Who inhabits Africa. The peoples of northern, western and central Africa The population of the ethnic composition of Africa
Africa, with an area of 30.3 million km2 and a population of over 700 million people, is now ahead of any other part of the world in terms of the number of independent states. However, the overwhelming majority of African countries gained their independence only after the Second World War,1 to be more precise, starting from the 1950s. Especially many African countries (32) became independent in the 60s. The year 1960, in which 17 African states achieved independence, is sometimes even called "the year of Africa".
Currently, the list of independent African states is as follows: Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Cape Verde, Senegal, Mali, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast , Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Central African Republic (CAR), Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Congo, Zaire, Angola, Namibia, South Africa (South Africa) ), Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles.
Only four African territories have not yet gained independence: Western Sahara - a former Spanish possession, occupied by Morocco and fighting for liberation2, Saint Helena and the so-called British Indian Ocean Territory (the Chagos Archipelago and other small islands), remaining British colonies, Reunion Island, which is an overseas department of France. France actually also controls the island of Mayotte - one of the Comoros (it has the status of an overseas territory), but the Republic of the Comoros believes that this island should belong to it.
Two cities that are enclaves in Morocco - Ceuta and Melilla, as well as located off the Moroccan coast of Chafarinas, Alusemas and Vélez de la Gomera represent an integral part of Spain.
If the division of Asia into regions is more or less generally accepted, then there is still no well-established regionalization of Africa. One can only point to one of these regionalizations, according to which two main regions are distinguished in Africa: North Africa, covering all the Arab countries (Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania) and Tropical Africa (sometimes called Africa south of the Sahara), which includes all other countries.
These two regions are fundamentally different from each other in the ethnic structure of their population. If the countries of the first region (with the exception of Sudan) have a relatively simple ethnic structure, and the composition of the population of all countries is more or less similar, then the vast majority of the countries of the second region are ethnically very complex. It is due to them that the number of ethnic groups in Africa is so large: 1.5 thousand, if we proceed from the assumption that each linguistic community can in most cases be simultaneously considered an ethnic community, or even 7 thousand, if each tribe is considered as a separate ethnic group (which hardly true).
The peoples of Africa are united by language into the following families: Afroasian (34% of the total population), Niger-Kordofanian (56%), Nilo-Saharan (6%), Austronesian (about 2%), Indo-European (2%), Khoisan (0 .05%).
The Afroasian (Semitic-Hamitic) family, represented mainly in North and Northeast Africa3, is subdivided into Semitic4, Berber, Cushitic and Chadic groups. The largest of them is Semitic, which includes 2/3 of the total population belonging to the Afroasian family. The Semitic group includes primarily the Arab peoples of Africa: Egyptian Arabs (55 million), Algerians (22 million), Moroccan (20 million), Sudanese (13 million), Tunisian (8 million), Libyan Arabs (4 million), Moors , or Mauritanian Arabs (1.8 million), Arabs of Chad (1.5 million), Shuva Arabs in Nigeria and Cameroon5 (0.4 million; Saharawis, or Arabs of Western Sahara (0.3 million). To the Semitic group also a number of Ethiopian peoples belong: Amhara (20 million), Gurage (1.4 million), etc., as well as tigers living in Ethiopia and Eritrea (4 million) and tigers living in Eritrea (0.8 million).
The Berber group is formed by closely related Berber peoples. The most significant of them are the shilh (3 million), tamazight (over 2 million) and reef (1.3 million) in Morocco, the kabils (3 million) and chaouya (1.1 million) in Algeria, as well as the Tuareg ( 1.3 million) in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and some other countries.
The Cushitic group includes a large number of ethnic groups, the largest of which are the Oromo (20 million), settled mainly in Ethiopia, the Somali (11 million), living mainly in Somalia, as well as in neighboring countries, the Beja (1.9 million), living mainly in Sudan, Ometo6 (1.2 million) living in Ethiopia, Afar (about 1 million) occupying the territory at the junction of three countries: Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti
The Chadian group also unites a lot of peoples, among which one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, the Hausa (24 million), settled primarily in Nigeria, as well as in Niger and other countries, stands out sharply in its numbers. Of the other peoples of the Chadian group, we note the Bura (1.8 million), living mainly in Nigeria.
The largest number of ethnic groups in Africa belongs to the Niger-Kordofan family, which, unlike the Afroasian family, is almost entirely limited to the African continent. It covers three main groups: Mande, Niger-Congo and Kordofan.
The Mande group, located on the northwestern periphery of the territory of the Niger-Kordofan family, includes the Malinke (over 4 million) living in Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, the Gambia and a number of other countries, the Bambara (about 4 million ), concentrated mainly in Mali, the Mende (1.6 million), who are one of the two main ethnic groups of Sierra Leone, the Soninke (1.4 million), settled in Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal and some other countries, and many other nations.
The Niger-Congo group is divided into two sub-groups: the West Atlantic and the Central Niger-Congo. The extremely dispersed ethnic community of the Fulbe (20 million) belongs to the West Atlantic subgroup; over half of the Fulani live in Nigeria, and the rest live in Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Cameroon and many other countries of Western Sudan8. In addition to the Fulbe, the West Atlantic subgroup includes the Wolof (3 million) and Serer (1.4 million), living mainly in Senegal, and the Temne (1.4 million) - one of the two (along with the Mende) main peoples of Sierra Leone.
The huge subgroup of the central Niger-Congo breaks up into several even more fractional divisions: Kru, Dogon, Gur, Adamawa-Ubanguy, Ijo-Defaka, Western and Eastern.
As part of the Kru division, the largest Bete people (about 3 million), completely concentrated in Côte d'Ivoire and being the most significant of the country's ethnic groups, and the Dogon division consists of only the Dogon people (only 0.4 million people), settled mainly in Mali.In the Gur division there are a number of rather large ethnic groups: Mosi (about 8 million) living in Burkina Faso and Ghana, Senufo (about 4 million) settled at the junction of the borders of Côte d'Ivoire, Mali and Burkina- Faso, Gourma (1.4 million), living in the border regions of Ghana, Burkina Faso and Togo, Lobi (1.3 million), living mainly in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire.
In the Adamawa-Ubangi division, the Zande (about 4 million), the gang (1.6 million) living in the CAR and Zaire, and the Gbaya (1.1 million), settled mainly in the CAR, as well as in a small number in some other countries.
The Ijo-defaka division includes the Ijo people living in Nigeria (about 2 million).
The Western division consists of a large group of ethnic groups, including such large ones as the Ashanti (over 3 million) and Fangs (1.6 million)13, concentrated in Ghana, the Ewe (4 million), living in Ghana and Togo, background (over 3 million) concentrated in Benin, any (2 million) settled in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, and Baul (1.6 million) living within Côte d'Ivoire.
Almost half of all African peoples belong to a very large eastern division. Among these ethnic groups are such large ones as the Yoruba (20 million), Igbo (16 million), Ibibio (5 million), Bini (3 million) and Nupe (1.1 million) in Nigeria, Tiv (2 million) in Nigeria and Cameroon . In addition, this division includes a very large number of closely related peoples settled in Central and South Africa and called the Bantu: Rwanda, Shona, Kongo, Makua, Rundi, Zulu, Xhosa, Luba, Nyamwezi, Kikuyu, Mongo, Tsonga, Tswana and many others (Table 9).
In isolation from the other two groups of the Niger-Kordofan family, on the Kordofan Plateau in the Republic of the Sudan live peoples belonging to the Kordofan group of this family. All these ethnic groups (Tumtum, Katla, Ebang, Tegem, Tegali, etc.) are small in number and together they number only 0.7 million people.
Between the Afro-Asiatic and the Niger-Kordofanian families, directly south of the Sahara, the territory of the settlement of the peoples of the Nilo-Saharan family stretches in a narrow strip. Much smaller than the first two families, this family includes 9 groups: Songhai, Saharan, Maban, Fur, East Sudanese, Central Sudanese, Berta, Kunama, Komuz (according to another classification, East Sudanese, Central Sudanese, Berta and Kunama are not considered separate groups, but subgroups within the Shari-Nil group).
The Songhai group unites three peoples who speak the Songhai language, the largest of which is also called Songhai (1.6 million). It is settled in Mali, Niger and a number of other countries.
The Saharan group also includes three ethnic groups, and only one of them can be classified as large. These are Kanuri (about 5 million) living in Nigeria and some other countries.
The Maban group covers several small peoples (Maba, Mimi, etc.), living mainly in Chad, with a total number of only 0.4 million people.
Only two ethnic groups belong to the Fur group (0.6 million), concentrated mainly in Sudan, named after the larger of them.
The largest group of the Nilo-Saharan family is the Eastern Sudanese, uniting many peoples in eastern Africa. The largest of them are the Luo (about 4 million), living mainly in Kenya, the Dinka (3 million), concentrated in Sudan, the Nubians (about 3 million), settled along the Nile in Sudan and Egypt, the Teso (2 million), living predominantly in Uganda, the Nuer (1.4 million), who live mainly in Sudan, and the Langi, or Lango (1.2 million), concentrated in Uganda.
Of the ethnic groups of the Central Sudanese group, the most significant is the Sara (together with related tribes, it totals 1.5 million), living mainly in Chad and partly in the Central African Republic.
The Berta and Kunam groups each consist of one people of the same name. Both peoples are small. Berta (160 thousand) settled in
border areas of Ethiopia and Sudan, kunama (about 80 thousand) - in Eritrea.
The last group of the Nilo-Saharan family - Komuz - includes several very small ethnic groups in the adjacent regions of Sudan and Ethiopia. Their total number is only 25 thousand people.
In the extreme south of Africa, as well as in two isolated regions of East Africa, there are small peoples whose language belongs to the Khoisan family. The Khoisan peoples living in South Africa are commonly referred to as Hottentots and Bushmen. The total number of all Khoisan peoples is slightly more than 0.3 million.
On the island of Madagascar, the indigenous people - Malagasy - belong to the Austronesian family. Their number reaches 13 million people.
Among the alien population of Africa belonging to the Indo-European family1, the largest national groups are Afrikaners (3 million) and Anglo-South Africans (1.5 million) in South Africa, various groups of descendants of immigrants from India (2 million), as well as the British, French, Portuguese, Italians and others. Along with the Afrikaners, the Afrikaans language, which branched off from the Dutch language, is also spoken by a mixed European-African population - the so-called Cape Coloreds (about 3 million).
The ethnic composition of the African population is very complex. In general, it is even more difficult than in Asia: if about 1200 peoples live in the latter, then in Africa, according to the most conservative estimates, 1.5 thousand ethnic groups live, although its population is 5 times smaller. If in Asia only in five countries the largest people do not form more than half of the population, then in Africa, out of 56 countries with a permanent population,15 almost half (27) do not have a numerical predominance of the largest ethnic group.
According to the proportion in the population of the largest people, African countries can be divided into 10 groups (Table 10).
Almost mono-ethnic country in Africa is only Western Sahara, in which the Arabs form almost 100% of the population. Even countries such as Madagascar, Sao Tome and Principe, Egypt, where the main ethnic group exceeds 99% of the population, cannot be called single-national in the strict sense of the word, since all of them have groups of permanently living foreigners, and in Egypt, in addition, and national minorities of local origin (Nubians, etc.).
The number of peoples in most African countries south of the Sahara is very large and is usually difficult to determine, because due to the incompleteness of the ethno-unification process among most of the large ethnic groups in Africa, and also because of their hierarchical
Table 10. The share of the largest people in the population of various African countries
structures (peoples are subdivided into tribes and other sub-ethnic groups), it is often difficult to resolve the question of what constitutes a specific ethnic community: an already established people or a merging group of related tribal formations.
In most countries of Tropical Africa, there are several dozen, and in some - several hundred ethnic groups. So, in Nigeria, more than 250 peoples are usually distinguished, although a number of researchers believe that there are many more ethnic groups in this country - many hundreds. There are over 200 peoples in Zaire, about the same number in Tanzania, more than 140 in Chad, over 100 in Cameroon, about 100 or less in Burkina Faso, from 90 to 100 in Angola, more than 70 in Ethiopia, over 70 - in Zambia, more than 50 - in Congo, about 50 - in Mozambique, 40-50 - in Kenya, about 45 - in Togo, over 40 - in Uganda, etc.
In some of the African countries with the largest ethnic group, other peoples are comparable in number. These countries are: Guinea - Fulbe (41% of the total population) and Malinke (26%), Guinea-Bissau - Balante (37%) and Fulbe (20%), Sierra Leone - Mende (34%) and Temne (31% ), Liberia - Kpelle (21%) and Bakwe (13%), Ivory Coast - Bete (20%) and Senufo (14%), Ghana - Ashanti (25%) and mine (15%), Togo - Ewe (47%) and Cabré (24%), Nigeria - Hausa (22%), Yoruba (21%) and Igbo (18%), Chad - Arabs (26%) and Sarah (22%) CAR - gang ( 30%) and Gbaya (24%), Zaire - Luba (18%) and the Congo, together with the ethnic groups flowing into them (16%), Angola - Ovimbundu (38%) and Ambundu (22%), South Africa - Zulu (20 %) and Xhosa (19%), Mozambique - Makua (47%) and Tsonga (24%), Kenya - Kikuyu (22%), Luya (14%) and Luo (13%), Ethiopia - Amhara (39%) and Oromo (38%), Djibouti - Afar (42%) and Isa (26%).
In most of the Arab countries of North Africa there is a Berber national minority, however, its share in the population of different countries varies greatly. In Morocco and Algeria, it is quite large (2516 and 17% of the total population, respectively), while in Libya, Tunisia, Mauritania, and especially in Egypt, it is very small (5; 1; 1; 0.01%, respectively).
In Sudan, although there is no Berber minority, there is a large group of Negroid peoples living in the south, whose culture is very different from the Muslim culture of the main population of the country.
Finally, the most difficult ethnopolitical situation is in South Africa, where there are several racial and ethnic groups that differ greatly in their social, economic and cultural potential (Africans - 75% of the country's population, whites - 14, colored people - 8, people of Asian origin - 3%) and where the white minority is in power.
Naturally, the ethnic mosaic of African countries, the presence in some of them of two or more peoples, each of which claims to be a leader in the country, often leads to ethnic confrontation, which is often accompanied by bloody armed conflicts.
Problems in interethnic relations arise in the vast majority of African countries.
True, in the states of North Africa, whose ethnic structure is not so complex, ethnic contradictions are less acute than in the rest of the continent. After the vast majority of the Europeans living in them left for their homeland with the gain of independence by the North African countries (this is especially true of Algeria, where more than 1 million Frenchmen previously lived, and now there are no more than 30 thousand left), the main line of ethnic confrontation in most of they lie between the Arabs, on the one hand, and the Berber peoples, on the other. At the same time, it should be noted that the actions of the Berbers usually did not have a separatist character, and their goal was only to protect the civil rights of the national minority (in particular, demands were put forward for adequate representation in government, creating conditions for the development of the native language, etc.). Nevertheless, soon after independence was achieved in Morocco and Algeria, there were armed uprisings by part of the Berber population.
The interethnic struggle in Sudan has taken on a much wider scale, where the population of the southern regions, negroid in their racial appearance and Christian or pagan in religion, has been waging an armed struggle since the mid-1950s, which is interrupted only by short-term truces with the central government. There are also internal contradictions between the peoples of South Sudan themselves, sometimes also leading to armed clashes.
As for the ethnic confrontation in sub-Saharan Africa, in many countries it is almost permanent, leading to civil wars and claiming the lives of tens and hundreds of thousands of people. Particularly acute and prolonged military conflicts took place in such countries of Africa, extremely complex in terms of the ethnic structure of the population, as Nigeria, Zaire, Chad, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Uganda, in which we will dwell on the ethnic confrontation in more detail.
In the first half of the 60s in Zaire (then called the Congo) there was a struggle between the central government, on the one hand, and the separatists, who announced the creation of independent states in Katanga (the peoples of Lunda and Luba) and South Kasai (the peoples of Cuba and Luba). Although the separatists were defeated, the ethnic confrontation in the country continued to be very significant.
In Nigeria in 1967-1970. There was a civil war between the state of Eastern Nigeria, where the Igbo people played the main role and where the independent Republic of Biafra was proclaimed, and the central government, in which the Hausa enjoyed the greatest influence. This war also ended in the defeat of the separatists.
In Chad, whose ethnic structure is somewhat reminiscent of Sudan (in the north - Arabs and other Muslim peoples, in the south - Negroid tribes who retain traditional beliefs or converted to Christianity), the struggle between the two main groups of the population, which began shortly after independence, continued for for many years, and not only Muslims and Christians, but also fellow believers of different ethnic origins entered into confrontation (for example, Daza Muslims clashed with Zaghawa Muslims).
In Angola, for many years, the rivalry between the Ambundu and Ovimbundu has not stopped, surpassing the first ethnic group in numbers, but inferior to it in their current political influence. This struggle, which at one time also acquired political overtones, led to a long civil war (a war between government troops and armed detachments of the UNITA group, mainly representing the interests of the ovimbundu).
Mozambique has been fighting for many years. Outwardly, it has an ideological and political character, but it also has its own pronounced ethnic aspect.
In Ethiopia, there was also a long armed struggle between the oppressed minority peoples of Eritrea, as well as the Oromo, Tigray, Afar and other Ethiopian ethnic groups, on the one hand, and the central government, where the Amhara occupied the leading positions, on the other. The war led to very serious consequences, causing the death of hundreds of thousands of people. In 1978 alone, 80,000 Oromo peasants were killed in the province of Harerge.
The most uncompromising inter-ethnic struggle took place in Uganda. It was reminiscent of the "war of all against all" proposed by the famous English philosopher T. Hobbes for the primitive era. Almost all more or less significant peoples of the country were involved in internecine conflicts in Uganda: Ganda, Nyankole, Rwanda, Konjo, Acholi, Langi, Teso, Karamojong, Lugbara, Madi, Kakwa, etc. and the Teso fought the Kakwa, the Lugbara and the Madi, which did not rule out rivalry and bloody clashes between the Acholi, on the one hand, and the Langi, on the other. Karamojong periodically carried out predatory raids on the Teso living in the neighborhood, as well as on various ethnic groups settled in the north of the country, etc.
Ethnic confrontation is also inherent in many other African countries. So, in Mauritania, difficult relations have developed between the ruling caste of the "white" Moors (Bidan), the "black" Moors (Kharatin) dependent on them, and various black ethnic groups: Fulbe, Tukuler, etc. In Sierra Leone, there has been a sharp rivalry for many years between the two largest ethnic groups of the country - Mende and Temne. In Liberia, the previously dominant ethnic group of the so-called Americo-Liberians (descendants of freed American slaves brought here in the middle of the 19th century) is in a difficult situation. In Equatorial Guinea, the rights of the indigenous people of the island of Bioko (formerly Fernando Po) Bubi are being violated. In South Africa, the white minority is still in power, and the African majority fighting against it cannot overcome its internal strife (a particularly sharp struggle, accompanied by bloody feuds, takes place between the two largest African peoples of the country - the Zulu and the Xhosa). In Botswana, the backward Bushmen are semi-serfs dependent on the ruling Tswana people. In Zimbabwe, until recently, there was a confrontation between the two largest peoples of the country - the Mason and the Ndebele. In the East African countries, the descendants of immigrants from India who live there are subjected to open discrimination by the authorities. In Burundi, the dominant position is maintained by the ethnic-class group of Tutsis, who are several times smaller in number than the Hutu group, which occupies a lower social position. In Djibouti, rivalry continues between the two main ethnic groups of the country, the Afar and the Isa.
The ethnopolitical situation in the countries of Africa, the relations between ethnic groups that have developed in them, have a very great impact on the demographic processes taking place on the continent, and especially migration and ethnic processes.
Currently, population growth in Africa is much higher than in other parts of the world. However, this was not always the case. Rapid population growth became characteristic of the African continent only in the 20th century. Previously, growth rates were significantly restrained by epidemics that constantly visited Africa, chronic famine for some countries, colonial wars, and even earlier, by the slave trade. The population of the African continent grew much more slowly than the population of other regions of the world. So, if in 1650, according to rough estimates, 18% of the world's population lived in Africa, then in 1900 - only 7.5%.
However, in the last century the situation has changed dramatically, and the population of Africa began to grow very rapidly. This was due to the fact that on the continent, while maintaining a traditionally high birth rate for it, there was a significant decrease in mortality.
Africa as a whole is far ahead of all other parts of the world in terms of fertility. Even Asia, which ranks second among parts of the world in terms of fertility, is much inferior to Africa in this indicator: in 1985-1990. the average annual birth rate in the first was 28%, and in the second - 45%. Africa surpassed Europe in fertility during this period by 3.5 times.
The problem of high birth rates in most African states is very acute, and their leadership, not without reason, fears that as a result of extremely rapid population growth, the already extremely low standard of living of the population will fall even more. However, all attempts to reduce the birth rate through family planning and promotion of the use of contraceptives have not yet yielded any significant results in most African countries, whose population is characterized by a very low cultural level.
Although the birth rate is very high in most African countries, it varies markedly by region. Basically, these differences, as will be shown, are due to socio-economic reasons, but in some cases, the biomedical aspect should also be taken into account. Thus, in Africa south of the Sahara there are vast sparsely populated areas, and their weak population is not associated either with unfavorable climatic conditions or with low soil fertility. These areas are located mainly in Central Africa - between Nigeria and the African Great Lakes. Significant differences in fertility are also observed between different ethnic groups of the same region. It was suggested that the large differences in fertility in different areas and between ethnic groups of the same area can be explained by the unequal intensity of the spread in the regions and among different territorial and ethnic groups of the population of Africa, which is very typical for this continent of sexually transmitted diseases. In some African ethnic groups, the proportion of people who had venereal diseases is extremely high. For example, among the Zande and Nzakara in the Central African Republic, half of the total adult population surveyed was affected by syphilis, and 3/4 of all surveyed had gonorrhea at one time or another.
According to the UN, the average annual birth rate in 1985-1990. in different African countries was next17.
The lowest birth rate - 9% - was recorded in 1990 on St. Helena Island, the small population of which does not allow us to speak of the existence of any regularity here.
A relatively low birth rate - 19% - had an island state in the Indian Ocean, Mauritius18 (conditionally attributable to Africa), which is primarily due to a significantly higher standard of living here compared to the countries of the African continent. Of course, on a European scale, this is a fairly high birth rate (only in one European country - Albania - a higher birth rate).
In three more countries, the birth rate was between 20 and 30%. These are the islands of Reunion and the Seychelles located, like Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean, as well as the North African country of Tunisia with a relatively high, by African standards, standard of living.
Fertility rates ranging from 30 to 40% had in 1985-1990. South Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Sao Tome and Principe, Morocco, Lesotho, Cape Verde, Swaziland, Gabon, i.e. countries, by African standards, are also quite prosperous.
This is followed by countries with a very high birth rate, whose counterparts in non-African countries are relatively rare. Botswana, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Ghana, Libya, Congo, Sudan, Togo, Central African Republic, Senegal, Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritania, Kenya, Djibouti, Burkina Faso have a birth rate of 40-50%. , Liberia, Gambia, Burundi, Zaire, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Comoros, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Benin, Zambia, Ivory Coast. the largest impact on the average fertility rate for Africa as a whole, which overwhelmingly includes very poor20 countries with a low level of culture.
Finally, there is also a relatively small group of countries in Africa with a "super-high" birth rate (over 50%), approaching the world maximum. These countries are Somalia, Angola, Mali, Guinea, Uganda, Rwanda, Niger, Malawi. By the way, the latter country gave in the five years of 1985-1990. the highest birth rate for the whole world is 56%.
Mortality in Africa as a whole is also the highest in the world: 15% compared to 10% in Europe and 9% in Asia. However, the differences in mortality between these parts of the world are not as significant as they were several decades ago, when in many European countries the mortality rate fluctuated somewhere around 10%, and in some African countries (for example, Mali) reached 40%. This was due to the fact that in recent decades, with the help of inexpensive medical measures (vaccination of the population, the introduction of effective methods of combating pathogens of certain diseases, etc.), it was possible to drastically reduce the mortality rate in almost all previously "unfavorable" countries of the world.
The relatively high mortality in many African countries is due primarily to their extreme poverty and low level of culture. The health situation in most countries continues to be unsatisfactory.
Since the early 1980s, the AIDS epidemic21 has begun to spread in many African countries, and in several of them on a catastrophic scale (according to reports, about half of the urban population of a number of African countries is infected with AIDS). According to the forecasts of some specialists in medical statistics, at the beginning of the XXI century. Africa can turn into a giant morgue.
Nevertheless, there are still some countries in Africa with low mortality.
Mortality is very low (below 10%) in St. Helena, Reunion, Mauritius, Tunisia, the Seychelles, Algeria, Cape Verde, Libya, Morocco and South Africa. All these are countries with a fairly high, by African standards, standard of living.
Mortality rates are also low (10-15%) in Egypt, Sao Tome and Principe, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, Comoros, and Ghana. Tanzania, Madagascar, Togo, Cameroon, Zaire, Congo.
The mortality rate is higher (15-20%) in Côte d'Ivoire, Zambia, Nigeria, Liberia, Sudan, Gabon, Burundi, Rwanda, Senegal, CAR, Djibouti, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Mauritania, Benin, Chad , Equatorial Guinea.
High mortality by modern standards (more than 20%) was noted in Somalia, Niger, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mali, Angola, Gambia, Guinea and Sierra Leone (in the latter - 23%, i.e. this country, like Afghanistan, has the highest death rate in the world). For many countries of the last group, a state of permanent civil war is characteristic (or was characteristic until recently) (Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Angola, etc.).
Africa is still notorious for its exceptionally high infant mortality rates.
Thus, in half of the African countries, infant mortality averaged over 100 per 1,000 children under one year of age between 1985 and 1990 (with infant mortality in Sweden, Finland and Japan being 5-6). "Records" for infant mortality are held by such countries as Mali (169 children under the age of one year per thousand born), Mozambique (155), Sierra Leone (154), Guinea-Bissau (151).
However, in Africa, and more specifically in the Indian Ocean, there is one country in which the infant mortality rate is close to the best in the world. This is the island of Reunion, where infant mortality is only 8 children under the age of one year per thousand born. Relatively low (for developing countries) infant mortality in Mauritius: 24 people. And only one other African country has an infant mortality rate below 50 - Tunisia.
In general, in Africa in 1985-1990. the average annual natural increase was 30%. In the vast majority of countries on this continent (43), the ratio of births and deaths gave a natural increase in the range of 25-35%. This is, of course, a very high increase, and there are few countries with similar figures in other parts of the world. The highest natural increase - 35% (the highest rate in the world) in four countries: Kenya, Malawi, Côte d'Ivoire and Libya. In Malawi and Côte d'Ivoire, it is formed primarily due to exceptionally high birth rates, in Kenya and Libya, due to both high birth rates and low death rates.
The lowest rates of natural increase on the two islands - Mauritius (12%) and Reunion (18%).
In most African countries, the demographics of the different peoples of each particular country do not differ very much from each other. Some exceptions are only those countries where, along with agricultural peoples, live peoples whose main occupation is nomadic pastoralism or hunting and gathering. As a rule, the natural increase among pastoral nomads is significantly lower than that of farmers, and among hunters and gatherers it is even lower than that of pastoralists. Such differences in natural growth are typical, for example, for Chad, Niger, Mali, Guinea, where, along with a settled agricultural and agricultural-pastoral population, there are nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoralists (most of the tuba, some of the Arabs, Tuareg and Fulbe, etc.) .
Equally strong differences in natural increase among the main racial and ethnic groups of South Africa, where the rate of natural increase of the African population is several times higher than the corresponding indicator for the white population, as a result of which the share of the latter in South Africa, despite the migration of people of European origin, is decreasing. .
Many countries in Africa are characterized by large-scale migration, mainly for economic, but also political and military reasons.
Let us first dwell on migration due to economic reasons.
From the North African countries (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) for many decades there has been constant migration to the former metropolis - France, where Arab immigrants usually get jobs that do not require much knowledge and therefore low pay (chauffeurs, unskilled industrial workers, etc.). d.). Moroccans also migrate to Belgium in large numbers. To date, there are 1 million Algerians in Europe (primarily in France), almost the same number of Moroccans, 200 thousand Tunisians. There is also migration from Tunisia and Egypt to neighboring rich Libya, where immigrants work in oil and other enterprises. People come to this country to work from some Asian countries, primarily from Turkey and Pakistan.
From Mauritania, a significant group of residents moved to Senegal, but the pogroms of the Moors forced some of the migrants to return.
People also come to Senegal from other neighboring states - Mali, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, as well as from Cape Verde. Many of these immigrants are seasonal workers working on peanut plantations.
From Cape Verde, there is also migration to the former (like this state itself) Portuguese colonies - to Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, Angola, as well as to Portuguese-speaking Brazil, Argentina, and the USA.
Significant migration flows are directed to the Gambia, which wedged into the territory of Senegal. They migrate there for seasonal work on peanut plantations from neighboring Senegal, as well as from Mali, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.
From Mali, a very poor and economically underdeveloped country, in addition to Senegal and the Gambia, they also leave for temporary work in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. These are mainly Bambara, as well as representatives of other peoples related to them.
Migration to Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana from another poor country, Burkina Faso, has become even larger, and the main contingent of migrants is supplied by the largest people of this state, the Mosi. In addition to Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, emigrants from Burkina Faso go as seasonal workers in Senegal, Mali, Togo, Cameroon, Gabon. 1.7 million people born in Burkina Faso live outside of it.
In addition to immigrants from Burkina Faso, migrants from Niger, Nigeria and some other countries go to Ghana. Immigrants mostly work on cocoa plantations.
Emigrants from Nigeria are also sent to Sudan and neighboring Cameroon.
From Equatorial Guinea, the population leaves for Cameroon, Gabon, Nigeria, and from these countries (especially from Nigeria), in turn, to Equatorial Guinea to work on cocoa and peanut plantations. Migrants from Equatorial Guinea can also be found in Spain.
A significant number of immigrants are attracted to Gabon, where there is a shortage of labor. They come from Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal and other countries.
Sao Tome and Principe has a bilateral exchange with Angola.
Outward migration is also typical for Zaire, where immigrants from Rwanda and Burundi moved (for economic and other reasons).
Of all the African states, external migration to South Africa received the widest scope. They are mostly organized. Two special South African organizations are busy recruiting in neighboring states - Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, as well as in Angola, Zambia and Malavia - labor for work in mines and mines. Work in South Africa and people from Tanzania. Usually there are from 1 to 2 million immigrants from African countries in the country.
The Republic of South Africa also receives a replenishment of the European population, and, unlike African immigrants who are recruited for six months or a year, Europeans usually stay here forever. Among immigrants of European origin in South Africa, a significant proportion of people who arrived from African countries after their independence.
A very large number of immigrants are attracted by Zimbabwe, where workers from Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Botswana, and Lesotho are recruited for mining enterprises and agricultural farms. Since the second half of the 1970s, there has been a gradual outflow of the white population from this country.
Zambia, giving a significant number of emigrants to South Africa and Zimbabwe, at the same time accepts immigrants from the same Zimbabwe, as well as from Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Zaire, Tanzania, who come to work in the mining enterprises of the so-called Copper Belt.
Malawi gives a large number of emigrants. They, as already noted, are sent to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and also to Tanzania. On the other hand, Malawi has a rather large number of people born in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia and some other countries. The Macua dominate among the Mozambicans.
In Tanzania, in addition to immigrants from Malawi, there are also immigrants from Mozambique, Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi. Tanzanians, as noted, can be found in South Africa and Zambia, they are also in Kenya.
Quite a lot of immigrants live in Uganda. These are people from Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire, Kenya, Sudan and other countries.
Migration processes are also typical for the islands of the Indian Ocean, which are conventionally attributed to Africa. So, from the Comoros, migration was observed to Madagascar, from Mauritius and the Seychelles - to the UK (from Mauritius - also to South Africa), from Reunion - to France.
External migrations caused by economic reasons can also include movements from Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria to Western Sahara of nomads together with their herds for the winter season with a subsequent return. The number of these nomadic groups, periodically crossing the state border, reaches 100 thousand people.
Along with external migrations, caused mainly by economic reasons, there are many migrations on the African continent associated with political confrontation, interethnic struggle, military operations and other similar circumstances. Thus, the struggle of Western Sahara for independence forced 100,000 of its indigenous inhabitants, the Saharawis (that is, 2/3 of their total number), to temporarily move to Algeria, to the area of the military base in Tindouf.
The Mauritanian-Senegalese conflict of 1989 led to the forced migration of 100-200 thousand Moors from Senegal to Mauritania, on the one hand, and the forced migration of 50 thousand Senegalese and 30 thousand black Mauritanian citizens from Mauritania to Senegal, on the other.
Since the late 1970s, the civil war in Chad has led to a mass exodus of the population from this country to neighboring states. In 1987, there were 200,000 refugees from Chad in Cameroon, 100,000 each in Libya and Sudan, and 30,000 in the Central African Republic.
The totalitarian regime that existed in Equatorial Guinea in the late 1960s and 1970s led to the migration from the country of many tens of thousands of its citizens, as well as Nigerian agricultural workers who worked there on plantations.
In 1972, the bloody conflict between the two class-ethnic groups of Burundi - the Tutsi and the Hutus - resulted in the flight to neighboring Zaire, Tanzania and Rwanda of about 150 thousand people, mostly Hutus. Some of the refugees later returned home, but many remained abroad. In 1988, there were bloody clashes between Tutsis and Hutu again in the country, and 50,000 Hutus fled to Rwanda.
The repressive regimes that have succeeded each other in Uganda have caused several migratory waves from this country. In mid-1983, there were over 200,000 Ugandan refugees in Sudan and 60,000 in Zaire. one of the class ethnic groups of the Nyankole people is Hima. In total, 75 thousand people were evicted, of which 35 thousand were settled in camps and 40 thousand fled to Rwanda. At the end of 1983 another 20,000 Rwanda were evicted.
The Museveni government, which came to power in Uganda in 1986, attempted to mitigate interethnic confrontation, which led to a return in 1987 and 1988. Ugandan refugees from Sudan.
In Sudan itself, the war between the Arabs and the peoples of the south of the country also caused several emigration waves. More than 300 thousand people fled to Ethiopia from Sudan, a significant part of them are Dinka. In May 1988, 20 thousand refugees from South Sudan moved to Uganda, in mid-1989 another 30 thousand South Sudanese arrived in the same country.
However, the largest number of refugees was given by Ethiopia, whose totalitarian regime "pushed" out of the country, according to one estimate, 2.5 million people. Refugees settled in Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti, Kenya, in the countries of the Middle East. Among the refugees, more than half were Oromo, whom the Ethiopian authorities resettled from their ancestral lands to territories that were difficult to develop. In Sudan, among the 500 thousand Ethiopian refugees, most of all came from Eritrea, which fought for independence. The Tigrays also fled to Sudan, who, like the Oromo, suffered the fate of "organized resettlement" in Ethiopia.
A somewhat special character was the migration from Ethiopia in the late 70s and 80s of the Falasha - black Jews who have long lived in the country and speak the Kemant language (one of the so-called Agau languages \u200b\u200bbelonging to the Cushitic group). Emigration was at first agreed with the Israeli government (which promised to continue supplying weapons to Ethiopia if emigration was allowed), and when the exit was suspended, another Falasha group, which had previously fled to Sudan, was delivered to Israel by plane in agreement with the Sudanese president Nimeiri.
Concluding our review of external migrations on the African continent, let us also mention the mass exodus of Indians (or, as they are now called, Indo-Pakistans) after the countries of East and Central Africa achieved independence. This departure was associated with a policy of discrimination, which began to be carried out (to one degree or another) by all African countries that gained independence, where there was an Indian population. Indians traveled to the UK, India and, in smaller numbers, to Pakistan, Canada and the United States. From 1969 to 1984, the number of Indians in Kenya declined (in thousands) from 139 to 50, in Tanzania from 85 to 30, in Zambia from 12 to 5, in Malawi from 11 to 3, and in Uganda from 74 to 1.
External migrations between different African countries (not counting seasonal movements) have no doubt further complicated the ethnic structure of the population of African states, and some of them have very large non-indigenous African populations.
In those cases when non-indigenous people (for example, Indians) left African countries, the ethnic composition of their population was somewhat simplified.
The ethno-demographic situation was somewhat influenced by internal migrations. Their main direction in African countries (as, indeed, in countries around the world) is moving from villages to rapidly growing cities. Such migrations undoubtedly contributed to the development of ethno-unification processes (consolidation, assimilation, etc.).
A certain development in African countries has received internal migrations of a non-urban character: the movement of the population to plantation areas (for example, in Ghana and Nigeria - from north to south), mining areas (for example, in Zambia - to the Copper Belt region), etc. Migrations of this kind also usually intensified ethno-unification processes.
Finally, one more thing needs to be said about organized internal migrations. So, in Zimbabwe in the 50s, 70 thousand representatives of the Tonga people who lived in the valley of the river. Kariba were resettled because a hydroelectric dam was to be built at their place of residence. Large-scale migrations of various ethnic groups to specially designated camps were carried out by various Ugandan rulers.
Even more massive were the resettlements carried out by the repressive regime of Ethiopia. By September 1987, 8 million Ethiopian peasants (about 20% of the total rural population) were resettled in the so-called centralized villages, on the basis of which collective farms were supposed to be created. By the end of 1989 it was planned to collectivize up to 40% of the entire rural population. Peasants were ordered to work for the collective farm and the police up to five days a week. But these plans were not fully implemented due to the fall of totalitarianism in Ethiopia. Particularly affected by the plans to build socialism in Ethiopia were two of its largest peoples (not counting the politically dominant ethnic group of the country - the Amhara) - Oromo and Tigray, whom the Mengistu Haile Mariam regime did not particularly trust and therefore resettled them on marginal lands in the south of the country, where special camps.
Naturally, such transfers of the population (primarily those carried out in Ethiopia and Uganda) had a significant impact on the demographic situation, sharply increasing, first of all, the mortality rate.
The ethno-demographic situation in Africa is also undergoing serious changes as a result of ethnic processes. The processes of ethnic fusion and ethnic consolidation are especially characteristic of most African countries, which are characterized by ethnic mosaicity. As indicated in Chap. 8, these processes, although they belong to different typological groups, are often difficult to separate from each other, since ethnic fusion eventually turns into ethnic consolidation.
Let us first give some of the most typical examples of the process of ethnic fusion in Africa. So, in the western part of Côte d'Ivoire, from the so-called Kru Bete, Bakwe, Grebo, Crane, Gere peoples, a new ethnic community is being formed. , bomofwi, ndame, vure, ngano.
In Liberia, in the near future, it is possible to merge into one ethnic group peoples belonging, like the ethnic communities of the western regions of Côte d'Ivoire, to the ethnolinguistic subdivision of the Kru: Kru proper, Grebo, Klepo, etc.
In Burkina Faso, the cores of ethnic fusion have become, in particular, such significant peoples as the Lobi and Bobé. Mbuin, ga, turuka, dian, guin, puguli, komono, etc., related to them, will probably merge with lobbies in the future, with bobo - nienege, sankura, etc. In the process of ethnic fusion in the same country there is also a group of related peoples, collectively known as the Grusi: Buguli, Kurumba, Nunuma, Sisala, Kasena (the latter are quite different from other ethnic groups in their language), etc.
In Cameroon, there is a gradual merging of closely related peoples, which are often united under the common name Fang (or Pangwe); this, yaounde, bula, bene, mwele (bebele), mwal, tsing, basa, gbigbil, ntum, etc.
In Zaire, on the basis of the Lingala language, a large ethnic community is being formed, uniting the peoples of the Ngala, Bobangi, Ngombe, and others. Processes of ethnic fusion are also taking place in a number of other regions of the country.
In Botswana, the closely related tribes of Mangwato, Kwena, Ngwaketse, Tawana, Kgatla, Malete, Rolong, Tlokwa, and also Kalagadi (an assimilated group of Bushmen) who speak different dialects of the same Setswana language, have almost merged into one Tswana people.
In Malawi, an ethnic fusion is taking place based on the Chinyanja language of the Nyanja, Tumbuka, Chewa, and other peoples.
In Tanzania, ethnic groups speaking close languages or dialects of Nyamwezi, Sukuma, Nyatura and Mbugwe will soon merge into a single people of 6 million people, which will be called the largest of the constituent components - Nyamwezi.
The processes of ethnic fusion are very typical for Kenya. Thus, related ethnic groups living along the northern and eastern shores of Lake Victoria and formerly known as the Bantu Kavirondo, from the middle of the 20th century. began to merge into a single people Luhya. On the coast of the Indian Ocean, from the Islamized Bantu tribes that switched to the Swahili language - Giryama, Digo, Segeju, Duruma, Gonya, Rabai, Riba, Jibana and Kaumakabe - the Mijikenda people are formed (translated from Swahili means "nine water tribes"). Finally, a number of related Nilotic peoples living in the north-west of Kenya - find, kipsigis, elgeyo, marakwet, pokot, sabaot and tugen, despite significant economic and cultural differences, after Kenya achieved independence, a desire for unity and after some time, likely to merge into a single ethnic group. Already now these peoples have a common name: Kalenjin.
With regard to some of the ethno-unifying processes taking place in Africa, it is rather difficult to say whether they are in their type an ethnic fusion or an ethnic consolidation. It is very difficult, for example, to classify the process taking place in the southeast of Nigeria in the area of distribution of one of the most significant speakers of African languages - Igbo, where the tribes of Abaja, Onicha, Oka, Aro, Ngwa, Isu, Ika, Ikverri, Owerri, Auhauzara , Oru, Oratta, Yusanu, etc., who speak different dialects of this language and have a common material and spiritual culture, have almost rallied into a single people. The presence of a common ethnic identity among the Igbos was manifested, in particular, during the 1952-1953 census, when the vast majority of them self-identified themselves as Igbos, and not as representatives of various tribes, and especially during the existence of the state of Biafra they created. At the same time, the demands of individual units of the Igbo in 1975 for the creation of special states for them within the Nigerian state shows that the Igbo still has strong centrifugal tendencies. And yet, the ethno-unification process going on among them at this stage should rather be considered an ethnic consolidation than an ethnic fusion.
Ethnic consolidation can also be called the process taking place in Benin, where the Aja, Aizo, Mahi, Ge, related to them, are becoming more and more close to the Fon tribe.
The vast majority of large and medium-sized ethnic groups in Africa are not yet well-consolidated formations and usually consist of a larger or smaller number of sub-ethnic groups, the differences between which are smoothed out in the process of consolidation.
The above can be illustrated by the example of the Hausa and the Yoruba, the two largest peoples of Nigeria, which is the most populated country in Africa.
The House can be considered a fully developed people, but significant local differences remain within it, which are gradually overcome in the process of ethnic consolidation. This process is complicated by the simultaneous conversion of several closely related ethnic groups within the Khausan people.
The Yoruba are less consolidated than the Hausa, and within them there are clearly defined sub-ethnic divisions: oyo, Ife, Ijesha, Egba, Egbado, Ijebu, Ekiti, Ondo, etc. The Yoruba, like many other peoples of Africa, is characterized by hierarchy (multi-stage) ethnic self-consciousness, and in some cases a lower sub-ethnic level of self-consciousness manifests itself quite strongly (for example, the Yoruba sub-ethnic divisions, like the Igbo sub-ethnic groups, demanded the creation of separate states for them). Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the consolidation process among the Yoruba is quite intensive.
Sometimes consolidation processes still cannot prevent acute intra-ethnic rivalry. So, in Somalia, a country that has existed for several decades as an independent state and, unlike most African countries, has a simple ethnic structure (the vast majority of its population is one ethnic group - Somalia), a sharp intertribal and inter-clan struggle has been going on for a long time. It testifies, in particular, that the Somali people are still far from completing the process of ethnic consolidation.
Probably, the degree of ethnic consolidation of the population of Madagascar - the Malagasy - was somewhat exaggerated in our scientific literature. This people, although it represents a single ethnic whole, breaks up into a number of sub-ethnic groups that differ significantly from each other in dialect, culture, and sometimes racial appearance: Imerina, Betsileu, Antanala, Sihanaka, Tsimiheti, Betsimisaraka, Antaisaka, antandrui, bara, mahafali, sakalava, etc. The process of ethnic consolidation of the Malagasy people has already gone quite far and the common Malagasy self-consciousness is expressed quite clearly in the vast majority of cases. Nevertheless, the separatist tendencies that have intensified in recent years among some sub-ethnic groups, and above all among those sharply different from the main part of the Malagasy people in terms of the Sakalava racial type, the demands of a number of sub-ethnoses to create separate literary languages in their dialects - all this suggests that the ethnic cohesion of the Malagasy has not yet reached a particularly high degree.
In North Africa, ethnic consolidation is expressed primarily in the growing rapprochement with the main settled part of the local Arab peoples, their nomadic and semi-nomadic sub-ethnic groups. The Bedouin groups of Maaza, Kharga, Dakhla, Bahariya, Saadi, Khaveitat approach the main body of the Egyptians, with the settled Sudanese - Kerarish, Kababish, Gaaliin, Batakhin, Shukria, Rufaa, Gimma, Hasaniya, Selim, Bederiya, Fezara, Messiria, Habbaniya, Tungur and others, with the Tripolitans, Sirticans and Cyrenaikians (settled groups of Arabs of Libya) - riyah, Khasawn, Kadarfa, etc., with the majority of the agricultural part of the Tunisians - hamama, jerid, arad, riyah, etc., with the main core of the Algerian Arabs - Suafa, Ruarha, Ziban, Nail, Laguat, Sidi, Dui-Meniya, Tadzhakant, etc., with settled Moroccan Arabs - Jebala, Yahi, Gil, Dui-Meniya, etc. There is also a consolidation of the Moors (Arabs of Mauritania): they are increasingly rallying the Arab tribes of Trarza, Regeibat, Dilim, Imragen, Tadjakant, etc. living in the country. An important center of consolidation is the capital city of Nouakchott, where in a difficult time for the country (during the years) gathered over 100 thousand people (mainly to full-timers).
In the formation of the Saharawi people, which was probably formed in the process of the struggle for the independence of Western Sahara, to a large extent the same tribes participated as in the formation of the Moors: Imragen, Dilim, Regeibat, Tarzhakant. The further rallying of the Saharawis is quite intensive, in particular, at their military base in Tindouf (Algeria).
In addition to ethnic fusion and ethnic consolidation, in some countries of Africa there was also such an ethno-unifying process as ethnogenetic mixing. He walked on a number of islands in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, where immigrants of African, European, and partly Asian origin mixed (before these islands were not inhabited). There were such racially mixed ethnic groups as Reunion, Mauritian-Creole, Seychellois and some others.
Assimilation processes are also going on in Africa, although they are still less typical for the continent than ethnic fusion or ethnic consolidation.
So, in Morocco, Algeria and some other countries of North Africa, the Berber population is gradually assimilated by the Arabs prevailing there in terms of numbers.
In Sudan, local Arabs assimilate the Nubians and a number of other Islamized peoples.
In Ethiopia, the Agau tribes are assimilated by the larger peoples of the country - the Amhara, Tigray and Tigre. Three tribes - Kuara, Kayla and Khamir - have already completely switched to the Amharic language.
In Nigeria, the Hausa are dissolved in their environment by smaller ethnic groups: Angas, Ankwe, Sura, Boleva, Karekare, Tangale, Bade, Afusare (mountain Jerawa), etc. If the gradual absorption of Afusare, belonging to a language family other than Hausa, is common assimilation process, then the dissolution of the other peoples noted above in the Hausa environment, which are very close to them in language and culture, can be defined as ethnic conversion.
Assimilation processes have affected many peoples of Nigeria. In particular, ekoi and bok are being assimilated by the Tiv; ron, attack and gvandara - birom; Benu, Konu, Gbari-Baute and a number of other ethnic groups - Nupe.
In Togo, the largest Ewe people assimilate the small tribes living in the neighborhood: Adele, Akposo, Akebe, etc.
In Côte d'Ivoire, the Baule gradually dissolve in their environment various so-called lagoon tribes: Krobu, Gwa, etc.
Peoples lagging behind in their development are assimilated by more advanced peoples in some other African countries. So, in Botswana, the pastoralists and farmers of the Tswana partially assimilate the bushmen engaged in hunting and gathering, in Rwanda the hunters and gatherers of the Pygmies Twa are assimilated by the farmers of Rwanda, in Kenya, the largest and most developed ethnic group of the country, the Kikuyu, assimilates the Ndorobo hunters, which are much inferior to it in terms of their level of development.
The Kikuyu gradually dissolve in their environment and the Embu, Mbere, Meru and some other ethnic groups close to them in language and culture. Probably, this process can be considered ethnic conversion.
In many multi-ethnic countries of the African continent, processes of inter-ethnic integration are underway. They take place in Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ghana and some other countries and lead to the emergence within each of these states of large ethno-political formations, in which ethnic groups are significantly closer to each other, although they do not merge into one whole.
The processes of ethnic division are currently not typical for Africa. As an example of ethnic separation, one can name isolation as a result of migration in the 19th century. from South Africa to Lake Nyasa part of the Zulu. The new ethnic group is now called Ngoni.
Assessing the influence of ethnic processes on the dynamics of the ethno-demographic situation as a whole, we can say that, despite a certain enlargement of African peoples and some simplification of the ethnic picture, it is difficult to expect a significant reduction in the ethnic mosaic of African states in the foreseeable future.
The population of Africa is about 1 billion people. Population growth on the continent is the highest in the world in 2004, it was 2.3%. Over the past 50 years, the average life expectancy has increased from 39 to 54 years.
The population consists mainly of representatives of two races: the Negroid south of the Sahara, and the Caucasoid in northern Africa (Arabs) and South Africa (Boers and Anglo-South Africans). The most numerous people are the Arabs of North Africa.
During the colonial development of the mainland, many state borders were drawn without taking into account ethnic characteristics, which still leads to interethnic conflicts. The average population density in Africa is 22 people/km², which is significantly less than in Europe and Asia.
In terms of urbanization, Africa lags behind other regions - less than 30%, but the rate of urbanization here is the highest in the world, many African countries are characterized by false urbanization. The largest cities on the African continent are Cairo and Lagos.
Languages
The autochthonous languages of Africa are divided into 32 families, of which 3 (Semitic, Indo-European and Austronesian) "infiltrated" the continent from other regions.
There are also 7 isolated and 9 unclassified languages. The most popular native African languages are the Bantu languages (Swahili, Congo), Fula.
Indo-European languages became widespread due to the era of colonial rule: English, Portuguese, French are official in many countries. in Namibia since the beginning of the 20th century. there is a compact community that speaks German as the main language. The only language belonging to the Indo-European family that originated on the continent is Afrikaans, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa. Also, communities of Afrikaans speakers live in other countries of South Africa: Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia. However, it is worth noting that after the fall of the apartheid regime in South Africa, the Afrikaans language is being replaced by other languages (English and local African). The number of its carriers and scope is declining.
The most common language of the Afrosian language sacro-family - Arabic - is used in North, West and East Africa as a first and second language. Many African languages (Hausa, Swahili) include a significant number of borrowings from Arabic (primarily in the layers of political, religious vocabulary, abstract concepts).
The Austronesian languages are represented by the Malagasy language, which is spoken by the population of Madagascaramalagasians - a people of Austronesian origin, who presumably came here in the 2nd-5th centuries AD.
The inhabitants of the African continent are characterized by the knowledge of several languages at once, which are used in various everyday situations. For example, a representative of a small ethnic group that retains its own language can use the local language in the family circle and in communication with their fellow tribesmen, a regional interethnic language (Lingala in the DRC, Sango in the Central African Republic, Hausa in Nigeria, Bambara in Mali) in communication with representatives of other ethnic groups, and the state language (usually European) in communication with the authorities and other similar situations. At the same time, language proficiency can be limited only to the ability to speak (the literacy rate of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2007 was approximately 50% of the total population)
Religion in Africa
Islam and Christianity predominate among world religions (the most common denominations are Catholicism, Protestantism, to a lesser extent Orthodoxy, Monophysitism). There are also Buddhists and Hindus in East Africa (many of them are from India). There are also followers of Judaism and Bahaism living in Africa. Religions introduced into Africa from outside are found both in pure form and syncretized with local traditional religions. Among the "major" traditional African religions are Ifa or Bwiti.
Education
Traditional education in Africa involved preparing children for African religions and life in African society. Education in pre-colonial Africa included games, dancing, singing, painting, ceremonies and rituals. Seniors were engaged in training; Every member of society contributes to the education of the child. Girls and boys were trained separately in order to learn the system of proper gender-role behavior. The apogee of learning was the rituals of passage, symbolizing the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood.
With the beginning of the colonial period, the education system underwent changes towards the European one, so that Africans could compete with Europe and America. Africa tried to establish the cultivation of its own specialists.
Now in terms of education, Africa is still lagging behind other parts of the world. In 2000, only 58% of children in sub-Saharan Africa were in school; these are the lowest. There are 40 million children in Africa, half of them of school age, who are not in school. Two thirds of them are girls.
In the post-colonial period, African governments placed more emphasis on education; a large number of universities were established, although there was very little money for their development and support, and in some places it stopped altogether. However, universities are overcrowded, which often forces lecturers to lecture in shifts, evenings and weekends. Due to low wages, there is a drain on staff. In addition to the lack of necessary funding, other problems for African universities are the unregulated degree system, as well as the inequity in the system of career advancement among the teaching staff, which is not always based on professional merit. This often causes protests and teachers' strikes.
Ethnic composition of the population of Africa
The ethnic composition of the modern population of Africa is very complex. The continent is inhabited by several hundred large and small ethnic groups, 107 of which number more than 1 million people each, and 24 exceed 5 million people. The largest of them are: Egyptian, Algerian, Moroccan, Sudanese Arabs, Hausa, Yoruba, Fulbe, Igbo, Amhara.
Anthropological composition of the population of Africa
In the modern population of Africa, various anthropological types are represented, belonging to different races.
The northern part of the continent up to the southern border of the Sahara is inhabited by peoples (Arabs, Berbers) belonging to the Indo-Mediterranean race (part of the large Caucasoid race). This race is characterized by a swarthy skin color, dark eyes and hair, wavy hair, a narrow face, and a hooked nose. However, among the Berbers there are also fair-eyed and fair-haired.
To the south of the Sahara live peoples belonging to a large Negro-Australoid race, represented by three small races - Negro, Negrillian and Bushman.
Among them, the peoples of the Negro race predominate. These include the population of Western Sudan, the Guinean coast, Central Sudan, the peoples of the Nilotic group (upper Nile), the Bantu peoples. These peoples are characterized by dark skin color, dark hair and eyes, a special structure of hair that curls in spirals, thick lips, a wide nose with a low nose bridge. A typical feature of the peoples of the Upper Nile is their high growth, exceeding 180 cm in some groups (the world maximum).
Representatives of the Negril race - Negrils or African pygmies - short (on average 141-142 cm) inhabitants of the tropical forests of the Congo, Uele and other river basins. In addition to growth, they are also distinguished by a strong development of tertiary hairline, even wider than that of Negroids, a nose strongly flattened nose bridge, relatively thin lips and lighter skin color.
Bushmen and Hottentots living in the Kalahari desert belong to the Bushman race. Their distinctive feature is lighter (yellowish-brown) skin, thinner lips, a flatter face, and such specific signs as skin wrinkling and steatopygia (strong development of the subcutaneous fat layer on the thighs and buttocks).
In Northeast Africa (in Ethiopia and the Somali Peninsula) live peoples belonging to the Ethiopian race, which occupies an intermediate position between the Indo-Mediterranean and Negroid races (thick lips, narrow face and nose, wavy hair).
In general, close ties between the peoples of Africa led to the absence of sharp boundaries between races. In southern Africa, European (Dutch) colonization led to the formation of a special type of so-called colored people.
The population of Madagascar is heterogeneous, it is dominated by South Asian (Mongolian) and Negroid types. In general, Malagasy are characterized by the predominance of a narrow cut of the eyes, protruding cheekbones, curly hair, a flattened and rather wide nose.
African Vital Movement
The dynamics of the population of Africa, due to the relatively small size of migration, is determined mainly by its natural movement. Africa is an area of high fertility, in some countries it is approaching 50 per thousand, that is, approaching the biologically possible. On average, the natural growth of the continent is about 3% per year, which is higher than in other regions of the Earth. The population of Africa, according to the UN, now exceeds 900 million people.
In general, higher birth rates are typical for West and East Africa, and lower rates for the zones of equatorial forests and desert regions.
Mortality is gradually reduced to 15-17 ppm.
Infant mortality (under 1 year) is quite high - 100-150 per thousand.
The age composition of the population of many African countries is characterized by a high proportion of children and a low proportion of the elderly.
The number of men and women is generally the same, with women predominating in rural areas.
The average life expectancy in Africa is about 50 years. Relatively high average life expectancy is typical for South Africa and North Africa.
He studies the history of the formation of the population of a certain territory, the patterns of its natural and mechanical movement, distribution over the territory, the ethnic, age and sex structure of the population, etc.
Definition 1
Population These are people who permanently live in a certain area.
Definition 2
Population- this is the number of people in a certain territory (in thousand people, million people).
Definition 3
Population density is the number of people per unit area (number of people/$km²$).
Definition 4
Population structure- this is the division of people into groups according to certain criteria (age, place of residence, ethnicity, etc.).
The distribution and reproduction of the population is influenced by both natural and social factors.
The history of the formation of the population of Africa
It is Africa, according to anthropologists, that is the cradle of mankind. After all, the most ancient remains of the ancestors of modern man were discovered here.
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In ancient times, one of the oldest states known to modern historians arose in Northeast Africa - this is Ancient Egypt. Ethiopia was known in the east, Ghana in the west.
Throughout the history of mankind, the population of Africa has changed as a result of wars, geographical discoveries and research, natural disasters, and social changes.
Today, the population of Africa, belonging to the three main races, can be divided into indigenous and alien. The main part of the inhabitants is the indigenous population.
The period of the colonial past, which lasted almost four centuries, led to a significant decrease in the population. Only during the period of the slave trade, about $100 million people were taken out of Africa.
Many inhabitants, especially children, died from the harsh conditions in the colonies, from diseases and poor sanitary conditions.
The resettlement of the peoples of Africa
About $500 million people live in Africa - about $1/10 of the world's population. It is distributed very unevenly across the territory. The reason is the natural conditions, the history of the development and development of territories, the policy of states.
Example 1
The highest population density is in the Nile Delta (over $1,000$ people/$km²$).
This is one of the most densely populated areas not only in Africa, but on the entire planet. Remember that this is where Ancient Egypt was located.
The coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Guinea and the southeastern coast of the continent are relatively densely populated. And in the areas of the Sahara and Kalahari deserts, the population is very small (mostly residents of oases). Some desert areas are completely deserted.
Modern racial and ethnic structure of the population of Africa
After the decline of the ancient states, the north of the mainland was occupied by the tribes of Arabs and Berbers - representatives of the Caucasoid race. To the south of the Sahara, the continent is inhabited by representatives of the Negroid race. But this group is not homogeneous. They differ from each other in the shape of the head, skin color, height. This category includes Bushmen, Hottentots, Pygmies, Nilots, Ethiopians.
As a result of the mixing of the Negroid and Mongoloid races, the Malagasy people inhabiting Madagascar were formed. The Mediterranean coast was inhabited by people from the adjacent countries of Europe, and people from the Netherlands and Britain settled in the south.
Definition 5
Their descendants were called Afrikaners.
In the equatorial part, the Portuguese captured the colonies. This affected the formation of the state languages of most modern African countries. After gaining independence, many African countries began to carry out demographic policies aimed at improving the sanitary conditions of residents. This has significantly reduced mortality and increased the population of African countries. There is also a liberalization of ethnic relations. A mixture of racial traits, customs, languages, and cultures is formed.
The development and formation of the ethnic structure of the population of the mainland continues. The nation is currently in the process of being formed. Ethnic groups are represented by tribes and nationalities.
Africa belongs to the second type of population reproduction. Population growth is very high - $2.7$% per year. This led to a population explosion in the second half of the $XX$ century.
Africans profess various religions - both world (Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism), and local pagan cults.
Today, the ethnic composition of the population of African countries is a rather complex community of peoples. Several hundred small and large ethnic groups live on the Black Continent. Some number from one to five million people. The most numerous of them are: Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Egyptian, Moroccan, Sudanese, Algerian Arabs, Fulani, Amhara.
Anthropological composition
The modern population of Africa is represented by various anthropological types that belong to different races. In total, there are up to 7 thousand ethnic groups and nationalities on this continent.
Indo-Mediterranean race
In the northern part of the continent, up to the southernmost border of the Sahara desert, peoples of the Indo-Mediterranean race live. Its representatives in Africa are the Berbers and Arabs, whose characteristic external features include black wavy hair, swarthy skin, narrow face, dark eyes. As a rare exception, blue-eyed and fair-haired specimens are found among the Berbers.
Negro-Australoid race
Its representatives live south of the Sahara and are divided into three small races - Bushman, Negrill and Negro. The quantitative majority here belongs to the peoples of the Negro race, who live in the territory of Central and Western Sudan, in the upper reaches of the Nile and on the coast of Guinea. Their representatives include the Bantu and Nilotic peoples, who are distinguished by their tall stature, coarse black hair that curls in spirals, thick lips, dark skin and a wide nose.
The Negril race includes undersized African pygmies - inhabitants of tropical forests near the rivers Uele and Congo. In addition to small stature up to 142 cm, they are distinguished by overdeveloped tertiary hairline, a wide nose with a very flat bridge of the nose and lighter skin.
The modern peoples of the Bushman race live in the Kalahari desert, their representatives are the Hottentots and Bushmen. They are characterized by light (brown-yellow) skin, thin lips on a flat face, and increased wrinkling of the skin.
Ethiopian race
Occupies an intermediate step between the Negroid and the Indo-Mediterranean races. The peoples of the Ethiopian race live in northeast Africa (the Somali Peninsula, Ethiopia) and have dark wavy hair, thickened lips on a narrow face with a thin nose.
The area of the African continent is the second largest after Eurasia. 1/7 of the total population of the planet lives on the continent. The population density of Africa, its ethnic and racial composition is very different. We will talk about how exactly they differ in this article.
Geography of Africa
Africa is the closest neighbor of Eurasia, from which it is separated by several seas and straits. It lies in both the southern and northern hemispheres of the Earth, the equator crosses it almost in the middle. The continent is washed by the Indian and Atlantic oceans.
The area of mainland Africa is 29.2 million km2. From north to south, it stretches for almost 8 thousand kilometers. The extreme western and eastern points at the widest point are separated from each other by about 7.5 thousand kilometers.
The relief of the continent is predominantly flat. The coastline is not strongly indented, without the formation of deep bays and peninsulas protruding into the sea. There are several islands nearby, which, together with the main landmass of the mainland, are part of the African part of the world.
The geography of Africa largely determines its climate, nature, and population. Stretching from the southern subtropical to the northern subtropical zone, it is the hottest continent on Earth. Most of it is occupied by deserts, semi-deserts and savannahs. Despite this, on the territory of the continent there are tropical rainforests, large lakes and full-flowing rivers. The two largest river systems in Africa belong to the Nile and the Congo. They are also among the largest in the world.
Features of the population of Africa
The continent is called the cradle of mankind. It is believed that it was here that the first representatives of the human race appeared, who then settled throughout the planet. Now about 56 states are formed on the territory of the mainland and more than a billion people live. The total population density of Africa is 30.51 people / km 2.
All states of the continent differ in their level of development. However, many of them are characterized by poverty, economic backwardness and poor health care. In this regard, the average life expectancy of Africans is approximately 50 years.
Since the 20th century, population growth has steadily increased. Therefore, the indicator of the continent occupies a leading position in the world. It is expected that the number of its inhabitants will double by 2050.
The most populous country is Nigeria with 195 million people. After it come: Ethiopia (106 million), Egypt (97 million), Democratic Republic of the Congo (84 million), Tanzania (57 million), South Africa (56 million). The smallest population lives in the Seychelles (86,000 people), Sao Tome and Principe (200,700 people), Mayotte (257,000 people), Cape Verde (536,000 people).
Ethnic composition
The population of African countries is very diverse in composition. It represents up to 8000 ethnic groups and peoples. The racial composition is dominated by representatives of the Negroid and Caucasoid (Arabs) type. Mixed types also live in South Africa and nearby countries.
Many nationalities are very small and live within one or two villages. Only 120 ethnic groups have more than one million people, and they represent 90% of all inhabitants of the African continent.
The entire north is inhabited predominantly by Arabs and Berbers who speak Afroasian languages. Negro-Australian peoples live in the southern part of the Sahara and below: Nilotic, Bushmen, Bantu, Pygmies. In Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia live mainly Ethiopians, Kushites, Omotes.
Bantu, Bushmen, Hottentots live in the southern and central parts of the continent. Due to historical events, a separate ethnic group, the Afrikaners, was formed here. These are the descendants of the first colonists from Holland, France, Germany, who speak Afrikaans. A small percentage of the population is also made up of people from Asia and other regions of the world.
Population placement
Not all regions of the hottest continent are favorable for life, so the population is distributed very unevenly. It is mainly concentrated near water sources - large rivers, lakes and oases. For example, in the Nile Valley, there are almost 1,200 people per square kilometer. A large number of people live in the area of Lake Victoria, on the shores of the Gulf of Guinea (Nigeria, Togo, Benin) and the Mediterranean Sea (Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco).
In addition, the high population density of Africa is observed in areas with developed agriculture and industry. People from all countries of the continent flock here for the sake of work. So, popular places are the central parts of the mainland rich in deposits, as well as South Africa.
If we talk about specific countries, then Rwanda and Burundi (500 people / km 2) have a high density on the continent. They are located within the equatorial zone with a warm and humid climate, frequent rainfall, next to the large lakes of Tanganyika and Kivu. If we talk about Africa as a whole, then the highest density is observed on the island of Marikiye (628 people / km 2). The smallest number of people per square kilometer lives in Namibia, Mauritania, Libya, Botswana, Western Sahara (2-4 people / km 2), where the climate is the most arid.
Mauritius
The island of Mauritius and the country of the same name are located in the Indian Ocean to the east of Madagascar. Currently, 1.3 million people live here, and the population density is the highest in all of Africa. This is surprising, because back in the 15th century there were no people on the island at all.
The first settlers of Mauritius were European sailors - first the Portuguese, then the Dutch, French and British. Europeans quickly mastered the island. They organized plantations of cane, coffee, cotton, tobacco, cassava and other crops on it, bringing the inhabitants of the African continent to work.
The modern population of Mauritius is the descendants of the colonizers, slaves, as well as hired workers. The descendants of mixed marriages, mestizos, make up 27% of all residents of the country, another 68% are Indo-Mauritians - descendants of immigrants from India. Approximately 5% of the inhabitants are of Chinese and French origin.
The country has no official language and religion. Many residents speak English, French, Mauritanian Creole and Bhojpuri. Thanks to an unusual history, Mauritius combines various beliefs, traditions, and architecture. Islam, Hinduism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism and other religions coexist under one roof.
Namibia
Of the official countries, the Republic of Namibia has the lowest population density in Africa - 3.1 people / km 2. Only the disputed territory of Western Sahara is characterized by a lower indicator (2.2 people / km 2).
Namibia is located in the southwest of the continent, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. In the north, its territory is occupied by savannas and light forests, in the south and west it is covered by the Namib and Kalahari deserts. There is little rainfall, and most rivers appear only during the rainy season.
The country is inhabited by approximately two million people. More than 80% belong to the Bantu peoples, who penetrated here in the Middle Ages. The indigenous population - Bushmen and Nama - make up less than 10%. The rest of the inhabitants are descendants of mixed color marriages, as well as marriages between German colonists and Africans.
Life in the Sahara
North Africa has the largest desert on the planet. From west to east it stretches for 4800 kilometers and covers about 30% of the continent. Local temperatures during the day reach +40 °C, in some areas they reach +58 °C.
There are ten states on the territory of the Sahara, but its vast expanses are uninhabited. It is hot and dry here, and the vegetation is represented mainly by shrubs, rarely growing herbs and trees. Life in the desert could be completely unbearable if not for the oases and the Nile. The bulk of the population lives there.
Many peoples of the Sahara lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle. They breed sheep, goats and camels, and collect wild berries and fruits. Cereals, fruits and vegetables are grown in oases, valleys and deltas.
African cities
The main population of Africa is the rural population. Approximately 2/3 live in separate small settlements or large villages, where communal land use is developed. However, the continent has the highest rate of urbanization in the world, and in the coming decades, everything can change dramatically.
Every year the number of urban residents increases by 4-5%. Rural countries are still Burundi, Lesotho, Rwanda. But in South Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Mauritius, there are more and more cities.
There are currently about 40 million-plus cities in Africa. Among them are Cairo in Egypt (17.8 million), Lagos in Nigeria (11.5 million), Kinshasa in the DRC (10 million), Johannesburg in South Africa (6.2 million), Khartoum in Sudan (5.2 million), Luanda in Angola (5.2 million). It is predicted that half of Africans will live in cities by 2035.
