Central Africa: Sociocultural Aspects

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Most authors define Central Africa as the vast area comprising speakers of the different western branches of Bantu. The great diversity of western Bantu populations and traditions has gradually extended, beginning 5000 years ago, from southern Cameroon, into Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, People's Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola. Side by side with Ubangi and Nilotic speakers, they have moreover spread across the Central African Republic, South Sudan, western Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, to eastern Congo, Tanzania, and northwestern Zambia. Whereas the eastern Bantu have specialized in grain growing, the western Bantu adopted cassava and yams for staple foods. The region has been the scene of complex interactions between the local and outer worlds.

ISBN:9780080970875

Publication year:2015