History and Culture of Southern Africa

As long as 2000 years ago, the African people were hunter gatherers who were divided into many ethnic groups. These people, called Khoisan, were intruded upon by the Bantu people migrating from West and Central Africa. This mix combined cultures, something that would happen more with the European invasion of Africa. One race, the Shanu, constructed a magnificent stone walled city called New Zimbabwe. As the population grew, Great Zimbabwe became a trading center and capitol of known South Africa. It’s trade routes were said to encompass the Indian Ocean trade network. In fact, it was the wealth obtained through trade that made the Europeans invade Africa. Countries like Germany, Netherlands and the French created small colonies, and yet again the cultures were intermingled. This resulted in a new language called Afrikaans which influenced language development. Violent countries like the British established claim and made war over land owned by tribes, one of which were the Zulu. By the 1900’s, the Afrikaners, descendants of Western colonists, controlled the government. They established racist policies called apartheid which divided people into four racial subgroups. These groups were allocated better or worse resources depending on race. However, the Africans struggling to throw off racism caused by the Europeans achieved freedom in 1980. They put back together their culture, which combined Christianity, many languages created by Afrikaneers, and holidays and festivals from many diffrent ethnicities.