Other Countries of East Africa

Which statement about the strategic value of Djibouti is NOT true?

It has always had a stable government.

Which statement about Rwanda is NOT true?

It has long been politically stable.

The relative location of Ethiopia changed when ___________.

It lost ocean access.

Introduction

Kenya shares East Africa with many other countries. Several of these countries border the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, or the Gulf of Aden, while others are landlocked. One of them, Ethiopia, is one of the oldest countries in Africa, while another, Eritrea, is the newest.

In Burundi, the Tutsi are the most powerful ethnic group because they ___________.

Lead the nation's armed forces.

France pays large fees to Djibouti for the right to __________.

Maintain a military base in the country.

The main causes of famine in Ethipia in 1984 and 1986 include all of the following EXCEPT __________.

Poor soil.

Like many African nations, Tanzania is a nation with ____________.

Possibilities for a strong economy.

Which two countries in Africa are ethnocracies?

Rwanda and Burundi.

Tanzania's economic recovery began when the government ___________.

Allowed farmers to grow cash crops.

One problem that the countries of Rwanda and Burundi share is ____________.

An inability to export goods to markets.

The countries of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia, have strategic value to countries such as France because they ___________.

Are located near Southwest Asian oil supplies and important shipping lanes.

Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi have all experienced __________.

Civil war.

The major national goal for Eritrea ater winning its independence was ___________.

Economic reconstruction.

What happened as a result f the victory of Eritrean rebels over Ethiopia's army?

Ethiopia lost access to the ocean.

What happened as a result of the victory of Eritrean rebels over Ethiopia's army?

Ethiopia lost access to the ocean.

In Darfur, peacekeeping efforts by other African nations have ____________.

Failed.

Which is NOT a characteristic of the landscape of Sudan?

Freshwater lakes.

Sudan's many years of civil war have resulted from conflicts between ___________.

People of different ethnic an dreligious backgrounds.

Sudan

Sudan is the largest nation in area in Africa. It is much like the Sahel nations. To the north the country is largely a desert of bare rock or ergs—shifting sand dunes. In the south are clay plains and an extensive swamp area called the Sudd, which means "the barrier." Muslim Arabs live in the north of Sudan. In the south are members of several different African ethnic groups who practice animism or Christianity. Various groups have been at war almost continuously since independence in 1956, resulting in widespread suffering and starvation. In the western region of Darfur, fighting between government-backed militias and non-Arab natives of the region have resulted in more than 200,000 deaths since 2003. Peacekeeping efforts by other African nations have met with little success.

The African nation with the largest land area is ___________.

Sudan.

Landlocked Countries

The countries of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi are landlocked but have many freshwater lakes. All three nations are heavily populated, agricultural countries. Coffee is the most important export crop, but Rwanda and Burundi lack the means to get their goods to foreign buyers. Uganda Located to the west of Kenya, Uganda is mostly a plateau with fertile soils. It prospered first by growing cotton and then coffee. But when the nation gained independence from Britain in 1962, civil war broke out and disrupted the country's prosperity. People in the north, who had most of the military power, struggled against southern groups, who had most of the economic might. Under a ruthless dictator, Idi Amin (EE dee ah MEEN), as many as 300,000 Ugandans died or "disappeared" in the violent struggles that took place in the country during the 1970s. Since the mid-1980s, Uganda has rebuilt itself and become a democratic government with multiple political parties. Uganda has been a leader in the fight against AIDS. Rwanda and Burundi An ethnocracy is a government in which one ethnic group rules over others. Rwanda (roo AHN duh) and Burundi (boo ROON dee), two of the smallest African nations, are both ethnocracies. In Rwanda, 80 percent of the population belongs to the Hutu (HOO too) group. Most of the remainder are Tutsi (TOOT see), sometimes called Watusi (wah TOO see). The Hutu remained firmly in power for 35 years after they successfully overthrew the Tutsi-controlled government in 1959, killing some 100,000 of the minority. In 1994, hundreds of thousands of Tutsi were murdered and about 2 million Rwandans were driven from their homes in a brief and horrifying civil war. Hutu and Tutsi currently share power in Rwanda. In Burundi, the Tutsi are only 14 percent of the population. But they control the army, so they retain power. When Burundi held its first free elections in 1993, the people elected a Hutu president, but the military overthrew him within months. Tens of thousands of Tutsis and Hutus were killed in the fighting that followed. A new government sharing power among various opposition forces was formed in 2001. Despite some lingering violence, Burundi slowly became more peaceful.

The Horn of Africa

The region's coastal location gives some of its countries special opportunities for trade as well as strategic value—the value of the location to nations planning large-scale military actions. The countries of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti (ji BOO tee), and Somalia are located on a landmass known as the Horn of Africa. These countries have particularly strategic locations. They lie near both the oil supplies of the Middle East and the shipping lanes of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. These countries are also strategically located at the midpoint between Europe and Southeast Asia. Djibouti Djibouti is a vital link between neighboring Ethiopia's capital city of Addis Ababa and the sea. Djibouti earns most of its income from its strategic ports. France pays large fees to Djibouti for the right to maintain a military base in the country. When civil war broke out in 1991, France tried to bring the two sides to the negotiating table. Even though the ruling party agreed to a new constitution, unrest continued to strangle the country for many years. A presidential election was held in 1999, followed by a peace agreement in 2000. Djibouti has started to repair its agriculture, its educational and health care facilities, and its infrastructure. Ethiopia Ethiopia has one of the longest histories of all the nations in Africa. Ruins and ancient Egyptian writings record the history of the Kushite civilization in Ethiopia about 3,500 years ago. The region's high, fertile plateaus, which enjoy temperate climates, rise like massive walls above the deserts of the Sudan to the west and Somalia to the east. In recent years, regional conflict and drought have brought this ancient nation almost to the edge of collapse. Droughts in 1984 and 1986 caused famine and starvation in Ethiopia. In addition, war with Somalia, as well as civil war in the coastal province of Eritrea, caused grave crises. Other nations sent aid to Ethiopia, but the civil war prevented food from reaching those who needed it. In 1991 the Ethiopian government was overthrown; and at about the same time, the Ethiopian army was beaten by Eritrean guerrillas. Ethiopia was forced to allow Eritrea its independence, and as a result Ethiopia's relative location changed. Once situated strategically on the Red Sea, Ethiopia is now landlocked. It is still badly torn by ethnic division. Within the first few years of its new government, at least 100 political parties appeared, most of them based on ethnic grouping. Eritrea After winning its independence, Eritrea began to rebuild an economy damaged by three decades of fighting. Economic reconstruction replaced independence as the major national goal. Said one Eritrean: "There is almost a demonic [fierce] determination to get things done. It's one of those things I think comes out of suffering. The thirty years of war—one of the dividends . . . was this tremendous sense of discipline." Progress was made at first. The capital city of Asmara was rebuilt and its streets filled with bustling taxis and buses. A new steel mill melted down old military equipment for peaceful uses. Steam engines from the 1930s were refurbished for use on the rail line to the main port. Much of this was accomplished with little borrowing from other nations. Unfortunately, a border war with Ethiopia from 1998 to 2000 and a successive downturn in the world economy slowed progress significantly. Subsistence farming and herding remained the mainstays of the Eritrean economy. The situation would be more precarious were it not for money sent home by many Eritreans working in other nations, including the United States. Somalia Since Somalia gained independence in 1960, fighting between clans, border wars with Ethiopia, and drought have prevented it from becoming a unified nation. Civil war erupted in the late 1980s. By 1991, anarchy reigned. The situation worsened when a severe drought struck the region in the early 1990s. An estimated 1.5 million Somalis were threatened with starvation. International relief agencies donated food, but civil strife hampered its distribution. Numerous efforts to form a Somalian government have failed. By 2007, the major competitors for power were Islamic militias and forces backed by Ethiopean troops. In the meantime, residents of northwestern Somalia were trying to get recognition as the independent nation of Somaliland.

In the 1980's, Tanzania changed its economic system because __________.

The socialist system that had been in place had caused economic disaster.

Why is location a great asset to the nations on the Horn of Africa?

These nations lie near the oil supplies of the Middle East and the shipping lanes of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. They are also at the midpoint between Europe and Southeast Asia.

Tanzania

To the east of Rwanda and Burundi lies Tanzania (tan zuh NEE uh). Like many African nations, it is a land of great potential wealth. Its soils are fertile in many areas. Its lands include the hot, humid coastal lands, the cool highlands, the varied terrain around Lake Victoria, and the dry central plains. Beneath its surface lie iron ore, coal, diamonds, and other minerals. However, because of poor development, it remains the second poorest country in the world, after neighboring Mozambique. During an experiment in socialism between 1961 and 1985, Tanzania's rural people were subjected to villagization—forced to move into towns and to work on collective farms. The nation's economy ground to a halt. Not until socialism was abandoned did the economy turn around. The key to recovery was paying farmers a fair price for their crops. When they saw that they could profit by growing corn and cotton, they once again farmed land that had been idle for years.