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East Africa usually refers to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, but depending on geography or geopolitics, may also include:

• The islands of the Comoros
• The islands of the Seychelles
• Burundi and Rwanda (most often considered part of Central Africa)
• Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia (most often considered The Horn of Africa or North East Africa)
• Mozambique, Malawi and Madagascar (usually considered part of Southern Africa)
• Sudan (usually considered North East Africa, and sometimes North Africa)
• The island nation of Mauritius
• The French overseas department the island of Reunion

The East African Community (EAC), an intergovernmental organisation and trading bloc, consists of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Contents 1 Geography 2 History 2.1 Imperialism Period 3 Politics 4 See also

Geography

Some parts of East Africa have been renowned for their concentrations of wild animals, such as the "big five" of elephant, giraffe, lion, zebra and rhinoceros, though populations have been declining under increased stress in recent times, particularly the rhino and elephant.

The geography of East Africa is often stunning and scenic. Shaped by global forces that have created the Great Rift Valley, East Africa is the site of Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, the two tallest peaks in Africa.

The unique geography and apparent suitability for farming made East Africa a target for European exploration and exploitation in the nineteenth century. Today, tourism is an important part of the economies of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

History

Imperialism Period

East Africa during the 19th and early 20th century became a theatre of competition between the major imperialistic European nations of the time. During the period of the Scramble for Africa almost every country comprising the nowadays East Africa region became part of a European colonial empire.

Portugal had first among other European nations layed a strong presence in southern Mozambique, while during this period their possessions increasingly grew including parts from the present northern Mozambique country. At Lake Malawi they finally met the recently created British Protectorate of Nyasaland (nowadays Malawi) which surrounded the homonymous lake leaving the Portugese the control of lake's eastern coast.

The British Empire set foot to the region's most exploitable and promising lands acquiring what is today Uganda, and Kenya. These Protectorates were located in a rich farmaland area mostly appropriate for the cultivation of cash crops like coffee and tea as well as for animal raising with products produced from cattle and goats such as goat meat, beef and milk. Moreover this area had the potential for a significant residential expansion being suitable for the relocation of a large number of British nationals to the region. Prevailing climatic conditions and the regions' geomorphology allowed the establishment of flourishing European style settlements like Nairobi and Entebbe.

The French settled the biggest island of the Indian ocean (and the 4th globally), Madagascar along with a group of smaller islands nearby, namely Reunion and the Comoros. Madagascar until then under British control, was ceded to the French empire, in exchange for the island of Zanzibar an important hub of spices trade, off the coast of Tanganyika. The British as well held a number of island colonies in the region. The Seychelles an extended archipelago and the rich farmland island of Mauritius, previously under the French sovereignty, were as such.

The German empire gained control of a large area named German East Africa, comprised from what is today Rwanda, Burundi and the mainland part of Tanzania named Tanganyika. In 1922 the British gained a League of Nations mandate over Tanganyika and after they joined it with their island possession of Zanzibar they formed Tanzania. German East Africa although very extended was not of such strategic importance as the British Crown's colonies of the north as the inhabitation of these lands was difficult and thus limited , mainly due to climatic conditions and the local geomorphology.

Part of Somalia (about the 3/4 of the south Somalia) became an Italian protectorate while a narrow coastal strip at the northern Somalia remained under the British control. This northern coast was just opposite the British colony of Aden, and together they served as the gatekeeping area of the road leading to the British Raj. The French also had their own fort on their way to Indochina, the small protectorate of Djibouti, named French Somaliland. By then the Orthodox empire of Ethiopia stood independent, but later after the Italians bought a small port town (Assab) from a local sultan in Eritrea (an Italian colony by 1882), their fate was sealed, they became an Italian colony by 1936.

Politics

Until recently most governments were illiberal and corrupt, and several countries were riven with political coups and ethnic violence. Since the end of colonialism, the region has endured:

• Ethiopian Civil War (Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front against the Derg)
• Ogaden War
• Second Sudanese Civil War
• Somali Civil War
• Burundi Civil War
• Lord's Resistance Army insurgency in Uganda
• 1998 American embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam
• Eritrean-Ethiopian War

Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda have enjoyed relatively stable government. The Awdal region of Somalia too has seen relative prosperity.

See also

• Horn of Africa
• British East Africa
• EASSY

Regions of the World
Africa:	Central Africa | East Africa | Great Lakes | Guinea | Horn of Africa | North Africa | Maghreb | Northwest Africa | Sahel | Southern Africa | Sub-Saharan Africa | Sudan | West Africa
Americas:	Andean states | Caribbean | Central America | Great Lakes | Great Plains | Guianas | Latin America | North America | Northern America | Patagonia | South America | Southern Cone
Eurasia:	Anatolia | Arabia | Asia | Balkans | Baltic region | Benelux | British Isles | Caucasus | Central Asia | Central Europe | East Asia | Eastern Europe | East Indies | Europe | Far East | Indian subcontinent | Levant | Mediterranean | Middle East | Near East | North Asia | Northern Europe | Post-Soviet states | Scandinavia | Southeast Asia | Southern Europe | Southwest Asia | Western Europe
Oceania:	Australasia | Melanesia | Micronesia | Polynesia | Pacific Rim
Polar:	Arctic | Antarctic

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