Talk:Horn of Africa
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Horn of Africa was the collaboration of the week for the week starting on August 7, 2005.
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[edit] Map
Since this article is the COTW, is the map I made correct? Should only be those four countries be highlighted, or also the others on the list? Or perhaps the others on the list light-green, like Image:Africa-countries-eastern.png? — Asbestos | Talk (RFC) 23:42, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
The topmost map on the right side of the page has what appears to be two countries highlighted in green. The caption says "Nations of the Horn of Africa". So may I ask why these nations are nowhere named? I think many people are as uninformed as I am, and like me would have to look up which countries these are. (Apparently they are Ethiopia and Somalia.)71.224.204.167 16:30, 23 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Race/ethnicity
The following sentence caught my eye:
- Excepted in Sudan, most people of Horn are not Black Africans. They ressemble Mediterranean Europeans, but with darker complexions.
I doubt it was the editor's intention but this comes off as sounding like "they're not really black." In various conversations I've heard this bandied about as though it were a positive attribute. Again, perhaps not the writer's intention. Moreover I'm not sure about the statement's accuracy as there are, for example, plenty of Ethiopians who don't have Mediterranean features at all (though granted, that isn't the same as "most people of the Horn.") -- Gyrofrog (talk) 21:10, 17 August 2005 (UTC)
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- Now that I've re-read this more carefully it makes even less sense to me. "Mediterranean Europeans?" Greeks? Catalonians? Sicilians? So they don't look like "Black Africans," but do Sudanese (for example) look like Ghanaians? Or Wodaabe? For that matter do all Sudanese look similar? I'm prepeared to dispense with the sentence in question, but thought I'd wait for other comments.-- Gyrofrog (talk) 21:55, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
[edit] The Horn: Sudan & Kenya?
Just want to double check something: Are Kenya and Sudan really considered part of the Horn? They are included in East Africa, but I don't see how they lie within the Horn. (For that matter, it's hard to say that Ethiopia, in its entirety, is physically part of the Horn.) Unless "Horn of Africa" is used as a synonym for "East Africa." -- Gyrofrog (talk) 21:50, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
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- Good point.
- Perhaps I have taken on a Somali cultural viewpoint which believes their 'real' traditional lands were broken up into 5 regions by Europeans. This would include the former Northern Frontier District of Kenya and might even include parts of Sudan. I was often told of the special relationship Somalis had with the "Sudan". I can see how my thoughts strongly link the concept of "the Horn" with the Somali culture. However I am not responsible for adding these two countries to text. :)Amazing what I learn about myself with the help of others.
- I recently edited some copy that excluded the mountains (I was thinking of Ethiopia) from "the Horn" and was corrected. Recognizing the above bias, if I took a ruler and drew a line from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean it would only include a little bit of Ethiopa, and no Kenya nor Sudan. Looks like more research is needed. I found http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-HornAfrca.html which seems to indicate two definations, both loose.
- What are some early references to the "Horn" and when? Was it the traders from the Persian Gulf or was it some European? --Rcollman 18:21, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
