Most of the peoples of Africa belong to which. peoples of north africa

Target: To form an idea of ​​​​the main races and the distribution of the population of Africa.

  1. To acquaint with the composition of the population, to establish the relationship between the distribution of the population and historical, natural factors.
  2. Develop the ability to work with geographical maps and explain the differences between representatives of each race and the principle of population distribution.
  3. Improve the ability to independently extract information using visualization.
  4. Strengthen the skills of working with the text of the textbook.

Equipment: physical and political map of Africa, atlases and contour maps of grade 7, busts of races and a table on the board.

During the classes

1. Organizational moment

2. Learning new material

Introductory speech of the teacher:

We already know that Africa is the ancestral home of man.

Problematic question: What are the main races of the Earth's population and how do representatives of each race differ from each other and how is the population located on the continent of Africa?

It is known that people with different skin colors live on planet Earth: blacks, yellow-skinned, pale-skinned. The modern population of Africa belongs to three main races: Caucasoid, Equatorial, Mongoloid.

3. Task: draw a table (table on the board) in a notebook.

4. Work in groups, using visualizations (busts of four races).

Task: Using visuals, describe the characteristic features (shape of the face, nose, lips, eye shape, skin color, hair) and write in the last column of the table. Each group presents its own characteristics.

The table looks like this:

Race name peoples Place of residence Character traits
Caucasoid
Negroid (equatorial) .
The skin is less dark, the lips are thin, the nose is wide
Mongoloid
intermediate race

5. Working with the text of the textbook p. 30.

Race name peoples Place of residence Character traits
Caucasoid Dark skin, dark hair and eyes, elongated skull, narrow nose and oval face
Negroid (equatorial) Tutsi, Nilotic, Maasai Very dark, almost black skin, full lips, black hair
Mongoloid Bushmen, Hottentots Tan skin color, broad flat face
intermediate race Ethiopians

Malagasy

Lighter, but with a reddish tinge, skin

Teacher: Africa is inhabited by many peoples. The Tuareg people of Niger are called the "blue people of the desert". Their indigo-colored festive attire, in the bright sun, casts blue plumes on dark skin, and not resistant paint is absorbed into it.

On the border of Uganda and Sudan, the Karamojong tribes, isolated from the outside world, belong to the Nilotic group, the tallest people on the planet. The average height of women, who are much shorter than men, reaches 190 cm. These African gullivers are also the darkest-skinned.

6. Working with the map.

Task: Determine the location of the population on the map, their place of residence and fill in the column in the table. Establish the relationship between the distribution of the population and historical, natural factors, using atlas maps: the physical, political and population density of Africa.

Race name peoples Place of residence Character traits
Caucasoid Algerians, Moroccans, Egyptians, Berbers North Africa Dark skin, dark hair and eyes, elongated skull, narrow nose and oval face
Negroid (equatorial) Tutsi, Nilotic, Maasai Savannas in the northern part of the mainland

equatorial forest zone

Very dark, almost black skin, full lips, black hair

The skin is less dark, the lips are thin, the nose is wide

Mongoloid Bushmen, Hottentots Semi-deserts, deserts Tan skin color, broad flat face
intermediate race Ethiopians

Malagasy

about. Madagascar

Lighter, but with a reddish tinge, skin

Mixing Mongoloid and Negroid races

7. Teacher:

The share of the population of Africa in relation to the population of the entire globe has been decreasing over the past few centuries. So, in 1650, there were 100 million people in Africa, which accounted for 18.3% of the total population of the Earth.

For 250 years, that is, in 1900, the number increased by only 29 million people and accounted for 7.4% of the world's population. This was a consequence of the slave trade, which lasted for centuries, the brutal exploitation of the indigenous people by European colonialists. Terrible living conditions leading to high mortality. By the beginning of the XX century. The capitalist countries of Europe divided almost the entire territory of Africa among themselves and turned it into a mainland of colonies. A colony is a country deprived of political and economic independence.

The island opposite Dakar, the modern capital of Senegal, was called Goré Island in the distant past because it was the base of pirates and slave traders. Here, “living goods” were taken out through the “gates of no return” and loaded onto sailboats going to distant America. The mournful weeping and shackle ringing subsided only by the middle of the 19th century, when slavery was banned in French Africa.

In the middle of the XX century. Africa became the mainland of the national liberation struggle, which led to the collapse of the colonial system.

Summary of the lesson.

  1. Name the races.
  2. Describe the races of Africa
  3. Name the areas with higher and lower population density.

Homework: p. 30, in the contour map, indicate the peoples inhabiting Africa.

Africa is a place where people live, adhering to the rules of life, traditions and culture that developed several centuries ago, have survived to this day almost unchanged and are a clear guide to the everyday way of life of the population. The inhabitants of Africa still successfully exist due to fishing, hunting and gathering, without feeling the need and acute need for the objects of modern civilization. This does not mean that they are not familiar with all the innovations of civilization, they simply know how to do without them, leading a secluded lifestyle, not coming into contact with the outside world.

Peoples inhabiting Africa

The African continent has sheltered many different tribes with different levels of development, traditions, rituals and outlook on life. The largest tribes are Mbuti, Nuba, Oromo, Hamer, Bambara, Fulbe, Dinka, Bongo and others. Over the past two decades, the inhabitants of the tribes have been gradually reorganizing themselves into a commodity-money way of life, but their priority is to provide themselves and their families with the necessary food in order to prevent prolonged famine. It can be said that there are practically no economic relations among the tribal population, which is why various conflicts and contradictions often arise, which can even end in bloodshed.

Despite this, there are also tribes that are more loyal to modern development, have entered into economic relations with other large nations and are working to develop social culture and industry.

The population of Africa is quite large, therefore, from 35 to 3000 people live on the continent per square kilometer, and in some places even more, because due to the lack of water and the unfavorable climate of the deserts, the population is unevenly distributed here.

Berbers and Arabs live in northern Africa, who, over a dozen centuries of living in this territory, passed on their language, culture and traditions to the locals. Arab ancient buildings are still pleasing to the eye, revealing all the subtleties of their culture and beliefs.

There are practically no inhabitants in the desert area, but there you can meet a large number of nomads who lead entire caravans of camels, which is their main source of life and an indicator of wealth.

Culture and life of the peoples of Africa

Since the population of Africa is quite diverse and consists of more than a few dozen tribes, it is very obvious that the traditional way has long lost its primitiveness and, in some aspects, borrowed culture from neighboring residents. Thus, the culture of one tribe reflects the traditions of another and it is difficult to determine who was the founder of certain rituals. The most important value in the life of the tribal people is the family, it is with it that most of the beliefs, traditions and rituals are associated.

In order to marry one of the girls of the tribe, the guy must compensate the parents for the damage. Often this is a domestic animal, but more recently, ransom is also accepted in cash. It is believed that this tradition helps families unite, and in the case of a good amount of ransom, the father of the bride is convinced of the wealth of the son-in-law and that he can properly provide for his daughter.

The wedding should only be played on a full moon night. It is the moon that will indicate what the marriage will be like - if bright and clear, then the marriage will be good, prosperous and prolific, if the moon is dim - this is a very bad sign. The family in the tribes of Africa is distinguished by polygamy - as soon as a man becomes financially wealthy, he can afford several wives, which does not bother the girls at all, since they equally share household and childcare responsibilities. Such families are surprisingly friendly and direct all their efforts for the good of the tribe.

Upon reaching a certain age (it is different for each tribe), young people must undergo an initiation ceremony. Boys and sometimes girls are circumcised. It is very important that the guy during the ceremony does not scream or cry, otherwise he will forever be considered a coward.

Traditions and customs of the peoples of Africa

Africans spend a lot of time protecting themselves from evil spirits and getting closer to good gods. To do this, they perform ritual dances (causing rain, fight pests, receive a blessing before hunting, etc.), stuff tattoos, cut out masks that should protect them from evil spirits.

Sorcerers and shamans play a special role in the life of the tribe. They are considered servants of the spirits, it is to them that the leaders of the tribes listen and the common people come to them for advice. Shamans have the right to bless, heal, they hold weddings and bury the deceased.

The inhabitants of Africa honor their ancestors with particular enthusiasm, performing a series of rituals to worship them. Often this is the worship of dead ancestors, after whose death more than a year has passed, they are invited back to the house with the help of some ritual actions, allocating them a separate place in the room.

Before marriage, girls are taught a special language for married women, which only they know and understand. The bride herself must come to the groom's house on foot and bring her dowry. Marriage can be concluded from the age of 13.

Another feature of the tribal culture is the scarring on the body. It is believed that the more of them, the better a man is a warrior and hunter. Each tribe has its own drawing techniques.

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 the date palm is 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.

peoples of africa

Africa is 1/5 of the land of our planet. Africa is second only to Eurasia in size. The equator divides the continent almost in half. The relief of the mainland is generally diverse. This is a vast plateau. Africa has neither vast lowlands nor large mountain ranges. Its highest part is the eastern one, where the Abyssinian Plateau is located, indented with mountains and gorges. This area is called the "roof of the continent". The largest rivers are the Nile, Congo, Niger, Zambezi. The rivers are rapids, hardly navigable, most of them dry up in the summer.

Africa is the hottest continent. On both sides of the equator there is a strip of tropics that occupies ¾ of the entire mainland. The stripes of the tropics to the north and south are followed by the zones of the savannas - the African steppes (sahel). Deserts are symmetrically located behind the savannah belts: the world's greatest Sahara with an average annual temperature of +35 and in the south - Kalahari and Namib. Narrow coastal strips in the north and south of the continent are subtropical zones. In most of Africa, the year is divided into two distinct seasons: dry - summer and rainy - winter. The farther from the equator, the shorter the rainy season, the less precipitation. Droughts are common in savannah zones.

Now the nature of Africa is a huge sphere of acute ecological crisis. It is caused by the objective action of the very forces of nature and the vigorous activity of people.

Africa is geographically divided into North, East, South, Central and West Tropical. The population of Africa is a complex conglomerate of ethnic groups and ethnic groups of various sizes, formed as a result of constant migrations of the indigenous population and contacts between its individual groups.

Migration was especially wide in the past, when shepherding was widespread. Migrations were also caused by natural factors: droughts, epidemics, invasions of tsetse flies, locusts, etc., which forced the settled population to move to areas more favorable for life. intertribal wars also led to migrations. In the process of migration, there were unifications of tribes and ethnic groups, absorption of some by others, various levels of integration and adaptation.



In our time, almost a third of the entire African population is made up of the Bantu peoples known from antiquity. They moved across a vast territory from the borders of Sudan to the south. Probably, their ancestral home is the northern part of the Congo basin, on the border of the tropical zone and the savannah. The Bantu were driven south by the Pygmies, Bushmen and Hottentots. Already by the 111th - 10th century, Arab travelers discovered Bantu along the entire coast of East Africa. Part of the Bantu mixed with the natives, the Hottentot tribes were absorbed by the Bantu peoples.

Many peoples migrated from the north to East Africa under the general name of "Nilotes". They were distinguished from their neighbors by linguistic and anthropological affiliation. The Nilots pushed the Bantu southward and settled in the Mezhozero region, where they mingled with the local Negroid population, while retaining a number of anthropological features of their ancestors - tall, long limbs, long-headed. They lost their language, having acquired the languages ​​of the Bantu peoples they absorbed.

A significant part of the population of Northeast Africa belongs to the Semitic group, which is unique in linguistic and anthropological terms. Their origin is probably associated with the migration of groups of South Arab tribes on the Somali coast. Their descendants mixed with the local Negroid population, but at the same time retained the main features of the structure of their language. A significant factor in the formation of the population of this area were the peoples of the Galla (Oromo) and Somali.

The ethnic composition of the population of West Africa is diverse and has a complex history of formation. It is more or less clear that the Bantu peoples who migrated here, as well as the pastoral tribes of the ancestors of the Fulbe, who came from Western Sahara or North Africa and belonged to the Mediterranean race, took part in this process. In the process of migration, they mixed with the local population, acquired Negroid features and lost their language.

Today, the population of the continent is extremely ethnically diverse and consists of many tribes and peoples, the level of development of which is very different. At present, it is customary to single out about 500 peoples on the ethnic map of Africa.

The historical paths of Africa's development make it possible, with a certain degree of conditionality, to distinguish as independent parts of the North, North-West and the vast expanses of "black Africa" ​​south of the Sahara. The cultures of the population of North Africa combine the traditions of ancient North Africa and Egypt with Christian and Islamic cultures. The peoples inhabiting the regions of Africa south of the Sahara never knew the wheel, the potter's wheel, did not build bridges, did not use the plow. The most characteristic and widespread subject of the material culture of the peoples inhabiting black Africa is the drum. This item is not just a musical and entertaining, but also a ritual and combat instrument. In addition, the drum from ancient times served as the most important means of transmitting information over any distance, from one transmission point to another along the chain. The drum is rightfully the material symbol of Black Africa.

Peoples of North Africa.

The North African region includes the population of Algeria, Egypt, Western Sahara, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia. In historical and ethno-cultural terms, the western part of the region stands out - this is the Maghreb. It includes Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Mauritania, Western Sahara.

The majority of the population of the Maghreb belongs to the Mediterranean branch of the Caucasian race. The peoples of the Maghreb speak Afroasian seven languages, the majority of the population speaks Arabic. These areas from the 11th - 111th centuries were part of the Arab caliphate and from that time entered the Arab-Islamic civilization. The Tuareg have preserved an ancient letter - tifinagh -, its keepers are women, all the rest use the Arabic alphabet.

As in all of Africa, state borders, like the borders of regions, do not coincide with ethnic ones. For example, the Tuareg live not only in Algeria, but also in Mauritania, Mali and Niger.

In the north and west, coastal residents are engaged in fishing. Farmers here sow grain, cultivate grapes, tobacco, and citrus fruits. The inhabitants of the mountains are sedentary tillers or pastoral herders. Small artificially irrigated fields are located on terraces arranged in tiers on the slopes of the mountains. In the foothills and on the plains, the population is engaged in irrigated agriculture. The main tools of labor are plow, sickle, wooden pitchfork. Further south, the agricultural population is concentrated only in oases or around wells. The main crop grown here is the date palm, the wood and leaves of which are used for buildings, and the fruits serve as the basis for the nutrition of desert inhabitants. The majority of the population in these parts are nomads. They are engaged in camel breeding, sheep and goat breeding. Herds of camels are the main wealth and the content of all economic activity: a camel gives wool, milk, meat, transports belongings and the whole family of a nomad. The population migrates in spring and autumn, and at the beginning of winter they gather near palm groves, where they stock up on dates and cultivate small arable land. They also wait out the biggest heat in the middle of summer.

The food of African peoples has some common features. Its important part is cereals and flat cakes (millet, corn, wheat). Vegetable protein is given by beans, peas, peanuts; animal protein - fish and meat (goat meat, lamb, much less often - beef and camel meat). Vegetable oils are used as fats - palm, peanut, olive; nomadic pastoralists have mutton fat. The most common dish is couscous - balls of rice or wheat porridge, which are eaten with spicy sauces and seasonings. The main drink is water, alcoholic drinks are millet or barley beer and palm wine. Only in the very north are they engaged in viticulture and winemaking. Throughout Africa, traditionally two meals a day - in the morning and after sunset.

The dwellings of the peoples of North Africa are diverse. Cities, as a rule, retain the division into two parts - Arabic (medina) and European. In rural areas, dwellings of highlanders, agricultural and pastoral peoples are distinguished. Highlanders engaged in transhumance usually have two types of settlements - permanent - a fortified village with four towers at the corners - and temporary - a group of tents or a light dwelling on mountain pastures. The settled population of the plains lives in villages stretched along the road. In some places, the ancient dwelling "gurbi" is preserved - a hut covered with reeds or straw with walls made of wood, stone or clay mixed with straw. The dwellings of nomads are an easily portable tent or tent. Coatings are made from wool or carpets, Tuareg - from pieces of leather. One family lives in one tent. Men occupy the eastern half, women occupy the western.

Most North Africans wear common Arab clothing. This is a long white shirt, over it is a warm burnous, often dark in color, a turban. Shoes - shoes without backs. An indispensable accessory for a man's costume is "shukara" - a bag on red braided cords and "kumiya" - a double-edged dagger bent up. Their boy receives from his father at the age of 7-8. Women wear light bloomers, long dresses made of white, pink, pale green fabric. Townswomen cover their faces with a special veil. Rural women walk around with open faces.

Almost all the peoples of North Africa are patrilineal, their family relations are regulated by Sharia norms. Religiously, the population of North Africa is fairly homogeneous. Muslims make up the vast majority. Maghreb Islam has many "folk" features, in particular, the wearing of amulets, worship of the graves of saints, belief in "baraka" (grace), etc. they keep faith in spirits, ghosts, are engaged in divination, witchcraft, magic.

Original, standing out against the background of other peoples of North Africa - Tuareg. This is the people of the Berber group living in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Algeria, Libya. The Tuareg are the descendants of the ancient indigenous Berber population of North Africa. They form several associations of tribes.

The dwellings of the settled and semi-settled Tuareg are hemispherical huts made of palm leaves or straw. During the nomadic Tuareg live in tents covered with leather or coarse cloth.

Society is divided into several classes - castes. The main ones are imajegan, noble, in the past formal owners of land, and by their main occupation - warriors; imgad, i.e. goat herders, the bulk of pastoralists and farmers, iqlan, i.e. blacks, formerly Negro slaves, now freedmen. At the head of the tribes is a chiefdom headed by a ruler - an amenucal. The symbol of the power of the amenukal is the sacred drum. A feature of the Tuareg is the preservation, along with the patriarchal-clan, of strong remnants of the maternal-clan organization. The position of women among them is much higher than among other Muslim nations: the property of the spouses is separate, divorce is possible at the initiative of each of the parties. Women have the right to property and inheritance One of the remnants of matrilocality is the obligatory wearing of a face covering by free men who have reached marriageable age. This analogue of the female face covering is not found anywhere else in the world. Hence the second self-name of the Tuareg - the people of the bedspread. Tuareg fine art is very original. The motif of the cross is widespread in it, therefore, in the past, the Tuareg were considered descendants of the crusaders. The main guardians of the traditional spiritual culture of the Tuareg are women. In particular, they are the keepers of the ancient Tifinagh script, preserved only among this people, while the rest have the Arabic alphabet. Women - the custodians of the musical heritage and historical epos, singers and poetess

Peoples of East Africa .

East Africa is inhabited by the population of Burundi, Djibouti, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Reunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia.

The population of the northern half of the region belongs to the Ethiopian race, which occupies an intermediate position between Negroids and Caucasians. Most of the population of southern East Africa belongs to the Negroid race, even further south there is a population belonging to the Bushman type. According to the ethno-linguistic classification accepted in science, the population of the region represents the Afro-Asiatic family, Nilo-Saharan and Niger-Kordofan (the so-called Bantu peoples).

East Africa is a special natural zone .. this is the most elevated part of the continent, all the natural zones of Africa are represented here. The main occupations of the population of East Africa are agriculture and cattle breeding. Compared to other natural areas, East Africa is the most favorable for livestock breeding, which is widespread here and is represented by several HCTs.

Cattle breeding is presented in the forms of nomadic (nomadic and semi-nomadic) and distant pasture content. In transhumant pastoralism, the most widely represented form is transhuman herding, often referred to in the literature as semi-nomadic or semi-sedentary pastoralism. This HKT combines pastoralism with agriculture, temporary or permanent settlement of a part of the population with the mobility of another. At the same time, the social unity of the social organization is not violated, the entire population, both mobile and settled, belongs to a single social system. This way of life is explained by the differences in natural conditions in which one and the same people live, when one part of them is occupied with agriculture, and the other part migrates with herds sometimes for long distances from settled settlements. Typical representatives of transhuman shepherding - peoples Nuer and dinka. Their habitats (the savannas of southern Sudan) dry out so much during the dry season that the population is forced to move with herds far to the banks of rivers in swampy areas. In the wet season, the tributaries of the Nile spill over vast areas. In wetlands, living becomes possible only in villages on the hills. The change of seasons therefore means a change of place of residence and occupation.

HCT of nomadism (nomadism) has two subtypes - nomadic and semi-nomadic. Nomadism is a special mode of production based on extensive grazing, in which animal breeding is the main occupation of the mobile population and is the main means of subsistence. Another important feature of nomadism is that it is not only a special economic, but also a special social system. Nomads constitute special independent social organisms. Their social relations are characteristic only for nomadism and are patriarchal nomadic-communal. The social organization is made up of a tribal structure based on patriarchal and genealogical ties that cover the entire nomadic society.

Among pastoralists - transnumans Patukhs, the sedentary part of society engaged in agriculture, together with mobile shepherds, constitutes a single social organism, the nature of which is determined primarily by the conditions of the sedentary agricultural way of life. Nomads do not have a fixed place of residence; it is not a part of society that roams, but the whole people. Primitive hoe farming is negligible or non-existent.

A comparative analysis of nomadism in Asia and Africa revealed the presence of significant differences in them. First of all, they are determined by the natural environment. Asia has vast steppe territories and deserts. In Africa, they are much smaller and scattered. Environmental conditions similar to those of Asia exist only in the area of ​​the Afar desert, where northern Somali nomads live. They roam in communities divided by type of animal: camels are herded by men, sheep and goats by women, old people and children. Nomads live in nomadic dwellings, consisting of a frame of branches covered with skins. Aggals are installed in the parking lots by women. It is transported on a cargo camel disassembled. Young men and adult men who roam with herds of camels lead a harsh life: they sleep on the ground, they don’t set up any tents, they eat only milk.

Semi-nomadic nomadism is much more widely represented in Africa. They wander more slowly, the paths are shorter, the machines are more frequent than among nomadic nomads. In addition to economic differences, there are differences in the social structure between nomadic and semi-nomadic nomadism. Among nomadic nomads, the basis of the tribal organization is the system of patriarchal-genealogical ties. The semi-nomadic nomads of Africa have two systems of connections at the heart of their social organization: patriarchal-genealogical (horizontal) and social-age (vertical). Each member of society has a dual belonging: to a certain genealogical line of descent, which is traced from an ancestor-progenitor, and to a certain age class. Intersecting, these two systems of connections stratify society into social divisions that can be quickly mobilized if necessary.

The system of age classes is an archaic social institution that bears the features of the primitive communal era. The nomadic nomads either passed this phase in their development or lost this institution a long time ago. Nomadic nomadism, similar to nomadism in Asia, is defined as an Asian form of nomadism, semi-nomadic as an African form.

These two features characterize East Africa most vividly. Firstly, in the area of ​​the HKT, mobile forms of pastoralism are most widespread here: transhuman pastoralism and nomadism in Asian and African forms. Secondly, in the sphere of social organization there is the widest existence of the archaic social institution of the system of age classes, which has an impact on all spheres of social life, including the current political situation.

Peoples of South Africa.

South Africa includes the population of the states: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, South Africa.

A significant part of the autochthonous population of the region is made up of the peoples of the Benue-Congo linguistic subgroup, known as the Bantu peoples (Congo, Ganda, Zulu, Swazi, Tswana, etc.). racially, the population of South Africa is represented by the Negrodino, Khoisan, Caucasoid races and mixed population groups. The climate and nature are diverse and include tropical forest zones, savannas, deserts, mountain strips on the coast of coastal subtropics. The dominant position in the region has long belonged to South Africa, where half of the world's gold is mined, a significant part of diamonds and uranium. In terms of industrial development, South Africa is much higher than other countries in Africa.

Historically, two main HCTs have developed in South Africa: tropical hoe farming and nomadic and transhumant pastoralism. Nomadic pastoralism is continued by most of the Bushmen and Hottentots.

Hottentots formerly inhabited the entire southern tip of Africa and constituted a large group of tribes of nomadic pastoralists. They raised cattle, lived in temporary settlements; when the cattle around the camp ate all the grass, the population migrated to new pastures. The Hottentots lived in large patriarchal families. Their social organization was tribal, led by an elected leader and a council of elders. The main occupation of the surviving Hottentot tribes is mobile cattle breeding of the transhumance-pasture type, which replaced their traditional HKT of nomads.

Bushmen were hunters and gatherers. A small bow and stone-tipped arrows are their primary weapons, dating back to the Upper Paleolithic. With the advent of Europeans, the Bushmen began to make arrowheads from bottle glass, upholstering it in the same way as a stone, sometimes bartering iron tips from their neighbors - the Hottentots and the Bantu. The only garment of the Bushmen is a loincloth. They had almost no utensils, water was kept in the shell of ostrich eggs, and beads were made from it. The main occupation of men is hunting. The only pet was a dog that accompanied the hunters. Bushmen are very hardy and skillful in hunting, they were sometimes able to pursue the victim for days. Women were engaged in gathering. Bushmen had no houses and settlements. They lived in huts or hid in the bushes for the night. They fought constant wars with the Hottentots and the Bantu. In the end, they were forced into the waterless sands of the Kalahari, where they still live in groups of 50-150 people, uniting male relatives. The hunting cult was the basis of the spiritual ideas of the Bushmen. In their picture of the world, the main places were occupied by the forces of nature - the sun, moon, stars.

In the rainforest zone, small populations are scattered in small groups pygmies, they also live in Central Africa. They are distinguished by short stature (on average 145 cm), relatively light skin of a yellowish or reddish hue, and narrow lips. This is a culturally backward population, speaking the languages ​​of their tall neighbors. Pygmies do not know how to work metal, do not engage in either agriculture or pastoralism, and are hunters and gatherers of the tropics. They exchange with their neighbors, receiving agricultural products, iron products in exchange for what they get by hunting and gathering. Pygmies lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle. The basis of economic and social life is a group of 6-7 small families roaming together. It can break up and appear in a different composition, depending on the availability of the territory with game. The main food of the pygmies is the products of hunting and gathering. The meat of a killed animal is immediately eaten by the entire hunting group. It is roasted over a fire or baked in the ashes of a hearth. Smaller products: termites, grasshoppers, caterpillars - are wrapped in large leaves, such a package is fastened with cuttings, it is placed near a smoldering fire and fried. Plant ash is used instead of salt. The only drink known to the Pygmies is water. Inheritance and kinship reckoning is in the male line, settlements are virilocal. Pygmies know only collective property. Their customary law is environmentally friendly: the most serious offenses are the unjustified killing of animals without the need for meat food, cutting down trees, and polluting running water. The most severe punishment is exile, the prohibition to hunt with the group. At the heart of the beliefs of the pygmies is the cult of hunting. The veneration of totemic progenitors - animals and plants - is also developed. The primitive nature of the culture of the pygmies sharply distinguishes them from the surrounding peoples of the Negroid race. Attempts to allocate land to the Pygmies, to involve them in work for hire, as a rule, did not succeed. Most pygmies prefer to lead a traditional way of life. Nowadays, the situation of the pygmies is complicated by the fact that in almost all countries their habitats have ended up in national parks, where hunting for large animals is prohibited. Pygmies remain the most isolated in the basin of the Ituri River (Zaire). In Cameroon and the Congo, there are attempts to involve the Pygmies in modern life. The origin, the anthropological type of this group of the African population, remains a mystery to science to this day.


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. All of North Africa up to the southern borders of the Sahara is inhabited by 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 widespread.

africa mainland race maasai

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 area 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, it increased the planting of export crops by reducing the area of ​​food crops. The best lands were selected and given to settlers from Europe, as well as 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.

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