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Human Geography
By James Rubenstein
Chapter 7Key Issue 3
Why Do Ethnicities Clash?
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Ethnic Competition to Dominate Nationality
The Horn of Africa and central Africa are the two
areas where conflicts among ethnic groups have been particularly complex
and brutal.
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Ethnic Competition in the Horn of AfricaThe Horn of Africa encompasses
the countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia.
Especially severe problems have been found in Ethiopia,
Eritrea, and Somalia, as well as the neighboring country of
Sudan.
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The Horn
of Africa
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Ethiopia and Eritrea
Eritrea, located along the Red Sea, became an Italian colony in 1890.
Ethiopia, an independent country for more than 2,000 years, was captured by Italy during the 1930s.
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Ethiopia and Eritrea
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Ethiopia and Eritrea
After World War II, Ethiopia regained its independence.
The United Nations awarded Eritrea to Ethiopia.
The Eritreans rebelled, beginning a 30-year fight for independence (1961-1991).
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Ethiopia and Eritrea
In 1991 Eritrean rebels defeated the Ethiopian army.
In 1993 Eritrea became an independent state.
Eritrea has nine major ethnic groups.
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SudanA civil war has raged since
the 1980s between two ethnicities,
- In the south; the black Christian and animist.
- In the north; the Arab Muslim-dominated government.
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Sudan
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SudanThe black southerners have been resisting government
attempts to convert the country from a multi-ethnic society to one nationality
tied to Muslim traditions.
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Somalia On the surface, Somalia should face fewer ethnic divisions than its neighbors in the Horn of Africa.
Somalis are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslims and speak Somali.
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Somalia
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With the collapse of a national government in Somalia, various clans and sub-clans claimed
control over portions of the country.
Somalia
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In 1992, after an estimated 300,000 people died from famine and from warfare
between clans, the United States sent troops to
Somalia to protect delivery of food and to reduce the number of weapons in the hands of the clan armies.
Somalia
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Blackhawk Down18 U.S. Army Rangers were killed when Somali militias
shot down two military helicopters in October 1993.
The United States suspects the Somalis were trained by al Qaeda, and the event was dramatized in the movie
'Black Hawk Down.'
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After peace talks among the clans collapsed in 1994,
U.S. troops withdrew.
Somalia
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Ethnic Competition in Lebanon
Lebanon has been severely damaged by fighting among religious factions since the 1970s.
No census has been taken in Lebanon since 1932.
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Ethnic Competition in Lebanon
Current estimate is about 60% Muslim, 30% Christian, and 10% other.
About 7% of the population is Druze (a religion combines elements of Islam and Christianity).
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LebanonWhen Lebanon became independent in 1943, the constitution required that
each religion be represented in the Chamber of Deputies
according to its % in the 1932 census.
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LebanonBy unwritten convention, the
president of Lebanon was a Maronite Christian, the premier a Sunni Muslim,
the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies a Shiite Muslim, and the foreign minister a Greek Orthodox Christian.
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When the governmental system was created, Christians constituted a majority and controlled the country's main businesses.
As the Muslims became the majority, they demanded political and economic equality.
Lebanon
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Lebanon’s distributi
on of religion
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A civil war broke out in 1975, and each religious group formed a private army or militia to guard its territory.
Syria, Israel, and the United States sent troops into Lebanon at various points to try to restore peace.
Lebanon
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In 1983, 241 U.S. marines died when a truck bomb blew up their barracks resulting in U.S. withdrawal.
After several years of occupation, Syria finally withdrew its troops in April 2005 as a result of massive demonstrations.
Lebanon
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Dividing Ethnicities among More Than One
StateNewly independent countries were often
created to separate two ethnicities.
However, two ethnicities can rarely be segregated
completely.
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South Asia
The British ended their colonial rule of the Indian
subcontinent in 1947.
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Dividing Ethnicities in South Asia
Antagonism between Hindus and Muslims was so great that the British decided to place the them in separate
states.Pakistan for the Muslims
India for the Hindus
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Forced MigrationThe partition of South Asia into two states resulted in
massive migration, because the two boundaries did not correspond precisely to the territory inhabited by the
two ethnicities.
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Forced Migratio
n in South Asia
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Extremists Attacks
Hindus in Pakistan and Muslims in India were killed
attempting to reach the other side of the new border
by people from the rival religion.
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KashmirSince 1972 the Pakistan and
India have maintained a "line of control" through the region.
Muslims, who comprise a majority in both portions, have fought a guerrilla war to secure reunification of Kashmir, either
as part of Pakistan or as an independent country.
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Kashmir
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SikhsIndia's religious unrest is further complicated by the
majority presence of 19 million Sikhs in Punjab, who have long resented that they
were not given their own independent country when
India was partitioned.
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Sikh Family
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Dividing Sri Lanka Among Ethnicities
Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), an island country of 20
million inhabitants off the Indian coast, has been torn
by fighting between the Buddhist Sinhalese and the
Hindu Tamils.
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Sri Lanka
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SinhaleseComprise 74% of Sri Lanka's
population,migrated from northern India in the 5th century
B.C.,occupying the southern
portion of the island.
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Tamils18% of Sri Lanka's
population-migrated across the narrow
50-mile-wide Palk Strait from India beginning in the
3rd century B.C.and occupied the northern
part of the island.
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Ethnic Dispute in Sri Lanka
The dispute between Sri Lanka's two ethnicities extends back more than
2,000 years but was suppressed during 300
years of European control. Since independence in 1948,
Sinhalese have dominated.