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Horn of Africa

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Geography

   Nations of the Horn of Africa.
   Enlarge
   Nations of the Horn of Africa.
   The Horn of Africa as seen from the NASA Space Shuttle, in May of 1993.
   The orange and tan colors in this image indicate a largely arid to
   semiarid climate.
   Enlarge
   The Horn of Africa as seen from the NASA Space Shuttle, in May of 1993.
   The orange and tan colors in this image indicate a largely arid to
   semiarid climate.

   The Horn of Africa (alternatively Northeast Africa, and sometimes
   Somali Peninsula) is a peninsula of East Africa that juts for hundreds
   of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of
   the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African
   continent.

   It indeed resembles in outline the horn of an animal — perhaps
   especially, the horns of the Black Rhinoceros, whose historic range
   includes parts of Ethiopia:
     * Its orientation relative to the Equator approximates that of either
       rhino horn relative to the ground.
     * The angle between its northern and southeastern coasts approximates
       that at the tip of the rhino's upper horn.
     * The concavity of its northern coast, and convexity of its southern,
       echo similar curvatures on the rhino's lower horn.

   The term also refers to the greater region containing the countries of
   Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia. As such, it covers
   approximately 2,000,000 km² and is inhabited by about 86.5 million
   people. Sudan and Kenya are sometimes included as well.

   Greater Somalia is a nationalist goal to create a unified Somali state
   in the Horn of Africa, in the former and present states referred to by
   the five points of the star in the national flag of Somalia since that
   country's independence: the former British and Italian colonies of
   present Somalia, the former French Somaliland (now Djibouti), the
   Ogaden in Ethiopia, and the North Eastern province in Kenya.

Geography and climate

   The Horn of Africa, almost equidistant from the Equator and the Tropic
   of Cancer, is an arid region.

   Socotra is a small island off the coast of Somalia, in the Indian
   Ocean, that is considered to be part of Africa. Its size is 3,600
   square km. It is a territory of Yemen, the southernmost country on the
   Arabian peninsula.

History

Ancient history

   The Kingdom of Aksum (also known as "Axum") was an African state
   located in Ethiopia, Eritrea, northern Somalia and Yemen that thrived
   between the 1st and 7th centuries. Due to the Horn's strategic
   location, it has been used to restrict access to the Red Sea in the
   past.

   The region was also a source of biological resources during the
   Antiquity: The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans sent expeditions to
   the region for frankincense, myrrh, dragon's blood or cinnabar and took
   these commodities back along the Incense Route. Therefore the Romans
   called this region Regio Aromatica.

Modern history

   The Horn of Africa is a region continuously in crisis. Ethiopia
   occupies a predominant position in the Horn because of its demographic
   importance: about 85% of the area's population live in this country.
   Yet Ethiopia's history is largely marked by conflicts between Muslims
   and Christians for resources and living space, as well as between
   nationalism and Marxism-Leninism in the modern times. The rest of the
   region also faces continuous wars: a civil war erupted in Somalia in
   1977, resulting in the country having had no functioning national
   government since 1991. Sudan, with the Sudanese Civil War, represents
   another important source of instability for the whole region. Conflicts
   have also occurred in Djibouti and Eritrea.

   Moreover, the region is regularly stricken by natural catastrophes,
   such as droughts (in Ethiopia) or flood (Somalia) that hit rural areas
   particularly hard. As a result, the region has some of the world's
   highest levels of malnutrition and is continuously loomed by a major
   humanitarian crisis. Between 1982 and 1992, about two million people
   died in the Horn of Africa due to this combination of war and famine.

   The Horn of Africa, since 2002, has been a major focus of attention by
   the United States, France, Germany, and eleven African nations
   regarding the so-called War on Terrorism.

Culture and ethnicity

   The countries of the Horn of Africa are culturally linked together.
   Local people have been using the plow for cultivation and kept the
   Arabian dromedary as domestic animals for a long time. Some important
   ethno-linguistic groups in the Horn of Africa are:
     * In Djibouti: the Afar (Danakil) and the Somali (Issa)

     * In Eritrea: the Bilen, the Afar, the Beni-Amer ( Beja), the
       Hedareb, the Kunama (Baza), the Nara (Nialetic), the Saho (Irob),
       the Rashaida, the Tigre, and the Tigrinya. The Jebertis are Muslim
       Tigrinyas who consider themselves as a separate ethnicity, but are
       not recognized by other sources.

     * In Ethiopia: Amharas, Afars, Agaw groups, Gurages, Hamers, Hararis
       (also Hadere or Adere), the Irob (Catholic Sahos) Oromos, Saho,
       Sidamas, Somalis, and Tigrayans, as well as many other small groups
       (see also ethnicities listed at Southern Nations, Nationalities,
       and People's Region).

     * In Somalia: the Dabarre, the Digil-Rahawlin, the Garre, the Jiiddu,
       the Shambaara (Gosha), the Somali, the Swahili (Baraawe) and the
       Tunni.

     * In Sudan: the Anuak, the Atwot, the Bale, the Beni-Amer (Beja), the
       Bisharin (Beja), the Burun (Barun, Borun), the Dar Fur Daju, the
       Dar Sila Daju, the Didinga (Xaroxa, Toil), the Fedicca-Mahas, the
       Nubian, the Fulani (Sudanese Fula), the Fur (Furawi), the Chulfan
       (Gulfan), the Gule (Fung, Hameg), the Hadendoa (Beja), the Hamar,
       the Hausa Fulani, the Ingessana (Tabi), the Kanga (Abu Sinun), the
       Yerwa Kanuri, the Katla (Akalak), the Kenuzi-Dongolese, the Nubi,
       the Central Koma (Komo), the Krongo Nuba, the Maba (Borgu, Mabang),
       the Maban-Jumjum (Maben), the Mararit (Ablyl, Ebiri, Masalit), the
       Masalit, the Mesakin (Masakin), the Midob (Miedob, Tidi), the
       Nyimang (Nyima, Ama), the Par (Lokoro), the Rufaa (Rufalyin), the
       Shatt (Daju), the Shatt (Mandul), the Sungor (Assagori), the Tagale
       (Taqalawin), the Temein, the tigre, the Tira (Thiro), the Tulishi
       and the Zaghawa.

Economy

   States of the region depend largely on a few key exports:
     * Sudan: Cotton 50% of total exports.
     * Ethiopia: Coffee 80% of total exports.
     * Somalia: Bananas and livestock over 50% of total exports.

Ecology

   The Grevy's zebra (Equus grevyi)
   Enlarge
   The Grevy's zebra (Equus grevyi)

   The Horn of Africa is a UNESCO Biodiversity Hotspot and one of the two
   entirely arid ones. However the Horn of Africa suffers largely from
   overgrazing and only 5% of its original habitat still remains. On
   Socotra, another great threat is the development of infrastructure.

Fauna

   About 220 mammals are found in the Horn of Africa. Among threatened
   species of the region, we find several antelopes such as the beira, the
   dibatag, the silver dikdik and the Speke’s gazelle. Other remarkable
   species include the Somali wild ass, the desert warthog, the Hamadryas
   Baboon, the Somali pygmy gerbil, the ammodile and the Speke’s
   pectinator. The Grevy's zebra is the unique wild equid of the region.

   Some important bird species of the Horn are the Bulo Burti boubou, the
   golden-winged grosbeak, the Warsangli linnet or the Djibouti francolin.

   The Horn of Africa holds more endemic reptiles than anywhere else in
   Africa, with about 90 species over about 285 found exclusively here.
   Among endemic reptile genera, there are Haackgreerius, Haemodracon,
   Ditypophis, Pachycalamus or Aeluroglena. Half of these genera are
   uniquely found on Socotra. Unlike reptiles, amphibians are poorly
   represented in the region.

   There are about 100 species of freshwater fish in the Horn of Africa,
   about 10 of which are endemic. Among the endemic, we find the
   cave-dwelling Somali blind barb and the Somali cavefish.

Flora

   It is estimated that about 5,000 species of vascular plants are found
   in the Horn, about the half of which is endemic. Endemism is most
   developed in Socotra and Northern Somalia. The region has two endemic
   plant families: the Barbeyaceae and the Dirachmaceae. Among the other
   remarkable species, there are the cucumber tree found only on Socotra,
   the Bankoualé palm, the Yeheb nut or the Somali cyclamen.

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