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[edit] October 2006
The Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean. The area of its basin is 1,570,000 km² (606,000 miles²), slightly less than half that of the Nile. The 2,574 km (1,600 mile) long river has its source in Zambia and flows through Angola, along the border of Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, to Mozambique, where it empties into the Indian Ocean. The Zambezi's most spectacular feature is Victoria Falls, the world's largest waterfalls. Other notable falls include the Chavuma Falls at the border between Zambia and Angola, and Ngonye Falls, near Sioma in Western Zambia. Over its entire course, the Zambezi is spanned by only five bridges: at Chinyingi, Katima Mulilo, Victoria Falls, Chirundu and Tete. There are two main sources of hydroelectric power on the river. These are the Kariba Dam, which provides power to Zambia and Zimbabwe and the Cabora-Bassa Dam in Mozambique which provides power to South Africa. There is also a smaller power station at Victoria Falls.
[edit] May 18, 2006
The Gbe languages (pronounced [g͡be]) form a cluster of about twenty related languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria. The total number of speakers of Gbe languages is between four and eight million. The most widely spoken Gbe language is Ewe (3 million speakers in Ghana and Togo), followed by Fon (1.7 million, mainly in Benin). The Gbe languages belong to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo languages, and break up into five major dialect clusters: Ewe, Fon, Aja, Gen, and Phla-Pherá. Most of the Gbe peoples have come from the east to their present dwelling-places in several migrations between the tenth and the fifteenth century. Some of the Phla-Pherá peoples however are thought to be the original inhabitants of the area who have intermingled with the Gbe immigrants, and the Gen people probably are immigrants from the north of Ga or Fante origin. In the late eighteenth century, many speakers of Gbe were enslaved and transported to the New World, causing Gbe languages to play a role in the genesis of several Caribbean creole languages. Around 1840, German missionaries started linguistic research into the Gbe languages. In the first half of the twentieth century, the Africanist Diedrich Hermann Westermann was one of the most prolific contributors to the study of Gbe. The first internal classification of the Gbe languages was published in 1988 by H.B. Capo, followed by a comparative phonology in 1991. The Gbe languages are tonal, isolating languages and the basic word order is Subject Verb Object. (more)
[edit] March 20, 2006
The music of Nigeria includes many kinds of folk and popular music, some of which are known worldwide. Styles of folk music are related to the multitudes of ethnic groups in the country, each with their own techniques, instruments and songs. Little is known about the country's music history prior to European contact, although bronze carvings dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries have been found depicting musicians and their instruments. Nigeria has been called "the heart of African music" because of its role in the development of West African highlife and palm-wine music, which fuses native rhythms with techniques imported from the Congo, Brazil, Cuba and elsewhere. Highlife was an important foundation for the development of several popular styles that were unique to Nigeria, like apala, fuji, jùjú and Yo-pop. (more...)
[edit] January 2006
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has been the President of Uganda since 1986. Museveni was involved in the war that toppled Idi Amin's (1971–79) rule and the rebellion that subsequently led to the demise of Milton Obote's (1980–85) regime.
Museveni was lauded by the West as part of a new generation of African leaders. His presidency has been marred, however, by involvement in civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other Great Lakes region conflicts.
[edit] August 2005
The current design of the National Flag of the Republic of South Africa was adopted on 27 April 1994, the end of apartheid having prompted the widespread conviction that replacing the former national flag was imperative due to its racist connotations to many South Africans.
A heraldic description of the flag would be something like "per pall fesswise gules, sable and azure, a fesswise pall vert fimbriated argent, Or and argent".
[edit] June 2005
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), formed in 1987, is a rebel paramilitary group operating mainly in northern Uganda. As of May 2005, the group is engaged in an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government in what is now one of Africa's longest-running conflicts. It is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself a spirit medium and apparently wishes to establish a state based on his unique interpretation of Biblical millenarianism. The LRA have been accused of widespread human rights violations, including the abduction of civilians, the use of child soldiers and a number of massacres.
[edit] May 2005
The history of Cape Colony from 1806 to 1870 spans the period of the history of Cape Colony during the Kaffir Wars which lasted from 1811 to 1858. The Kaffir Wars were fought between the European colonists and the native Africans who rebelled against continuing European rule. The Cape Colony was the first European colony in South Africa, which was initially controlled by the Dutch but subsequently invaded and taken over by the British. After war broke out again, a British force was sent once more to the Cape. After a battle in January 1806 on the shores of Table Bay, the Dutch garrison of Cape Castle surrendered to the British under Sir David Baird, and in 1814 the colony was ceded outright by the Netherlands to the British crown. At that time the colony extended to the mountains in front of the vast central plateau, then called "Bushmansland", and had an area of about 194,000 square kilometres and a population of some 60,000, of whom 27,000 were white, 17,000 free Khoikhoi (Hottentots), and the rest slaves. These slaves were mostly imported black people and Malays.
