People And Population - Class 6 Social Studies Revision Notes

• Classification of communities in Eastern Africa into language groups;
  • The Bantus
    • Reasons for the Migration of the Bantu
  • The Nilotes
    • River-lake nilotes
    • Highland nilotes
    • Plain nilotes
    • Reasons for the Migration of the Nilotes
  • The Cushites
    • Eastern cushites
    • Southern cushites
    • Reasons for the Migration of the Cushites
  • The Semites
    • Reasons for the Migration of the Semites
  • Effects of migration and settlement
  • Population distribution in Eastern Africa
  • Densely populated areas of Eastern Africa.
  • Sparsely populated areas of Eastern Africa
  • Factors influencing population distribution in Eastern Africa

Classification of communities in Eastern Africa into language groups

1. The bantu
2. The nilotes
3. The cushites
4. The semites

1. The Bantus

   • Are the largest language group in eastern africa
   • Originally homeland was DRC, cameroon,zaire
   • Are mainly found in kenya,uganda, tanzania,rwanda and burundi.
   • Tanzania has the largest number of bantu
   • Main reasons for migration was to find fertile lands for cultivation
   • Are mainly cultivators
     

     Country	Community/Tribe/ Ethnic Group
     KENYA	Abaluhya,abagusii,abakuria,agikuyu,ameru,aembu,akamba,ambeere,taita,mijikenda,pokomo
     TANZANIA	Chagga,sukuma,gogo,hehe,ngoni,yao,nyamwezi,vinza,ha,zaramo,pare,fipa
     UGANDA	Baganda,banyore,basoga,bagishu, batoro,banyoro
     RWANDA	Hutu, Tutsi
     BURUNDI	Hutu

     Reasons for the Migration of the Bantu

     1. They wanted fertile farming land
     2. Escape from hostile neighbours
     3. Population pressure
     4. Outbreak of pests and diseases
     5. Drought and famine
     6. Internal disputes and conflicts
        
        

2. The Nilotes

   • Is the second largest group in Eastern Africa
   • Originated from Nile valley,Bhar-El-Ghezal in South Sudan
   • They were pastoralists
   • Mainly migrated in search of pasture and water
   • They also practised fishing along the rivers
   • Are divided into three sub groups namely
     
     

     1. River-lake Nilotes

        - Live near lakes and rivers. main economic acitvity is fishing.
        
        

        Country	Community/Tribe/Ethnic Group
        KENYA	Luo
        UGANDA	Acholi, labwar, japadhola, langi, alur, lughbava
        TANZANIA	Luo
        sOUTH SUDAN	Shilluk, anuk, nuer, dinka

     2. Highland Nilotes

        - mainly live in highland areas of eastern africa. The main economic activity is farming and pastoralism.
        
        

        Country	Community/Tribe/Ethnic Group
        KENYA	Kipsigis, nandi, tugen, keiyo, pokot, marakwet, sabaot, ogiek ,dorobo.
        UGANDA	Sebei, sabiny
        TANZANIA	Datoga

     3. Plain Nilotes

        - mainly live in the plain areas of eastern africa. Main economic activity is pastoralism/ nomadic pastoralism/ cattle rearing
        
        

        Country	Community/Tribe/Ethnic Group
        KENYA	Samburu, maasai, turkana, njemps, iteso, el-molo-suk
        UGANDA	Karamanjong, jie, iteso
        TANZANIA	Maasai
        SUDAN	Yoposa
        ETHIOPIA	Baria, gumuz

        Reasons for the migration of the Nilotes

        1. Need for pasture and water
        2. Epidaemic (outbreak of diseases)
        3. Hostile neighbours i.e. external attacks
        4. Internal conflicts/disputes
        5. Overpopulation
        6. Drought and famine
           
           

3. The Cushites

   • They are pastoralists
   • Migrated into Eastern Africa from Saudi Arabia
   • Main reason for migration was to search for water and pasture for their animals.
   • They are divided into;
     
     

     1. Eastern Cushites

        
        

        Country	Community/Tribe/Ethnic Group
        KENYA	Somali, orma, boran, burji, gabbra, rendille, galla, boni
        ETHIOPIA	Rendille, afar, sindamo, galla, danakil, oromo, ogaden
        SOMALIA	Boran, somali, rendille, oromo, ogaden, hawiyah, gurreh, danakil.

     2. Southern Cushites

        - Mostly lives in Central Tanzania and Lower Tana River regions of Kenya
         
        

        Country	Community/Tribe/Ethnic Group
        KENYA	Sanye, dahalo
        TANZANIA	Hawa iraqw, mbugu, burugu, avamanik, sandawe, hadza, makogodi

        
        

        Reasons for the migration of the Cushites

        1. Need for pasture and water
        2. Outbreak of diseases epidemics
        3. Drought and femine
        4. Hostile neighbours
        5. Internal conflicts
        6. Overpopulation
        7. Spirit of adventure
        8. Southern cushites
           
           

4. The Semites

   • Migrated from South Arabia and Asia into the Horn of Africa
   • They crossed into africa through the red sea
   • Others came through the Indian Ocean
   • Mainly migrated looking for trade items and trading opportunity
   • They are found in kenya, ethiopia, eritrea and sudan
     

     Country	Community/Tribe/Ethnic Group
     KENYA	Nubians
     SUDAN	Nubians, arabs, amharas,
     ERITREA	Tigreans, amharas
     SOMALIA	Arabs
     ETHIOPIA	Falasha, arabs, tigreans, amharas, baggara

     
     

     Reasons for the migration of the Semites

     1. Need for better trading opportunities
     2. Search for trade goods
     3. Overpopulation
     4. Family and clan disputes
     5. Spirit of adventure
     6. Outbreak of human and animal diseases
     7. Need for pasture and water for their animals
     8. Drought and femine

Effects of Migration and Settlement

1. Displacement of smaller communities
   1. Agikuyu displaced gumba and athi in central kenya
   2. Abagusii displaced by luo and kalenjins
   3. Bantu displaced by galla from shungwaya
2. Conflicts between communities
   1. Abagusii and the luo
   2. Galla and bantu
   3. Ngoni and the people of Southern Tanzania
3. Population increase
4. Intermarriage between communities
5. Adoption of economic practises among communities e.g.
   1. bantu learnt cattle keeping from nilotes and cushites learnt cultivation from the bantus
6. Introduction of new items of trade
7. Borrowing of different words led to development of new languages
8. Borrowing of cultural practises e.g.
   1. Bantu borrowed circumcision from the cushites
   2. Bantus borrowed age-set systems from the cushites

Population Distribution in Eastern Africa

• Population refers to the number of people living in a given place
• Population distribution refers to how people are spread over in an area
• Population of Eastern Africa is not evenly distributed
• Some areas are;
  1. Sparsely populated
  2. Medium/moderately populated
  3. Densely populated
• Population density is the number of people living in a square km

Densely populated areas of Eastern Africa.

1. The highlands region
2. The lake basin
3. Major towns and cities
4. Coastal areas of Kenya and Tanzania
5. Rwanda
6. Mining areas

Sparsely populated areas of Eastern Africa

1. North eastern uganda
2. Central and northern tanzania
3. Southern and western ethiopia
4. Large parts of eritrea
5. North eastern kenya
6. Most of somalia
7. Mountain tops
8. Flood plains
9. Northern sudan

Factors Influencing Population Distribution in Eastern Africa

1. Climate i.e.rainfall and temperature
2. Soils
3. Relief
4. Drainage
5. Economic activitie
6. Vegetation
7. Government policy
8. Pests and diseases
9. Political factors(security)