The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of eight countries in East Africa. The member states are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania. Salva Kiir Mayardit, the president of South Sudan, is the current EAC chairman. The organisation was founded in 1967, collapsed in 1977, and was revived on 7th July 2000. The main objective of the EAC was to foster regional economic integration.
From left to right: President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, and President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania during the eighth EAC summit in Arusha, November 2006.
EAC heads in 2009. From left to right: Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Mwai Kibaki (Kenya), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzania), Pierre Nkurunziza (Burundi).
Rwandan President Paul Kagame at the 2006 EAC summit. Rwanda joined the EAC on 1 July 2007.
Image: Kinshasa Gombe, from CCIC
East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the African continent, distinguished by its geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the region is recognized in the United Nations Statistics Division scheme as encompassing 18 sovereign states and 4 territories.
Image of the region between Lake Victoria (on the right) and Lakes Edward, Kivu and Tanganyika (from north to south) showing dense vegetation (bright green) and fires (red).