The History of East Africa

East Africa was colonized and ruled over by many different people. There were the British, the French, and Arabic's just in East Africa alone. Other parts of Africa were controlled by many more countries. Christian missionaries from Egypt were in East Africa by as early as 300 AD It soon spread to other countries too. By 700 AD, Islam was a major religion in North Africa. It soon spread to countries like Sudan and Somalia, in East Africa, which are now majorly Muslim. The slave trade in East Africa dates back to more than 1,000 years ago. By the 1700's, places in East Africa, like Zanzibar, became international slave trading centers. In the 1800's, most European countries ended slavery, but as a result, they decided it was better to dominate Africa itself. By the 1880's, most of Africa was divided by the European nations. Some places like Ethiopia were never colonized because of the high mountains that surround it on all sides.

By the 1960's, most African countries were free, but the culture that the Europeans had left still remained in those countries. For example, even though the french left, it is still the major language of Rwanda, Burundi, and Djibouti. English is the major language of Uganda, and most of Sudan speaks Arabic. The original languages of the natives are still spoken in some places, though. People on Somalia still speak Somali and people in Ethiopia still speak Amharic. This shows that when the Europeans left, what they did to colonize the nations of East Africa still remained.