Horn of Africa
62142
223508227
2008-07-04T11:04:21Z
78.145.191.252
{{For|the military operation|Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa}}
[[Image:Africa-countries-horn.png|thumb|200px|Nations of the Horn of Africa.]]
The '''Horn of Africa''' (alternatively '''Northeast Africa''', and sometimes '''Somali Peninsula''') is a [[peninsula]] in [[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]]. The term also refers to the greater region containing the countries of [[Eritrea]], [[Djibouti]], [[Ethiopia]] and [[Somalia]]. As such, it covers approximately 2,000,000 [[square kilometre|km²]] (772,200 [[square mile|sq mi]]) and is inhabited by about 90.2 million people (Ethiopia: 75 million, Somalia: 10 million, Eritrea: 4.5 million, and Djibouti: 0.7 million).
==Geography and climate==
[[Image:horn of africa.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The Horn of Africa as seen from the [[NASA]] [[Space Shuttle]] in May 1993. The orange and tan colors in this image indicate a largely arid to semiarid climate.]]
[[Image:Nasa Horn.JPG|thumb|right|200px|The Horn of Africa. NASA image]]
The Horn of Africa is almost [[:wikt:equidistant|equidistant]] from the [[equator]] and the [[Tropic of Cancer]]. It consists chiefly of mountains uplifted through the formation of the [[Great Rift Valley]], a fissure in the Earth's [[crust (geology)|crust]] extending from [[Turkey]] to [[Mozambique]] and marking the separation of the African and Arabian [[plate tectonics|tectonic plate]]s. Most of the region is mountainous due to faults resulting from the Rift Valley, with the highest peaks in the [[Simien Mountains]] of northwestern Ethiopia. Extensive [[glacier]]s once covered the Simien and [[Bale Mountains]], but melted at the beginning of the [[Holocene]]. The mountains descend in a huge escarpment to the [[Red Sea]] and more steadily to the Indian Ocean. [[Socotra]] is a small island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia. Its size is 3,600 km² (1,390 sq mi) and it is a territory of [[Yemen]], the southernmost country on the [[Arabian peninsula]].
The lowlands of the Horn are generally arid in spite of their proximity to the equator. This is because the winds of the tropical [[monsoon]]s that give seasonal rains to the [[Sahel]] and the [[Sudan (region)|Sudan]] blow from the west. Consequently, they lose their moisture upon reaching Djibouti and Somalia, with the result that most of the Horn receives little rainfall during the monsoon season. On the windward side in the west and center of Ethiopia, and the extreme south of Eritrea, monsoonal rainfall is heavy. In the mountains of Ethiopia, many areas receive over 2,000 [[millimetre|mm]] (78 [[inch|in]]) per year, and even [[Asmara]] receives an average of 570 mm (23 in). This rainfall is the sole source of water for many areas far from Ethiopia, most famously for [[Egypt]], which — in terms of rainfall — is the driest nation on Earth.
In the winter, the northeasterly [[trade winds]] do not provide any moisture except in mountainous areas of northern Somalia, where rainfall in late autumn can produce annual totals as high as 500 mm (20 in). On the eastern coast, a strong [[upwelling]] and the fact that the winds blow ''parallel'' to the coast means annual rainfall can be as low as 51 mm (2 in).
Temperatures on the Red Sea coast are some of the hottest in the world, typically around 41°C (106°F) in July and 32°C (90°F) in January. On the east coast, owing to the upwelling, they are somewhat, cooler but still hot. As elevation increases, temperatures decrease, so that at [[Asmara]], maxima are around 20°C (68°F), though [[frost]]s are frequent on cloudless nights. On the highest peaks of the Simien Mountains, however, temperatures rarely reach 14°C (57°F) and can be as low as –10°C (14°F) on cloudless nights.
==History==
===Ancient history===
The [[Kingdom of Aksum]] (also known as "Axum") was an ancient state located in the north of modern-day Ethiopia and parts of Eritrea that thrived between the [[1st century|1st]] and [[7th century|7th]] centuries. Due to the Horn's strategic location, it has been used to restrict access to the [[Red Sea]] in the past. [[Image:Inhambane-dhow.JPG|thumb|right|Dhow - modern version of traditional trading ship]]
The region was also a source of biological resources during the [[Classical antiquity|Antiquity]]: The [[Ancient Egypt]]ians, [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] and [[Roman Empire|Roman]]s 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'''. It is believed to also contain the fabled Egyptian [[Land of Punt]].
The Horn was also part of a network of ports that extended down the coast of Africa, from the Persian Gulf as part of a larger and ancient commerce route along the greater Indian Ocean rim.
===Modern history===
In recent decades, the Horn of Africa has been 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. Large parts of the Horn of Africa were colonized by [[Italy]]: [[Eritrea]] (1880-1941), the [[Italian Somaliland]] protectorate (1890-1960) and a brief occupation of [[Ethiopia]] (1936-1941). [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] established in North Somalia ([[British Somaliland]]) and France in [[Djibouti]] ([[French Somaliland]]). Yet Ethiopia's history is largely marked by conflicts between [[Muslim]]s and [[Christian]]s for resources and living space, as well as between [[nationalism]] and [[Marxism-Leninism]] in modern times. The rest of the region also faces several concurrent problems: [[Somalia]] is still caught up in a civil war which first began in the late [[1980's]], while Ethiopia and Eritrea regularly clash.
Moreover, the region is regularly stricken by [[natural disaster|natural catastrophe]]s, such as [[drought]]s or [[flood]]s that hit [[rural]] areas particularly hard. As a result, the region has some of the world's highest levels of [[malnutrition]] and is continuously threatened with 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]].
Since 2002 The Horn of Africa has been a major focus of attention by the [[United States]], [[France]], [[Germany]], and eleven African nations regarding the [[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 and for the most part represent a unique cultural and racial bloc on the continent.
Some important ethno-linguistic groups in the Horn of Africa are:
*In Djibouti: the [[Afar (ethnicity)|Afar]] (Danakil) and the [[Somali people|Somali]] (Issa)
*In Eritrea: the [[Bilen people|Bilen]], the [[Afar people|Afar]], the [[Hedareb people|Hedareb]] ([[Beni-Amer]]/[[Beja people|Beja]]), the [[Kunama people|Kunama]] (Baza), the [[Nara people|Nara]] (Nialetic), the [[Saho people|Saho]] (Irob), the [[Rashaida people|Rashaida]], the [[Tigre people|Tigre]], and the [[Tigray-Tigrinya people|Tigrinya]]. The [[Jeberti]]s are [[Muslim]] Tigrinyas who consider themselves as a separate ethnicity, but are not recognized by other sources.
*In Ethiopia: [[Amhara people|Amhara]]s, Afars, [[Agaw]] groups, [[Gurage]]s, [[Hammer people|Hamer]]s, [[Harar]]is (also Hadere or Adere), the Irob (Catholic Sahos), [[Sidama]]s, [[Oromo]]s, Saho, [[Somali people|Somali]], [[Tigray-Tigrinya people|Tigrayans]], as well as many other small groups (see also ethnicities listed at [[Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region]]) .
*In Somalia: the [[Somali people|Somali]]
==Economy==
States of the region depend largely on a few key [[export]]s:
*Ethiopia: [[Coffee]] 80% of total exports.
*Somalia: [[Banana]]s and [[livestock]] over 50% of total exports.
==Ecology==
[[Image:Grevys zebra.jpg|250px|left|thumb|[[Grevy's zebra]] (''Equus grevyi'')]]
The Horn of Africa is a [[Conservation International]] [[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 (ecology)|habitat]] still remains. On Socotra, another great threat is the development of [[infrastructure]].
===Fauna===
About 220 [[mammal]]s are found in the Horn of Africa. Among threatened [[species]] of the region, we find several [[antelope]]s such as the [[Beira (antelope)|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 [[Somalia Gerbil|Somali pygmy gerbil]], the [[ammodile]], and the [[Gundi|Speke’s pectinator]]. The [[Grevy's zebra]] is the unique wild [[Equidae|equid]] of the region.
Some important [[bird]] species of the Horn are the [[Bulo Burti boubou]], the [[Golden-winged Grosbeak|golden-winged grosbeak]], the Warsangli [[linnet]], or the [[Djibouti Francolin]].
The Horn of Africa holds more [[endemic (ecology)|endemic]] [[reptile]]s than any other region in Africa, with over 285 species total (and about 90 species found exclusively in the region). Among endemic reptile genera, there are ''[[Haackgreerius]]'', ''[[Haemodracon]]'', ''Ditypophis'', ''Pachycalamus'' and ''Aeluroglena''. Half of these genera are uniquely found on Socotra. Unlike reptiles, [[amphibian]]s 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 plant]]s are found in the Horn, about half of which are endemic. Endemism is most developed in [[Socotra]] and Northern Somalia. The region has two endemic plant [[family (biology)|families]]: the [[Barbeyaceae]] and the [[Dirachmaceae]]. Among the other remarkable species, there are the cucumber tree found only on Socotra (''Dendrosicyos socotrana''), the Bankoualé palm, the [[Cordeauxia edulis|yeheb nut]], and the Somali [[cyclamen]].
==See also==
*[[Aksumite Empire]]
*[[Adal Sultanate]]
*[[Land of Punt]]
*[[History of Djibouti]]
*[[History of Eritrea]]
*[[History of Ethiopia]]
*[[History of Somalia]]
*[[Conflicts in the Horn of Africa]]
==External links==
*[http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/33/index.html History of the Horn of Africa]
*[http://www.hananews.org/ Horn of Africa News Agency]
*[http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/at/at0715_full.html WWF- Somali Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets]
*[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/horn_africa/ Horn of Africa Biodiversity Hotspot]
*[http://www.awdconservancy.org/ African Wild Dog Conservancy's Biodiversity Hotspots Page]
*[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/dj.html CIA World Factbook: Djibouti]
*[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/er.html CIA World Factbook: Eritrea]
*[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html CIA World Factbook: Ethiopia]
*[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/so.html CIA World Factbook: Somalia]
*[http://www.unicef.org/childalert/hornofafrica/ A 'Child Alert' issued by UNICEF for the Horn of Africa]
*[http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-4-2005-74197.asp Yemen Horn of Africa Link]
*[http://www.hoa.centcom.mil Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa Official Website]
*[http://www.cfr.org/publication/13389/ CFR.org Interactive Map: Horn of Africa]
{{Regions of the world}}
[[Category:Regions of Africa]]
[[Category:Peninsulas of Africa]]
[[Category:Biodiversity hotspots]]
[[Category:East Africa]]
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