual economy. It has features of economically developed and developing states.