‘Africa’: Misunderstood
6 August, 2007 | No comments | Category: I.dentity, ethnicity
Africa is a continent with an immense range of ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity— it has 53 independent countries. Europe has 45, Asia 37 and Latin America 20.
The Genetic diversity of humans is the greatest in Africa, because humans are all out of Africa.
Africa is known to be by far the most linguistically diverse continent. And ethnic groups are classified based on languages, most times with their own culture, traditions and histories. The number of African languages (not dialects!) is estimated at around 2000 i.e. one third of the world’s linguistic heritage. Giving 2000 cultures, easy!
Linguistic diversity ranges from Nigeria (124mil population) which has 508 living languages to Ethiopia which has 87; though classification of the languages is very tricky! More broadly speaking…there are at least 3 or 4 language families in Africa. Language classification helps peg the origin of cultures and ethnic groups based on the relatedness of the languages. Degree of language similarity indicates how recently they separated…3-4 language families show ethnic and cultural diversity which has existed for thousands of years…
For comparison one language family; the Indo-European family group encompasses: Celtic, Germanic, Greek, Indo-Iranian (Hindi, Punjab…), Italic (including Romance), Slavic… Imagine how different the languages of Africa are…and the cultures, hence, the people in each country.
Geographic diversity ranges vastly within each country. You may be able to find highlands, swamps/marshlands, savannah (prairies), arid regions, deserts, rain forests, deciduous forests….within the same country! Going to safari in the Tanzanian Serengeti does not skim the edge of the “African” experience…it snows in some parts of Africa, and not every (or even many!) countries have Safaris!
So…main point being…“Africa” as one is a very misleading concept… If you hear someone traveled to “Africa” your immediate reaction should be: “Where in Africa?” Since Africa is the second largest continent with more than twice the number of countries in Latin America. Would you say you went to Asia when u really went to Japan? This would mislead the other person to think that you might have been in Israel or Uzbekistan, India or Russia.
You cannot even bet on a Tanzanian knowing much about the cultures of the ethnic group within her/his own country or neighborhood…it is potentially preposterous to assume s/he can tell you about Rwanda? or Kenya?…in much detail.
Africa in multiplicity, complexity, versatility?
….now that sounds more promising.
Possibly Related Posts:
- The Uncomfortable Truth: Nneka
- Opposite Sides of the Border
- Murky
- Dark Spirits
- Wayna & Dinaw: Slums of Paradise