East Africa

East Africa (Region)

East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa is the eastern sub-region of the African continent The two main regions of Eastern Africa, the Horn of Africa and East Africa both have a long history with Arabia and the Middle Eastern lands. The borders of many states were arbitrarily determined by the colonial powers without taking cultural or peoples' boundaries into account.

Colonial history

The present-day states of Tanzania (mainland without Zanzibar), Rwanda and Burundi as well as a small part of Mozambique (Kionga triangle) formed the former colony of German East Africa. Kenya was referred to as British East Africa, which became a settler colony; Mozambique as Portuguese East Africa. Between 1885 and 1890. Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia were combined to form Italian East Africa 1936–1941, with Ethiopia only being occupied and not all parts being brought under Italian control.

The region was regarded as particularly important by the British empire.

Conflicts

Since the end of colonialism, several East African countries were riven with military coups, ethnic violence and oppressive dictators. The region has endured the following post-colonial conflicts:

Northern East Africa (Horn of Africa)

• Ethiopian Civil War 1974–1991
• Eritrean War of Independence 1961–1991
• Eritrean-Ethiopian War 1998–2000
• Ogaden War 1977–1978
• Dijboutian Civil War 1991–1994
• Somali Civil War 1991–2009

South Sudan

• Second Sudanese Civil War 1983–2005
• Internal Political-ethnic Conflict 2011–ongoing
• South Sudanese Civil War 2013–2015

Southern East Africa (Southeast Africa)

• Burundi Civil War 1993–2005 and the Genocide of Hutus in 1972 and genocide of Tutsis in 1993
• Uganda-Tanzania War 1978–1979
• Ugandan Bush War 1981–1986
• Lord's Resistance Army insurgency in Uganda, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo ongoing
• Rwandan Civil War 1990–1993 and the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi
• Zanzibar Revolution 1964

Outside Southeast Africa with Southeast African participation

• First Congo War 1996–1997 and Second Congo War 1998–2003
• Kivu Conflict (Laurent Nkunda Rebellion)

Kenya has enjoyed relatively stable governance. However, politics have been turbulent at times, including the attempted coup d'état in 1982 and the 2007 election riots.

Tanzania has known stable government since independence although there are significant political and religious tensions resulting from the political union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964. Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous state in the United Republic of Tanzania.

Tanzania and Uganda fought the Uganda-Tanzania War in 1978–1979, which led to the removal of Uganda's despotic leader Idi Amin.

Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi have each faced instability and ethnic conflict since independence, most notably the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the 1993 Burundi Genocide and subsequent Burundi Civil War. Rwanda and Uganda continue to be involved in related conflicts outside the region.

Djibouti, as well as the Puntland and Somaliland regions of Somalia, have also seen relative stability.

South Sudan peacefully seceded from Sudan in 2011, six and a half years after a peace agreement ended the Second Sudanese Civil War. South Sudanese independence was nearly derailed by the South Kordofan conflict, particularly a dispute over the status of the Abyei Area, and both Abyei and South Kordofan's Nuba Hills remained a source of tension between Juba and Khartoum.

 

Nation state

Nation state	Description
Malawi	Former UK colony in East Africa

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