African countries where tribes live. Who inhabits Africa

INTRODUCTION

Africa is the second largest continent in the world. Its area is 29.8 thousand square meters. km.

The African continent is washed by the waters of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea; It has no land borders with other continents. It comes closest to Asia, with which, before the digging of the Suez Canal in 1869, it was connected by the Isthmus of Suez. Africa is separated from Europe by the Strait of Gibraltar (about 14 km wide) and the Mediterranean Sea.

The equator crosses the African continent almost in the middle. Only the extreme south and extreme north of Africa enter the subtropics. The surface of the African continent is little dissected. In general terms, Africa is a huge plateau with raised edges and heights, the Atlas Mountains are located. In the east - the high Abyssinian highlands and the East African basin with the greatest peaks of Africa - Kilimanjaro (6010 m), Kenya (5194), Rwenzori (5119 m). The Dragon Mountains stretch along the southeast coast, followed by the Cape Mountains. To the west of Africa lies the Sahara Desert, and to the south the Kalahari Desert. The hydrographic system of Africa is not very developed. Its largest rivers are the Nile (length 6.5 thousand km), Congo (length 4.6 thousand km), Niger (length 4.1 km), Zambezi (length 2.6 thousand km). The remaining rivers are less significant both in length and in the area of their basins. The largest lakes are located in the eastern part of the mainland. The largest of them is Lake Victoria. In the central part of the mainland there is the largest in area, but very small lake. Chad.

The flora of Africa is rich and varied. Tropical forests grow in the Congo basin and along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. From the north, south and east, an array of tropical forests is surrounded by savannahs. The Sahara Desert, and to a lesser extent the Kalahari, are very sparsely vegetated, but few parts of the Sahara are completely devoid of vegetation. The fauna of Africa is also diverse.

The vast majority of the African population belongs to three racial types. The whole of North Africa, up to the southern borders of the Sahara, is inhabited by the peoples of the Caucasoid race. Its representatives - Arabs, Egyptians and others - with dark eyes and hair, swarthy skin; they are similar to the population of the Mediterranean regions of Western Asia and belong to the Mediterranean group of anthropological types.

In the region of the Abyssinian Highlands and on the Somali Peninsula live the peoples of the Ethiopian race: Amhara, Galla, etc.

Distinctive features of this race: dark skin color with a reddish tinge. Curly hair, narrow and tall face with a straight forehead and poorly developed superciliary ridges, a narrow and protruding nose, no prognathism, medium or tall height. According to a set of features, representatives of this race are, as it were, an intermediate link between the peoples of the Caucasoid and Negroid races.

The main population of Africa is the peoples of the Negro race itself. They are settled south of the Sahara in Western and Central Sudan, in the upper reaches of the Nile, in the Congo basin, in Eastern Tropical and South Africa.

In addition to the peoples of these three main races, there are representatives of special racial groups in Africa; they are small in number.

These are, first of all, the pygmies (they are sometimes called negrils, i.e., little blacks), rare islands settled in the tropical forests of the Congo river basin, Ogowe 142 cm), relatively lighter than those of the surrounding negro peoples, skin color, curly hair and a stronger development of facial hair, a broad nose with a very narrow and low nose bridge, a wide mouth with thin lips.

In the very south of Africa, pushed back to the Kalahari Desert. The remnants of the Bushmen and Hottentot tribes live. Once they were widely settled throughout South and East Tropical Africa. Their anthropological type is distinguished by a combination of features characteristic of the Negroid race (broad nose, curly hair). With features reminiscent of the Mongoloid race (flat face, yellowish skin “the color of drying leaves”, sometimes epicanthus, etc.). Specific features that are unique to this anthropological group include steatopygia (accumulation of fat in the gluteal region) and early wrinkling of the skin of the face and body.

Finally, the population of Madagascar - the Malagasy - for the most part belongs to the Mongoloid race, but in their anthropological type there are signs of a mixture of Negroid elements with Mongoloid ones.

1. PEOPLES OF EAST TROPICAL AFRICA

Eastern Tropical Africa, covering the Mezhozero region and the boundless expanses of savannas up to the coast of the Indian Ocean, is inhabited mainly by the Bantu peoples: Swahili (Vasuahili), Wanyamwezi (about 2 million), Baganda (together with close tribes - over 1600 thousand), Kikuyu (Akikuyu, Gikuyu) (1600 thousand), Banyarwanda and Barundi. The northwestern regions are inhabited by the Nilotic peoples - Nandi, Suk, Turkana, Maasai. In the northeast, in areas adjacent to Ethiopia, small groups of Cushite peoples (Galla) live.

Despite the linguistic relationship with the peoples of West Africa, the historical past and culture of the peoples of East Africa are of a completely different nature. The countries of the Mezhozero region reached the highest stage of social development, where long before the advent of Europeans there were state formations - Unyoro, Urundi, Ruanad, Buganda, etc.

The most significant among them was the state of Buganda on the northwestern coast of Lake Victoria. The heyday of Buganda falls on the 17th-18th centuries. In the middle of the 18th century feudal ownership of land began to take shape. The kabaka, the ruler of the state, was considered the supreme owner of the land. As a reward for his service, he distributed plots of land to his close associates. The peasants who lived on this land paid taxes to the new owners and worked for them. Landowners were exempt from taxes. In addition to taxes, the peasants performed a number of public duties (repairing roads, building palaces and public buildings). Slave artisans were engaged in the manufacture of weapons in the royal workshops. Market trade and exchange were so developed that in the second half of the 19th century. taxes were collected not in kind, but in money. Cowrie shells served as monetary units. The whole country was divided into 10 regions - Saza, whose rulers lived at the court of the tavern. The power of the tavern was transmitted through the male line - from father to son, but an indispensable condition for the legitimacy of the inheritance of power was marriage to the king's daughter. Thus, in the court of the kings of Buganda, there was a custom for the king to marry his (classification) sister. The sister-wife and mother of the king also had the right to the title of tavern and were directly involved in government.

While the development of the hinterland proceeded on its own, the East African coast was long visited by South Arab, Aksumite and Greek merchants. Later this coast was connected with Arabia, Iran and India. The first settlements were founded by the Persians, then they were replaced by the Arabs, who founded a number of trading posts. From the 7th c. in connection with internecine wars on the Arabian Peninsula, the resettlement of Arabs took on a mass character. And small trading posts began to turn into large cities and subjugate the surrounding local population. Gradually, a mixed population developed on the coast, based on local tribes, descendants of Persians and Arabs. This population was called "coastal" (in Arabic - Swahili), which has survived to this day.

Swahili culture is largely of Arab-Persian origin: this is reflected in architecture, the nature of clothing, religion, literary works (poems), art and some customs. However, along with this, the Swahili retained their original African culture in customs, folklore and, above all, language. Swahili is one of the Bantu languages, although it contains many words of Arabic-Persian and Indian origin.

At the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century. The Portuguese came to the coast. For the spirit of centuries, the Portuguese ruled over the coast. In the 17-18 centuries. as a result of continuous uprisings, the Portuguese were forced to leave the eastern coast of Africa. In the first half of the 19th century Arab merchants submitted to the authority of the Sultans of Oman. In the 19th century Arab slave traders penetrated deep into the mainland and founded the city of Tabora. Based on this base, they tried to subjugate Buganda and Manyema to their influence. Robber groups of Arab slave traders Tippu-Tipa, Kilong Long reigned supreme in the eastern part of the Congo basin.

In the second half of the 19th century. East Africa became the object of the colonial claims of the European powers. The most bitter struggle broke out in Uganda, which turned out to be a bone of contention between the Arabs and rival European powers. After a long struggle, the country was taken over by the imperialists. Under the Helgoland Treaty regarding the colonial division of East Africa, England captured Kenya and Uganda, and Germany captured Tanganyika.

After World War II, Tanganyika became a Trust Territory of England. At present, as a result of the stubborn national liberation struggle of the Baganda people, the country of Uganda has received a constitution, albeit an extremely limited one. The struggle for independence is also expanding among the other peoples of East Africa.

The natural conditions of East Tropical Africa are not only favorable for agriculture, but in a number of areas they also allow cattle breeding.

The majority of agricultural peoples (the Wanyamwezi and others) still retain the slash-and-burn system of agriculture typical of all of Tropical Africa. Everywhere the main agricultural tool is a hoe with a working part either in the form of a chisel or heart-shaped. Only in Rwanda, where the primitive farming system has long been replaced by irrigation farming. They use heavy large hoes, reminiscent of the Central Asian ketmen. The most important agricultural crops are corn, millet, barley, legumes, cassava, sweet potatoes, etc.

Baganda, bazib, ear and other peoples around the lake. Victoria's main crop are bananas. A banana grove is a must-have for a farmstead in Uganda. Banana is a perennial plant that, with skillful care, bears fruit almost all year round and grows so quickly that caring for the grove requires, first of all, the destruction of excess shoots. The fruits of some varieties are used for flour, others are eaten raw, others are baked in ash, wrapped in leaves, or steamed with other fruits and vegetables and with meat. Baganda skillfully uses other parts of the plant. Leaves lightly dried in the sun are used to wrap foodstuffs for sale; they also serve as a plate, a hat, etc. The lower part of the barrel is dried for fuel. Agriculture has long been an important element of the economy among those peoples who are engaged in cattle breeding (vagogo, vahehe, bakhima). Pastoralists in East Africa breed large and small cattle. Of the cattle breeds, zebu, apparently of South Asian origin, and long-horned cattle of local African breeds, distributed mainly among pastoralists of the upper reaches of the Nile and Mezhozero: banyoro, bakhima, etc., are common.

africa mainland race masai

East Africa does not know peoples engaged only in pastoralism, except for the Nilotic Maasai. Until the end of the 19th century. The Maasai were not engaged in agriculture and all the agricultural products they needed were exchanged with their neighbors for milk and meat. For the Maasai, cattle were not only the main means of subsistence, but also the only form of accumulation of wealth. Caring for livestock is the right and duty of men, an honorable male occupation. Livestock provides food - meat, cooked without salt. Meat is boiled with various seasonings or roasted on a spit, blood with various seasonings or roasted on a spit. They drink blood mixed with milk. Formerly clothes were made from animal skins. Close-fitting shields, various household items.

Masai - one of the peoples of East Africa, which retains many remnants of the tribal system, quickly disappearing from other Nars. They still have traces of tribal division, customs and rituals characteristic of the tribal system.

The division into tribes and clans among the Masai was combined with the division of age, they constituted a group of warriors. They also took care of the livestock. Only after several years of being in combat units did a man receive the right to marry; then he left the detachment and acquired his own household. Adult married men made up special military detachments, so to speak, detachments of veterans. And they had to take part in the campaigns. The leaders of the Maasai had special privileges and were considered sacred persons.

In East Africa, two types of housing are common.

The first of them is a round hut with a cone-shaped roof.

Inside, on four pillars, they arrange something like a platform where they store household utensils and grain supplies. The furnishings of the huts are very simple. Usually two small clay elevations are made in the hut: one of them is covered with mats and has a headboard - this is a bed; the other - serves for the hearth. Three stones, on which a round-bottomed clay pot is placed for cooking food, make up the entire device of the hearth. There is no smoke hole and the smoke exits directly through the doors. There are also no windows; the hut is always twilight. At night, the doors are covered with a dense, very rough mat. Low stools made from a single piece of wood, headstands, baskets, large boxes of bark or leather vessels - these are the whole furnishings of the hut. Sometimes it is complemented by a low four-legged bed. It consists of a wooden frame, on which straps are stretched and a mat is placed on top. In the central part of Tanganyika, the second type of dwelling is widespread - a rectangular tembe house with a flat roof and a courtyard in the middle. It is built from wood. The walls are sometimes plastered with clay. This house serves as a home for several families.

Pottery is usually made and fired by women. They make pots without using a potter's wheel; however, often a shard of a broken pot is placed under a lump of clay and, turning it, they mold a new pot on it. Calabazas are widespread - vessels made of pumpkins and wicker dishes for various purposes. Due to the extreme poverty of the peasants, factory-made dishes enter everyday life slowly.

CONCLUSION

As a result of the activities of the imperialist monopolies, very significant changes have taken place in the economic life of the indigenous population. New export crops appeared, especially cotton (mainly ubagandha), tea, and coffee. The monopolies, interested in increasing the export of raw materials, exerted administrative and economic pressure on the peasants, forcing them to increase the sown areas of cotton and tea, planting coffee bushes. Throughout East Africa, the peasant was obliged to pay taxes to the colonial authorities. Exploited by merchants and usurers, in dire need of money, increased the planting of export crops by reducing the area of food crops. The best lands were selected and given to immigrants from Europe, as well as to European companies - to organize large plantations of sisal, cotton, peanuts and other export crops. In addition, lands were alienated for the construction of railways, the construction of military bases, etc. Many tribes and nationalities (Kikuyu, for example) were moved to reservations. The Maasai pastoralists were deprived of good pastures and driven into a waterless, almost deserted reserve on the border of Kenya and Tanganyika. As a result of all this, the position of the bulk of the peasantry deteriorated sharply.

Today the Maasai are a Negro people in Kenya and Tanzania; number of 900 thousand people (1992); speak the Maasai language; adhere to traditional beliefs (the cult of the forces of nature, the cult of ancestors), the remnants of the tribal system are preserved in the way of life. The main occupation of the Masai is cattle breeding; in search of pastures they wander from place to place.

Lifespan

Africans live on average 50 years.
The African continent is characterized by rather low life expectancy rates (on average, people in the world live up to 65 years).
Tunisia and Libya are leaders: here people live on average up to 73 years, residents of Central and East Africa - up to 43 years, and Zambia and Zimbabwe scored the lowest - here people live only 32-33 years (this is due to the widespread spread of AIDS) .
Low life expectancy is due to outbreaks of epidemics: people die not only from HIV / AIDS, but also from tuberculosis. And children often die from measles, malaria and malnutrition.
Health problems largely depend on the lack of medical workers (doctors and nurses flock to developed countries).

Traditions and customs of the peoples of Africa

An integral part of the customs and traditions of the peoples of Africa are shamans with supernatural powers and unique knowledge. All rituals are performed by shamans in special masks, which can be made in the form of the head of a non-existent animal or monster.
Africa has its own ideals of female beauty: beautiful women here are those that have long necks, so they hang rings on their necks and never take them off (otherwise the woman will die, because the neck loses muscle due to wearing hoops).
Africa is a hot and wild continent: despite the fact that today planes fly to all its corners, it is still a mysterious land of alluring dreams for us.

According to most scientists, Homo sapiens originated in Africa. In the east and south of the mainland, bone remains were found belonging not only to the most ancient people, but also to their predecessors - transitional forms from ancient monkeys to humans. Bones and fossils of anthropoids were found - creatures that had many features inherent in humans. In addition to East Africa, the bones of ancient people and their tools have been found on the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is believed that from here man settled all over the world.

The modern population of Africa belongs to three main races: Caucasoid, Equatorial and Mongoloid. The main part of the inhabitants of the mainland is indigenous, i.e. native, permanent, population. Representatives of the Caucasian race live mainly in northern Africa. These are the Arab peoples (Algerians, Moroccans, Egyptians) who speak Arabic, as well as the Berbers who speak Berber. They are characterized by dark skin, dark hair and eyes, an elongated skull, a narrow nose and an oval face.

Most of the mainland south of the Sahara is inhabited by Negroids, who make up the African branch of the equatorial race. Among Negroids there are significant differences in skin color, height, facial features, and head shape. The tallest peoples of Africa live in the savannahs of the northern part of the mainland (Tutsi, Nilots, Masai and others). Their average height is 180-200 cm. In the region of the upper Nile, Negroids are distinguished by a very dark, almost black skin color.

The peoples of the zone of equatorial forests - pygmies - are small (below 150 cm). Their skin color is less dark than that of many other Negroids, their lips are thin, their nose is wide. Pygmies are forest dwellers. The forest is their home and source of everything necessary for existence. This is one of the smallest ethnic groups in Africa, whose numbers are steadily declining.

Bushmen and Hottentots live in the semi-deserts and deserts of South Africa. They are characterized by a yellowish-brown skin color, a wide flat face, which gives them a resemblance to the Mongoloids. The Bushmen, like the Pygmies, are undersized.

Some experts refer to the Ethiopians as an intermediate race. They are distinguished by a lighter skin color with a reddish tint. In appearance, the Ethiopians are closer to the southern branch of the Caucasoid race. Malagasy (inhabitants) are descended from a mixture of representatives of the Mongoloid and Negroid races.

The newcomer population of European origin lives mainly in places with better climatic conditions and constitutes an insignificant part of the population of the mainland. In the north of the mainland along the Mediterranean coast, the French live, and in the very south of the mainland - Afrikaners (descendants of immigrants from the Netherlands), the British and others.

Many African countries have an ancient culture (Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Benin, Sudan). Crafts, trade, construction business flourished in them. The peoples of Africa, having gone through a long path of development, have made a significant contribution to the history of world culture. Remarkable monuments of art have been preserved: the Egyptian pyramids - a miracle of ancient construction technology, carvings made of ivory and wood, bronze sculptures, the remains of megalithic structures in Zimbabwe. Some scientists believe. That mankind owes its first successes in the development of culture mainly to Africa.

In Africa, according to various sources, there are from five hundred to 8,000 peoples., including small peoples and ethnic groups that cannot be clearly attributed to one of them. Some of these peoples number only a few hundred people, there are really not so many large ones: more than a million there are 107 peoples, and only 24 - more than five million. The largest nations in Africa: Egyptian Arabs(76 million) hausa(35 million) Moroccan Arabs(35 million) Algerian Arabs(32 million) yoruba(30 million) igbo(26 million) fulbe(25 million) Oromo(25 million) amhara(20 million) Malagasy(20 million) Sudanese Arabs(18 million). In total, 1.2 billion people live in Africa on a territory of just over 30 million square kilometers, that is, approximately one sixth of the population of our planet. In this article, we will briefly talk about the main peoples into which the population of Africa is divided.

North Africa

As you may have noticed, among the largest nations there are many those in whose name the word Arabs appears. Of course, genetically these are all different peoples, united primarily by faith, and also by the fact that more than a thousand years ago these lands were conquered from the Arabian Peninsula, included in the Caliphate, and mixed with the local population. The Arabs themselves, however, were relatively few in number.

The caliphate conquered the entire North African coast, as well as part of the west coast as far as Mauritania. These places were known as the Maghreb, and although the countries of the Maghreb are now independent, their inhabitants still speak Arabic and practice Islam, and they are collectively called Arabs. They belong to the Caucasoid race, its Mediterranean branch, and the places inhabited by Arabs are distinguished by a fairly high level of development.

Egyptian Arabs form the basis of the population of Egypt and the most numerous of the African peoples. Ethnically, the Arab conquest had little effect on the population of Egypt, in the countryside it had little effect at all, and thus for the most part they are descendants of the ancient Egyptians. However, the cultural image of this people has changed beyond recognition, in addition, most of the Egyptians converted to Islam (although a considerable number of them remained Christians, now they are called Copts). If we count together with the Copts, then the total number of Egyptians can be brought up to 90-95 million people.

The second largest Arab people Moroccan Arabs, which are the result of the conquest by the Arabs of various local tribes that did not constitute a single people at that time - Libyans, Getuls, Mavrusians and others. Algerian Arabs formed from a diverse range of Berber peoples and Kabyles. But in the blood of Tunisian Arabs (10 million) there is some negroid element that distinguishes them from their neighbors. Sudanese Arabs make up the majority of the population of northern Sudan. Also, from the largest Arab peoples of Africa, Libyans(4.2 million) and Mauritanians(3 million).

A little to the south, in the hot Sahara, the Bedouins roam - this is the name of all nomads, regardless of their nationality. In total, there are about 5 million of them in Africa, they include various small peoples.

West and Central Africa

To the south of the Sahara, the swarthy, but white-skinned Africans belonging to the Mediterranean sub-race of the Caucasian race are being replaced by people of the Negroid race, which is divided into three main sub-races: negro, negrillian And Bushman.

The Negro is the most numerous. In addition to West Africa, the peoples of this sub-race also live in Sudan, Central and South Africa. Its East African type is distinguished primarily by its tall stature - often the average height here is 180 cm, and is also characterized by the darkest skin, almost black.

In West and Equatorial Africa, the peoples of this sub-race dominate. Let's highlight the largest of them. First of all, this yoruba living in Nigeria, Togo, Benin and Ghana. These are representatives of an ancient civilization that left a legacy of many original ancient cities and developed mythology. Hausa live in the north of Nigeria, as well as in Cameroon, Niger, Chad, the Central African Republic, they also had a developed culture of city-states in antiquity, and now they profess Islam, are engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry.

Igbo live in the southeast of Nigeria, having a small area of \u200b\u200bsettlement, but a high density. Unlike previous peoples, the Igbos do not have an ancient history, since they were formed from many different peoples relatively recently, already in the era of European colonization of Africa. Finally, the people fulbe settled over a vast territory from Mauritania to Guinea and even in Sudan. According to anthropologists, they originated from Central Asia, and already in modern times, this people was noted for its militancy, participating with great enthusiasm in Islamic jihads in Africa in the 19th century.

South and Equatorial Africa.

In contrast to the representatives of the Negro sub-race, people from the Negrill sub-race are short, their average height barely exceeds 140 cm, which is why they are called so - pygmies. Pygmies live in the forests of Equatorial Africa. But there are very few of them, but other peoples dominate in this territory, primarily from the Bantu group: these are duala, fang, bubi, mboshi, Congo and others for equatorial Africa and Xhosa, Zulu, Swazi, Ndebele for South. The basis of the population of Zimbabwe is the people Shona(13 million), also belonging to the Bantu group. In total, there are 200 million Bantu settled in half of the continent.

Also in Equatorial Africa live representatives of the third subrace, Bushman or capoid. They are characterized by short stature, a narrow nose and a flat nose bridge, as well as skin that is much lighter than that of their neighbors, which has a yellowish-brown tint. The Bushmen themselves are distinguished here, as well as the Hottentots, who live mainly in Namibia and Angola. However, representatives of the capoid subrace are not numerous.

In the very south, the minimal competition to the Bantu is made up of groups of Afrikaners, that is, the descendants of European colonists, primarily the Boers. In total, there are 3.6 million Afrikaners. South Africa can generally be called a melting pot - if you count with Madagascar, where the Malagasies from the Mongoloid race settled, then immigrants from almost all parts of the world live here, because in addition to the Malagasy Mongoloids in southern Africa, they also settled Hindustanis, Biharis, Gujaratis speaking Indo-Aryan languages, as well as Tamils, Telugu speaking Dravidian languages. They came to Africa from Asia, while the Malagasy sailed from distant Indonesia.

East Africa

First of all, it is worth highlighting the Ethiopian subrace. As the name implies, it includes the population of Ethiopia, which genetically cannot be attributed either to the swarthy, but white-skinned northerners, or to the representatives of the Negroid race living in the south. This subrace is considered the result of a mixture of Caucasoid and Negroid, combining the features of both. It should be noted that “Ethiopians” is a collective concept, the following peoples live in this country: Oromo, amharas, tigers, gurage, sidama and others. All these peoples speak Ethio-Semitic languages.

The two largest ethnic groups in Ethiopia are the Oromo, also living in northern Kenya, and the Amhara. Historically, the former were nomadic and lived on the east coast, while the latter gravitated towards agriculture. The Oromo are predominantly Muslim, while the Amhara are Christian. The Ethiopian race also includes the Nubians living in southern Egypt, numbering up to two million.

Also, a significant part of the population of Ethiopia is the Somali people, who gave the name to the neighboring state. They belong to the Cushitic language family along with Oromo and Agau. There are about 16 million Somalis in total.

In eastern Africa, peoples are also common Bantu. Here it is Kikuyo, Akamba, Meru, Luhya, Jaggga, Bemba living in Kenya and Tanzania. At one time, these peoples ousted the Cushitic-speaking people from here, from which something still remains: irako, gorowa, burungi, sandawa, hadza- but these peoples are far from being so numerous.

Among the great African lakes live Rwanda, Rundi, Ganda, Sogo, Hutu, Tutsis, and also Pygmies. Rwanda is the largest people in this area, numbering 13.5 million. The lakeside region is inhabited by Swahili, Comorians, mijikenda.

Africa is unique and multifaceted, and so are the people living on the mainland. The peoples inhabiting Africa are diverse in its various parts, there are several thousand large and small ethnic groups, and 107 of them have a million or more representatives, and 24 of them number five million people.

Most of the peoples are not numerous, they are usually represented by several hundred or thousands of people and inhabit one or two nearby villages.

Modern peoples living in Africa belong not only to different anthropological types, but also to different races. So, north of the Sahara and on the territory of the desert itself, you can meet people of the Indo-Mediterranean race, which belongs to the large Caucasoid race. But on the lands to the south it is precisely the Negro-Australoid race that is distributed, in which the Negro, Negril and

Races, among which the largest number of inhabitants belongs to the first.

The largest nations on the mainland:

Egyptian;
Yoruba;
Moroccan;
Sudanese Arabs;
hausa;
Algerian;
fulbe;
amhara;
igbo.

Peoples of South Africa

South Africa has long been inhabited by nomadic peoples who did not have a pronounced government and were excellent hunters, gatherers and specialists in the life of nature.

Then from the north, most of all from Central Africa, new peoples began to arrive in the southern lands. They were mainly Bantu, who brought with them agriculture and mining. These immigrants led a sedentary life, it was on the basis of such peoples inhabiting Africa in the south that the first states began to appear in the region.

The next influence on the southern population was the Europeans, who first arrived there in 1652, although they had passed through before. Foreigners subsequently dominated and ruled all of South Africa for about 350 years, which influenced the social and cultural situation.

Peoples of South Africa:

braid;
swazi;
suto;
tsonga;
Zulu;
herero;
Ndebele;
venda;
tswana;
matabele;
shawn;
pedi;
ovambo;
Bushmen;
Hottentots;
Hindustanis;
Gujaratis;
Biharis;
Tamils;
Telugu

Today, the Bantu peoples are still engaged in agriculture, growing legumes, corn, millet and vegetables. They also raise small and large livestock.

For the Hottentots, cattle breeding is a priority, but one of their groups, the Topnar-Nama, used to be engaged in hunting at sea all the time.

The Bushmen, on the other hand, remained nomads, they still hunt and gather food. Their home is windscreens made from twigs, grass, and skins. They wear loincloths and, if necessary, cover themselves with cloaks.

Cattle breeders and sedentary farmers live in hemispherical huts - kraal, and dress in loincloths with aprons, used leather cloaks are called kaross.

Peoples living in North Africa

Now in North Africa there are many practically uninhabited territories, which is associated with the peculiarities of the modern climate. When the Sahara turned from savannah to desert thousands of years ago, its inhabitants were forced to move closer to the water, for example, to the Nile Valley and to the coast. Then such populated areas became the beginnings of great civilizations and cultures.

During the Middle Ages, Europeans increasingly visited the African coast of the Mediterranean Sea. And by the beginning of the twentieth century, foreigners began to rule in these territories, thereby influencing their culture, which lasted about half a century.

Due to the constant presence of residents of Arab and European countries, representatives of the Indo-Mediterranean race live in North Africa:

Arabs;
Berbers.

They have dark skin, hair and eyes of dark shades, a nose on a narrow face has a hump. Among the Berbers, people with light eyes and hair are not excluded.

Most of the local population professes Islam, with the exception of the Copts, who are the direct descendants of the ancient Egyptians, they are Monophysite Christians.

Most often, the peoples inhabiting Africa in the north are engaged in agriculture, horticulture and viticulture are also developed, and date palms are cultivated in oases. Cattle breeding is carried out by the Bedouins and Berbers, who live in the mountains or semi-desert places.

Peoples of Central Africa

In Central Africa, the population belonging to the Negroid race is predominant:

athara;
Yoruba;
Bantu;
oromo;
house.

Representatives of this race are distinguished by dark shades of skin, hair, eyes, their lips are thick, their nose is also pronounced - the bridge of the nose is low, and the wings are wide.

The structure of such ethnic groups is complex, often researchers know very little about them. Those who live in virgin impenetrable forests are almost not studied.

In the conditions of dense and impenetrable tropical forests, one can observe a special anthropological type - pygmies, which are distinguished by short stature (around 141 centimeters). They have lighter skin and thinner lips than other representatives of the Negroid race. In addition, they have a feature of the body structure - short lower limbs and a large head.

It is possible to observe various religions in these territories, among which there are a large number of adherents of Islam and Christianity, and the beliefs of ancient ancestors are not forgotten.

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