Author: johansen

Government

Central Africa

•African peoples begun state formation by about 1000 C.E., replacing pattern of kinship-based societies with forms of political authority based on kinship
•by 15th century, centralized state ruled from Great Zimbabwe had a begun to form-under a king who was known as Mwene Mutapa
•In Katanga, a bureaucracy grew to administer the state, it was hereditary, so that brothers or male children succeeded to the position
•As late as the 19th century, a smaller kingdom of Mwene Mutapa survived in interior and provided leadership against European encroachment, but pastoralism had played a central role in the lives of the Shona people who descended from the great tradition

By: Betsy Campos
Cervando Acosta
Mary Marquez
Jessica Briseno
Jennifer Campos

Central African Kingdoms

Geography

Central Africa – consist of a portion of the African continent south of the Sahara Desert, east of Western Africa , and west of the Great Rift Valley. It takes up a lot of the area by the Equator and is drained largely by the Congo River system
Natural resources:
Diamonds uranium
Timber
Gold
Oil

Congo river - A place of incredible beauty and power It is the largest river in western central Africa, second largest in Africa, and most powerful in the continent! The river flows through the second- largest rainforest in the world

Cultural Arts: The central African Kingdoms had many cultural arts for Example:
The Yoruba people had sculpture using terra cotta clay from the 12th to 14th centuries and later bronze sculptures, and they had Pottery making which were used to make pots for cooking eating and storage some where specially made in honor of their deities.
The people of Benin also had bronze working which started in about 1280 C.E. But were mostly busts of human beings and it was called lost wax bronzing.
The great Zimbabwe also had sculptures but they used stone for it one of their famous art works was the soap stone birds found
The Kongo people had nkisi objects, which came in all shapes, mediums, and sizes.
The People:
•Ethnic groups : Central Africa had over 7 ethnic groups .
•Religion:In the 15th century
Interactions with Mediterranean world of Islam, until the 19th century.
-Relations with Atlantic introduced CA to Christianity.
-Belgian Catholics established a Catholic university which was opened to whites colonist and Africans.
Congo: Animist, Catholic
Burundi: Catholic, Animist, Protestant
Central Africa Republic: Muslim, Animist, Protestant
Cameroon: Animist, Muslim, Catholic
Rwanda: Catholic, Protestant, Animist
Education Issue Statistic : Durations of Compulsory education (most recent) by country
highest -13 years, lowest-3 years
CA Republic-6 years
Cameroon- 6 years
Chad- 6years
Rwanda- 6 years
Benin- 6 years
Zimbabwe- 7 years
•Social Indicators:
Central Africa’s language derived from Bantu Group with the Niger-Congo language family.
Food: Starches, Cassava, plantains, yams are staples usually served with sauces, soups, and stews. Peanuts are a common ingredient especially for sauces and desserts.
Economy:
The economy for Central African kingdoms was one of the most needed. you will get trade with near by areas and even areas from far away. trading goods go from gold to luxury items like silk and jewels. this is good for the elite classes which get most of these items but it also benefits the merchants who sell these items and for sailors who get to transport our goods to places like lower India and Persia and well as Arabian cities. the economy also included trade with near by cities through the rivers that were near the many cities. the economy is mainly set around trade but it helps to bring new traditions from different places and new religions to add to the ones in Central Africa.