east africa history

Influences on East Africa included Christianity and Islam, the slave trade, the arrival of Europeans, ethnic conflict and independence.

Islam was the major religion in Egypt and Northern Africa by 700 AD. Missionaries from Egypt brought Christianity to Ethiopia. The Christian emperor, Lalibela, ruled Ethiopia in the early 1200's and built churches.

African were kidnapped, enslaved and ships by other Africans, Arabs and Europeans. Zanzibar island off east Africa became a hub of slave-trading.

By 1800's European countries had divided up most of Africa because instead of slaves they were focused on trade of goods ( gold, ivory, rubber) . Imperialism (a practice that tries to dominate other countries' government, trade, and culture) has had a large impact on east Africa. The European nations were the main users of imperialism in Africa. They forced both their language and their religion on the Africans. As a result of this, many countries' most common language and main religion are similar to the European power that controlled that area.