East Africa

East Africa Information

General Info

• Eastern Africa consists largely of plateaus and has most of the highest elevations in the continent.
• The climate of eastern Africa is generally tropical
• The region’s vegetation ranges from woodlands and grasslands in the wetter regions to thornbushes in semiarid areas.
• East Africa is home to 4 of the 5 fastest land animals; the cheetah, the wildebeest, the lion and the Thomson’s gazelle.
• The largest ethnic groups in eastern Africa are the Oromo, Cushitic speakers who occupy much of southern Ethiopia

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Frangerrick.org%2Franger_rick%2Fcheetah-tricks%2F&psig=AOvVaw1L9XgV-jcgIHLzv8TYZHDZ&ust=1573928794096000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCKCO1e_r7OUCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

Positive attributes

Positives

• Beautiful geographic landmarks(Great rift valley, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Ethiopian highlands)
• Great lands for farming and cattle
• Coastal region ideal for trading with countries overseas

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldwildlife.org%2Fplaces%2Fcoastal-east-africa&psig=AOvVaw3IiaAcsCkYRn1dztJWA2OX&ust=1573787207674000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCMi4xLDc6OUCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

Negative Attributes

• Unreliable rainfall leads to constant fear of drought
• Famine
• No regional community
• Constant war and civil arrest

Negatives

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dw.com%2Fen%2Fup-to-20-million-threatened-by-drought-in-eastern-africa%2Fa-37580220&psig=AOvVaw1zTCEFPsY1bMAgeWG1cJKa&ust=1573787495335000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCPC9jLnd6OUCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

Racism in Kenya

Racism in East Africa

Richard Ochieng a 26 year old living in Kenya was working for a motorcycle company to a chinese boss. In a business trip the boss, the chinese man the same age as Richard started calling him a monkey urging him to share bananas with the primates. Mr. Ocheing was able to record his chinese boss during one of his racist rants. The video got attention quick and spread all over the internet. The chinese boss was deported back to China. This has lead to some political tension between China and Africa as Chinese industries continue to spread in Africa.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F12%2F07%2Fopinion%2Fliving-with-racism-in-australia.html&psig=AOvVaw30o2K-jAK9G-fHlnhytoyo&ust=1573868766767000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCOjjhJ-M6-UCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

Political Sexism in Kenya

Sexism in East Africa

Violence and a lack of cash are locking women out of elected office in Kenya. In a new constitution in Kenya it granted women a third of seats in parliament, but two and a half years since its adoption, Kenya’s male dominated assembly has still not passed the necessary legislation to put the constitutional principle into practice. Female political aspirants all over Africa painted the same picture that politics is the preserve of men in a country that struggles to deal with women in authority. Protest like these have made little change as there is still sexism all over East Africa.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fhivisasa.com%2Fposts%2F60274771-when-laboso-refused-to-use-her-official-chair-in-public-functions&psig=AOvVaw2as9P1mG2tNzO2DouYP3lU&ust=1573867057645000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCPDtgP6F6-UCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAP

Immigration in East Africa

Immigrants

Eastern Africa has historically always been part of global migration and trade networks because of the access through the coast. As of March 2013, there were over 9 million refugees and internally displaced people in the region of the horn of Africa which is the eastern most part of Africa, where Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia are located. According to the demographic Ethiopia is a top birthplace for African immigrants which mean that the population in Ethiopia will grow due to the immigrants born there and the immigrants that will keep on coming over seas. I would infer that the population in the countries in the horn of Africa is very dense due to immigration.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pewresearch.org%2Ffact-tank%2F2017%2F02%2F14%2Fafrican-immigrant-population-in-u-s-steadily-climbs%2F&psig=AOvVaw0wpx3tkEZ7igZnH5fKzb-Q&ust=1573951287554000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCMDS89G_7eUCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAN

Geographers in East Africa

Geographers

There are many geographers in east Africa finding ways to make use of the many different geographic features in all regions. Geographers use regions as a way to describe different areas that have similar climate, religion, landforms economy and more. They create regions based on different things they want to study. Geographers also use maps from GPS and GIS technology to solve problems in east Africa. For example if I was a geographer trying to give people more access to clean water I would like a map or GPS and locate the largest lakes and rivers, like the Victoria lake. Then I would look at the cities that are next to the lake and put the less priority on those cities. Then I would look at the location of the other cities and their elevation, and plan out construction of aqueducts that come from Lake Victoria or rivers that are connected to the lake, to the cities that are far from lakes and rivers. This shows how geographers can make geographic features in east Africa benefit people in the region.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.britannica.com%2Fplace%2FLake-Victoria&psig=AOvVaw2GJsgQfiuD4-LYK8Sadrik&ust=1574985308839000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCLCG39fLi-YCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD