The history of African people has to be written by themselves if the truth is to be told - Marcus Garvey (1950).

The study of the East African history starts from the year 1000 AD not because there was no history before that period but it is because the well-recorded history starts from the year 1000 onwards. In fact most of the history is concentrated on what the Europeans did in Africa. They researched and wrote down what they did to the extent that it is more of a White man’s story.

The history of the three East African countries is quite related in a way that whatever event took place in one country affected the other in a special way. Another way of correlation is in terms of the peopling of East Africa.

The Bantu people are well distributed throughout region covering the central Western, coastal and Eastern parts of East Africa.

The Luo speaking societies also cover Northern and Eastern Uganda, the Nyanza region of Kenya as well as Tanzania. The people of East Africa also have their social and cultural practices which are undoubtedly done for purely scientific reasons much as European missionaries have condemned some of those practices as entirely satanic. There is a tradition of circumcision among the Kalengin, Turkana, Bagisu, Masai, Baluya, Babukusu, Bakonjo among other tribes in the region.

Kenya and Uganda were British colonies whereas Tanzania was formerly German colony but later became a UN mandate under British care up to the time of independence in 1961.

Geographical background

The original East Africa is composed of three countries; Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, (which includes the islands of Pemba and Zanzibar).

The three East African states cover a total area of 1,705,616 sq. km. Tanzania is the largest with a total area of 883,749 sq. km (341,217 square miles). Kenya is the second largest with an area of 589367 sq. km (224,081 sq. ms) and Uganda is the smallest. It has a total area of241,500 sq. km.

East Africa is situated between longitudes 30º and 41º East of the prime meridian and lies between 4º 30’ N and 11º S of the equator. This means that much of East Africa lies on the Southern Hemisphere.

The region is bordered by Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and two small countries of Burundi and Rwanda in the west, the Indian Ocean on the East, Sudan and Ethiopia in the North and Somalia on the North East.

To the south it borders Zambia and Mozambique.

The physical environment is in such a way that most of the places are lying at the altitude between 300 and 3000 metres above sea level. The coastline of East Africa is a long one covering a distance of about 3000 km applying to Tanzania and Kenya.

Uganda is the only landlocked country in the region. These coastal areas developed long ago as serious trading centres and they are now the most populated areas with developed trading activities.

East Africa is made of volcanic and non-volcanic mountains, most of which being the highest in Africa. Such highlands include: Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kenya, Mt. Rwenzori, Mt. Meru, Elgon and Longonot among others. The rift valley of East Africa is the most impressive feature of all. Its Eastern arm stretches from Lake Turkana to L. Malawi in the south while the Western arm stretches from southern Tanzania to Lake Albert. There are a variety of lakes in the region. The climate of the area is varied. Most of Tanzania is always dry. Lake Victoria and the highlands have more rainfall and they are highly populated.

Population and ethnic groups

For historians to understand the peopling of East Africa, they need first of all to know the geographical positions of most ethnic groups that make up East Africa. The map below shows the boundaries of the countries and the different ethnic groups that this book has dealt with to a great extent. The region has a population of about 90 million people with a low average population density.

Almost 70% of the population live in rural areas. About one-fourth live in urban areas. Over 96 percent of the East African population is made up of black Africans. Most of the rest of the population are people descended from Arabs, Europeans, and Asians from India and Pakistan.

The Africans belong to about 262 tribes or ethnic groups. Uganda has 56, Kenya 80 and Tanzania 126. Those tribes exist under more than four main ethnic groups; the most numerous group is the Bantu who are mainly cultivators. The second group is that of the Luo who are believed to have migrated from southern Sudan. They are mostly in Uganda and Kenya. The Nile Hamites form the third group. This group is of pure nomads who solely depend on their animals for their livelihood. But the Iteso, Nandi and Kipsigis cultivate crops as well. The fourth group is of the Hamites of Northern Kenya including tribes like Galla, Boran and the Somalis.

Kenya -- Ethnic Groups

There are over 70 distinct ethnic groups in Kenya, ranging in size from about seven million Kikuyu to about 500 El Molo who live on the shore of Lake Turkana. Kenya's ethnic groups can be divided into three broad linguistic groupsBantu, Nilotic and Cushite. While no ethnic group constitutes a majority of Kenya's citizens, the largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, makes up only 20% of the nation's total population. The five largest - Kikuyu, Luo, Luhya, Kamba and Kalenjin- account for 70%. 97.58% of Kenya's citizens are affiliated with its 32 major indigenous groups. Of these, the Kikuyu, who were most actively involved in the independence and Mau Mau movements, are disproportionately represented in public life, government, business and the professions. The Luo people are mainly traders and artisans. The Kamba are well represented in defense and law enforcement. The Kalenjin are mainly farmers. While a recognized asset, Kenya's ethnic diversity has also led to disputes. Interethnic rivalries and resentment over Kikuyu dominance in politics and commerce have hindered national integration.

The principal non-indigenous ethnic minorities are the Arabs and Asians. Almost all the Kenyan Arabs live in Coast Province, more than half of them in Mombasa. Over 99% of the Arab residents have Kenyan citizenship, speak Swahili rather than Arabic, and generally see themselves as Africans. Non-Kenyan Arabs, mainly petty traders from Yemen, are called Shihiri.

Source: Kurian, George Thomas 1992. Encyclopedia of the Third World, fourth edition, volume III, Facts on File: New York, N.Y., p. 970.