Sunshine duration
Sunshine duration or sunshine hours is a climatological indicator, measuring duration of sunshine in given period for a given location on Earth expressed as an averaged value over several years. It is a general indicator of cloudiness of a location, thus differs from insolation, which measures the total energy delivered by sunlight over a given period. Sunshine duration is expressed in hours per year, or in hours per day; the first measure indicates the general sunniness of a location compared with other places, while the latter allows for comparison of sunshine in various seasons in the same location. Another often-used measure is percentage ratio of recorded bright sunshine duration and daylight duration in the observed period. An important use of sunshine duration data is to characterize the climate of sites of health resorts; this takes into account the psychological effect of strong solar light on human well-being. It is used to promote tourist destinations. If the Sun were to be above the horizon 50% of the time for a standard year consisting of 8,760 hours, apparent maximal daytime duration would be 4,380 hours for any point on Earth.
However, there are physical and astronomical effects. Namely, atmospheric refraction allows the Sun to be still visible when it physically sets below the horizon. For that reason, average daytime is longest in polar areas, where the apparent Sun spends the most time around the horizon. Places on the Arctic Circle have the longest total annual daytime, 4,647 hours, while the North Pole receives 4,575; because of elliptic nature of the Earth's orbit, the Southern Hemisphere is not symmetrical: the Antarctic Circle, with 4,530 hours of daylight, receives five days less of sunshine than its antipodes. The Equator has a total daytime of 4,422 hours per year. Given the theoretical maximum of daytime duration for a given location, there is a practical consideration at which point the amount of daylight is sufficient to be treated as a "sunshine hour". "Bright" sunshine hours represent the total hours when the sunlight is stronger than a specified threshold, as opposed to just "visible" hours. "Visible" sunshine, for example, occurs around sunrise and sunset, but is not strong enough to excite the sensor.
Measurement is performed by instruments called sunshine recorders. For the specific purpose of sunshine duration recording, Campbell–Stokes recorders are used, which use a spherical glass lens to focus the sun rays on a specially designed tape; when the intensity exceeds a pre-determined threshold, the tape burns. The total length of the burn trace is proportional to the number of bright hours. Another type of recorder is the Jordan sunshine recorder. Newer, electronic recorders have more stable sensitivity than that of the paper tape. In order to harmonize the data measured worldwide, in 1962 the World Meteorological Organization defined a standardized design of the Campbell–Stokes recorder, called an Interim Reference Sunshine Recorder. In 2003, the sunshine duration was defined as the period during which direct solar irradiance exceeds a threshold value of 120 W/m². Sunshine duration follows a general geographic pattern: subtropical latitudes have the highest sunshine values, because these are the locations of the eastern sides of the subtropical high pressure systems, associated with the large-scale descent of air from the upper-level tropopause.
Many of the world's driest climates are found adjacent to the eastern sides of the subtropical highs, which create stable atmospheric conditions, little convective overturning, little moisture and cloud cover. Desert regions, with nearly constant high pressure aloft and rare condensation—like North Africa, the Southwestern United States, Western Australia, the Middle East—are examples of hot, dry climates where sunshine duration values are high; the two major areas with the highest sunshine duration, measured as annual average, are the central and the eastern Sahara Desert—covering vast desert countries such as Egypt, Libya and Niger—and the Southwestern United States. The city claiming the official title of the sunniest in the world is Yuma, with over 4,000 hours of bright sunshine annually, but many climatological books suggest there may be sunnier areas in North Africa. In the belt encompassing northern Chad and the Tibesti Mountains, northern Sudan, southern Libya, Upper Egypt, annual sunshine duration is estimated at over 4,000 hours.
There is a smaller, isolated area of sunshine maximum in the heart of the western section of the Sahara Desert around the Eglab Massif and the Erg Chech, along the borders of Algeria and Mali where the 4,000-hour mark is exceeded, too. Some places in the interior of the Arabian Peninsula receive 3,600–3,800 hours of bright sunshine annually; the largest sun-baked region in the world is North Africa. The sunniest month in the world is December in Eastern Antarctica, with 23 hours of bright sun daily. Conversely, higher latitudes lying in stormy westerlies have much cloudier and more unstable and rainy weather, have the lowest values of sunshine duration annually. Temperate oceanic climates like those in northwestern Europe, the western coast of Canada, areas of New Zealand's South Island are examples of cool, wet, humid climates where cloudless sunshine duration values are low; the areas with the lowest sunshine duration annually lie over the polar oceans, as well as parts of northern Europe, southern Alaska, northern Russia, areas near the Sea of
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital and the largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 505,526 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Its urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits with a population of around 2.8 million people, being the 11th-most populous urban area in the European Union. About 3 million people live including the Portuguese Riviera, it is the only one along the Atlantic coast. Lisbon lies in the western Iberian Peninsula on the River Tagus; the westernmost areas of its metro area form the westernmost point of Continental Europe, known as Cabo da Roca, located in the Sintra Mountains. Lisbon is recognised as an alpha-level global city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group because of its importance in finance, media, arts, international trade and tourism. Lisbon is the only Portuguese city besides Porto to be recognised as a global city, it is one of the major economic centres on the continent, with a growing financial sector and one of the largest container ports on Europe's Atlantic coast.
Additionally, Humberto Delgado Airport served 26.7 million passengers in 2017, being the busiest airport in Portugal, the 3rd busiest in the Iberian Peninsula and the 20th busiest in Europe, the motorway network and the high-speed rail system of Alfa Pendular links the main cities of Portugal to Lisbon. The city is the 9th-most-visited city in Southern Europe, after Rome, Barcelona, Venice, Madrid and Athens, with 3,320,300 tourists in 2017; the Lisbon region contributes with a higher GDP PPP per capita than any other region in Portugal. Its GDP amounts to thus $32,434 per capita; the city occupies the 40th place of highest gross earnings in the world. Most of the headquarters of multinational corporations in Portugal are located in the Lisbon area, it is the political centre of the country, as its seat of Government and residence of the Head of State. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, one of the oldest in Western Europe, predating other modern European capitals such as London and Rome by centuries.
Julius Caesar made it. Ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century, it was captured by the Moors in the 8th century. In 1147, the Crusaders under Afonso Henriques reconquered the city and since it has been a major political and cultural centre of Portugal. Unlike most capital cities, Lisbon's status as the capital of Portugal has never been granted or confirmed – by statute or in written form, its position as the capital has formed through constitutional convention, making its position as de facto capital a part of the Constitution of Portugal. One claim repeated in non-academic literature is that the name of Lisbon can be traced back to Phoenician times, referring to a Phoenician term Alis-Ubo, meaning "safe harbour". Roman authors of the first century AD referred to popular legends that the city of Lisbon was founded by the mythical hero Odysseus on his journey home from Troy. Although modern archaeological excavations show a Phoenician presence at this location since 1200 BC, neither of these folk etymologies has any historical credibility.
Lisbon's origin may in fact derive from Proto-Celtic or Celtic Olisippo, Lissoppo, or a similar name which other visiting peoples like the Ancient Phoenicians and Romans adapted accordingly. The name of the settlement may be derived from the pre-Roman appellation for the Tagus River, Lisso or Lucio. Lisbon's name was written Ulyssippo in Latin by a native of Hispania, it was referred to as "Olisippo" by Pliny the Elder and by the Greeks as Olissipo or Olissipona. Lisbon's name is abbreviated to'LX' or'Lx', originating in an antiquated spelling of Lisbon as ‘’Lixbõa’’. While the old spelling has since been dropped from usage and goes against modern language standards, the abbreviation is still used. During the Neolithic period, the region was inhabited by Pre-Celtic tribes, who built religious and funerary monuments, megaliths and menhirs, which still survive in areas on the periphery of Lisbon; the Indo-European Celts invaded in the 1st millennium BC, mixing with the Pre-Indo-European population, thus giving rise to Celtic-speaking local tribes such as the Cempsi.
Although the first fortifications on Lisbon's Castelo hill are known to be no older than the 2nd century BC, recent archaeological finds have shown that Iron Age people occupied the site from the 8th to 6th centuries BC. This indigenous settlement maintained commercial relations with the Phoenicians, which would account for the recent findings of Phoenician pottery and other material objects. Archaeological excavations made near the Castle of São Jorge and Lisbon Cathedral indicate a Phoenician presence at this location since 1200 BC, it can be stated with confidence that a Phoenician trading post stood on a site now the centre of the present city, on the southern slope of the Castle hill; the sheltered harbour in the Tagus River estuary was an ideal spot for an Iberian settlement and would have provided a secure harbour for unloading and provisioning Phoenician ships. The Tagus settlement was an important centre of commercial trade with the inland tribes, providing an outlet for the valuable metals and salted-fish they collected, for the sale of the Lusitanian horses renowned in antiquity.
Accordi
Inhambane
Inhambane known as Terra de Boa Gente, is a city located in southern Mozambique, lying on Inhambane Bay, 470 km northeast of Maputo. It is the capital of the Inhambane Province and according to the 2017 census has a population of 79,724, growing from the 1997 census of 54,157, it is a beautiful charming town known for its serene atmosphere surrounded by beautiful seaside and the combination between modern local and rusting historic architecture, making it been popular among tourists. The settlement owes its existence to a deep inlet. Two protective sandy headlands form a sandbank; the sister town of Maxixe is located across the bay of Inhambane. Inhambane is one of the oldest settlements on Mozambique's eastern coast. Dhows traded here as early as the 11th century. Muslim and Persian traders were the first outsiders to arrive to the area by sea and traded pearls and ambergris, they traded at Chibuene in the south; the area became well known for its local cotton production by the Tonga tribe. Sometime before the Portuguese reached the area, the Karanga had invaded Inhambane and formed a number of local chieftains.
They dominated over the Tonga cotton workers and the rewards of trading with the Muslims went to them. When Vasco da Gama rounded Africa in the late 15th century, he pulled into Inhambane to replenish stocks and to explore, he took an immediate liking to the area and named it Terra de Boa Gente or'Land of the Good People'. In 1505, a ship sent by Francisco de Almeida was shipwrecked south of the town, but the Portuguese gained an initial meeting with the Karanga chiefs, their sons landed on Mozambique Island to survey the situation. The Portuguese established a permanent trading post at settlement in 1534. Inhambane was chosen as the first Jesuit mission to Southeast Africa in 1560; the port grew as an ivory and slave trading centre in the eighteenth century under Indian control. It was destroyed in 1834 by Soshangane, but grew in the second half of the century as a town of Portuguese East Africa; the old cathedral and old mosque was built during that period. However, in the 20th century the status of the town declined and the economic situation worsened as Maputo became the main centre.
The 170-year-old Cathedral of our Lady of Conception is located in the old quarter of the city where a rusted ladder leads to the top of the spire, offering panoramic views of the city and harbor. The city is known for its nearby beaches of Tofo and Barra; the central market located along the main boulevard called "Mercado Central" offers numerous foods, ranging from a colorful array of spices and vegetables to prawns and cashew nuts. Motor and dhow taxis sail from the town to Maxixe; the town of Inhambane has one of the largest working fleets of dhows on the Swahili Coast. Notable sites in the surrounding district of Inhambane and Vilanculos include Bazaruto National Park, the largest sea park in Africa, the Praia do Tofo, Praia dos Cocos, Ponto do Barra, Ilha de Benquerra, Bazaruto National Sea park, Guinjata Bay. Scuba diving in Inhambane is popular in locations such as Manta Reef and Gallaria. Giant manta rays, whale sharks and other marine life are seen and there are many professional scuba diving operations throughout the province.
Many tourists are under the impression. The closest diving to Inhambane is at Praia do Tofo - 22 km from Inhambane City. Tofo is known as the whale shark mecca of the world; the easiest way to reach Inhambane is by road from Maputo on the EN 1. It is possible to reach Inhambane from Beira, Mozambique or Zimbabwe on the EN 6 and EN 1 after Inchope. Inhambane has an airport Inhambane Airport and there are flights from Maputo on most days and charters flying in from Johannesburg in South Africa. Inhabame is twinned with: Aveiro, Portugal Inhambane has/had a narrow gauge railway, terminated before its full extent was realised. Inhambane has a tropical savanna climate. Railway stations in Mozambique Tofo Inhambane travel guide from Wikivoyage
Mozambican Civil War
The Mozambican Civil War was a civil war fought in Mozambique from 1977 to 1992. Like many regional African conflicts during the late twentieth century, the Mozambican Civil War possessed local dynamics but was exacerbated by the polarizing effects of Cold War politics; the war was fought between Mozambique's ruling Marxist Front for the Liberation of Mozambique and anti-communist insurgent forces of the Mozambican National Resistance. RENAMO opposed FRELIMO's attempts to establish a socialist one-party state, was backed by the anti-communist governments in Rhodesia and South Africa. For their part, the Rhodesian and South African defence establishments used RENAMO as a proxy to erode FRELIMO support for militant nationalist organisations in their own countries and to disrupt FRELIMO's socialist goals. Over one million Mozambicans were killed in the fighting or starved due to interrupted food supplies; the Mozambican Civil War destroyed much of Mozambique's critical rural infrastructure, including hospitals, rail lines and schools.
FRELIMO's security forces and RENAMO insurgents were accused of committing numerous human rights abuses, including using child soldiers and salting a significant percentage of the countryside indiscriminately with land mines. Three neighboring states—Zimbabwe and Malawi—eventually deployed troops into Mozambique to defend their own vested economic interests against RENAMO attacks; the Mozambican Civil War ended in 1992, following the collapse of Soviet and South African support for FRELIMO and RENAMO, respectively. Direct peace talks began around 1990 with the mediation of the Mozambican Church Council and the Italian government; as a result of the Rome General Peace Accords, RENAMO units were demobilised or integrated into the Mozambican armed forces and the United Nations Operation in Mozambique was formed to aid in postwar reconstruction. Tensions between RENAMO and FRELIMO flared again between 2013 and 2018, prompting the former to resume its insurgency. Portugal fought a long and bitter counter-insurgency conflict in its three primary African colonies—Angola and Guinea-Bissau—from the 1960s to the mid-1970s, when they received independence following the Carnation Revolution.
In Mozambique, the armed struggle against colonial rule was spearheaded by the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique, formed in exile but succeeded in wresting control of large sections of the country from the Portuguese. FRELIMO drew its initial base of support from Mozambican migrant workers and expatriate intellectuals, exposed to the emerging popularity of anti-colonial and nationalist causes overseas, as well as the Makonde and other ethnic groups in northern Mozambique, where Portuguese influence was weakest; the bulk of its members were drawn from Makonde workers who had witnessed pro-independence rallies in British-ruled Tanganyika. In September 1964, FRELIMO commenced an armed insurgency against the Portuguese, its decision to take up arms was influenced by a number of internal and external factors, namely the recent successes of indigenous anti-colonial guerrilla movements in French Indochina and French Algeria, as well as encouragement from contemporary African statesmen such as Ahmed Ben Bella, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Julius Nyerere.
FRELIMO guerrillas received training in North Africa and the Middle East in countries such as Algeria, with the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China providing military equipment. Portugal responded by embarking on a massive buildup of military personnel and security forces in Mozambique, it established close defence ties with two of Mozambique's neighbours and South Africa. In 1970, the Portuguese launched Operation Gordian Knot, successful at eliminating large numbers of FRELIMO guerrillas and their support bases in the north of the country; the following year, Portugal established an informal military alliance with Rhodesia and South Africa known as the Alcora Exercise. Representatives from the defence establishments of the three countries agreed to meet periodically to share intelligence and coordinate operations against militant nationalist movements in their respective countries. FRELIMO pursued close relations with the latter. ZANLA insurgents were permitted to infiltrate Rhodesia from FRELIMO-held territory.
On 25 April 1974 the authoritarian regime of Estado Novo was overthrown in Lisbon, a move, supported by many Portuguese workers and peasants. The Armed Forces Movement in Portugal pledged a return to civil liberties and an end to the fighting in all colonies; the rapid chain of events within Portugal caught FRELIMO, which had anticipated a protracted guerrilla campaign, by surprise. It responded to the new situation, on 7 September 1974 won an agreement from the Armed Forces Movement to transfer power to FRELIMO within a year and to form a transitional government in the interim; when this was made known to the public, several thousand Portuguese colonials fled the newly independent country and a clandestine group calling themselves the "Dragons of Death" seized the primary radio transmittor in the capital, Lourenço Marques, demanded an independent Mozambique without FRELIMO. As a result of the mass exodus of trained professi
Mozambique
Mozambique the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, Eswatini and South Africa to the southwest. The sovereign state is separated from the Comoros and Madagascar by the Mozambique Channel to the east; the capital of Mozambique is Maputo. Between the first and fifth centuries AD, Bantu-speaking peoples migrated to present-day Mozambique from farther north and west. Northern Mozambique lies within the monsoon trade winds of the Indian Ocean. Between the 7th and 11th centuries, a series of Swahili port towns developed here, which contributed to the development of a distinct Swahili culture and language. In the late medieval period, these towns were frequented by traders from Somalia, Egypt, Arabia and India; the voyage of Vasco da Gama in 1498 marked the arrival of the Portuguese, who began a gradual process of colonisation and settlement in 1505. After over four centuries of Portuguese rule, Mozambique gained independence in 1975, becoming the People's Republic of Mozambique shortly thereafter.
After only two years of independence, the country descended into an intense and protracted civil war lasting from 1977 to 1992. In 1994, Mozambique held its first multiparty elections, has since remained a stable presidential republic, although it still faces a low-intensity insurgency. Mozambique is endowed with extensive natural resources; the country's economy is based on agriculture, but industry is growing food and beverages, chemical manufacturing and aluminium and petroleum production. The tourism sector is expanding. South Africa is Mozambique's main trading partner and source of foreign direct investment, while Belgium, Brazil and Spain are among the country's most important economic partners. Since 2001, Mozambique's annual average GDP growth has been among the world's highest. However, the country is still one of the poorest and most underdeveloped countries in the world, ranking low in GDP per capita, human development, measures of inequality and average life expectancy; the only official language of Mozambique is Portuguese, spoken as a second language by about half the population.
Common native languages include Makhuwa and Swahili. The country's population of around 29 million is composed overwhelmingly of Bantu people; the largest religion in Mozambique is Christianity, with significant minorities following Islam and African traditional religions. Mozambique is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Southern African Development Community, is an observer at La Francophonie; the country was named Moçambique by the Portuguese after the Island of Mozambique, derived from Mussa Bin Bique or Musa Al Big or Mossa Al Bique or Mussa Ben Mbiki or Mussa Ibn Malik, an Arab trader who first visited the island and lived there. The island-town was the capital of the Portuguese colony until 1898, when it was moved south to Lourenço Marques. Between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, waves of Bantu-speaking people migrated from the west and north through the Zambezi River valley and gradually into the plateau and coastal areas.
They established agricultural societies based on herding cattle. They brought with them the technology for smithing iron. From the late first millennium AD, vast Indian Ocean trade networks extended as far south into Mozambique as evidenced by the ancient port town of Chibuene. Beginning in the 9th century, a growing involvement in Indian Ocean trade led to the development of numerous port towns along the entire East African coast, including modern day Mozambique. Autonomous, these towns broadly participated in the incipient Swahili culture. Islam was adopted by urban elites, facilitating trade. In Mozambique, Sofala and Mozambique Island were regional powers by the 15th century; the towns traded with merchants from both the broader Indian Ocean world. Important were the gold and ivory caravan routes. Inland states like the Kingdom of Zimbabwe and Kingdom of Mutapa provided the coveted gold and ivory, which were exchanged up the coast to larger port cities like Kilwa and Mombasa. From about 1500, Portuguese trading posts and forts displaced the Arabic commercial and military hegemony, becoming regular ports of call on the new European sea route to the east.
The voyage of Vasco da Gama around the Cape of Good Hope in 1498 marked the Portuguese entry into trade and society of the region. The Portuguese gained control of the Island of Mozambique and the port city of Sofala in the early 16th century, by the 1530s, small groups of Portuguese traders and prospectors seeking gold penetrated the interior regions, where they set up garrisons and trading posts at Sena and Tete on the River Zambezi and tried to gain exclusive control over the gold trade. In the central part of the Mozambique territory, the Portuguese attempted to legitimise and consolidate their trade and settlement positions through the creation of prazos tied to their settlement and administration. While prazos were developed to be held by Portuguese, through intermarriage they became African Portuguese or African Indian centres defended by large African sl
Ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks and teeth of animals, that consists of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is the same, regardless of the species of origin; the trade in certain teeth and tusks other than elephant is widespread. It has been valued since ancient times in art or manufacturing for making a range of items from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans and joint tubes. Elephant ivory is the most important source, but ivory from mammoth, hippopotamus, sperm whale, killer whale and wart hog are used as well. Elk have two ivory teeth, which are believed to be the remnants of tusks from their ancestors; the national and international trade in ivory of threatened species such as African and Asian elephants is illegal. The word ivory derives from the ancient Egyptian âb, âbu, through the Latin ebor- or ebur. Both the Greek and Roman civilizations practiced ivory carving to make large quantities of high value works of art, precious religious objects, decorative boxes for costly objects.
Ivory was used to form the white of the eyes of statues. There is some evidence of either walrus ivory used by the ancient Irish. Solinus, a Roman writer in the 3rd century claimed that the Celtic peoples in Ireland would decorate their sword-hilts with the'teeth of beasts that swim in the sea'. Adomnan of Iona wrote a story about St Columba giving a sword decorated with carved ivory as a gift that a penitent would bring to his master so he could redeem himself from slavery; the Syrian and North African elephant populations were reduced to extinction due to the demand for ivory in the Classical world. The Chinese have long valued ivory for utilitarian objects. Early reference to the Chinese export of ivory is recorded after the Chinese explorer Zhang Qian ventured to the west to form alliances to enable the eventual free movement of Chinese goods to the west. Southeast Asian kingdoms included tusks of the Indian elephant in their annual tribute caravans to China. Chinese craftsmen carved ivory to make everything from images of deities to the pipe stems and end pieces of opium pipes.
The Buddhist cultures of Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, traditionally harvested ivory from their domesticated elephants. Ivory was prized for containers due to its ability to keep an airtight seal, it was commonly carved into elaborate seals utilized by officials to "sign" documents and decrees by stamping them with their unique official seal. In Southeast Asian countries, where Muslim Malay peoples live, such as Malaysia and the Philippines, ivory was the material of choice for making the handles of kris daggers. In the Philippines, ivory was used to craft the faces and hands of Catholic icons and images of saints prevalent in the Santero culture. Tooth and tusk ivory can be carved into a vast variety of objects. Examples of modern carved ivory objects are okimono, jewelry, flatware handles, furniture inlays, piano keys. Additionally, warthog tusks, teeth from sperm whales and hippos can be scrimshawed or superficially carved, thus retaining their morphologically recognizable shapes.
Ivory usage in the last thirty years has moved towards mass production of souvenirs and jewelry. In Japan, the increase in wealth sparked consumption of solid ivory hanko – name seals – which before this time had been made of wood; these hanko can be carved out in a matter of seconds using machinery and were responsible for massive African elephant decline in the 1980s, when the African elephant population went from 1.3 million to around 600,000 in ten years. Prior to the introduction of plastics, ivory had many ornamental and practical uses because of the white color it presents when processed, it was used to make cutlery handles, billiard balls, piano keys, Scottish bagpipes, buttons and a wide range of ornamental items. Synthetic substitutes for ivory in the use of most of these items have been developed since 1800: the billiard industry challenged inventors to come up with an alternative material that could be manufactured. Ivory can be taken from dead animals – however, most ivory came from elephants that were killed for their tusks.
For example, in 1930 to acquire 40 tons of ivory required the killing of 700 elephants. Other animals which are now endangered were preyed upon, for example, which have hard white ivory prized for making artificial teeth. In the first half of the 20th century, Kenyan elephant herds were devastated because of demand for ivory, to be used for piano keys. During the Art Deco era from 1912 to 1940, dozens of European artists used ivory in the production of chryselephantine statues. Two of the most frequent users of ivory in their sculptured artworks were Ferdinand Preiss and Claire Colinet. Owing to the rapid decline in the populations of the animals that produce it, the importation and sale of ivory in many countries is banned or restricted. In the ten years preceding a decision in 1989 by CITES to ban international trade in African elephant ivory, the population of African elephants declined from 1.3 million to around 600,000. It was found by investigators from the Environmental Investigation Agency that CITES sales of stockpiles from Singapore and
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the eastern region of the African continent, variably defined by geography. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 20 territories make up Eastern Africa: Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan are members of the East African Community; the first five are included in the African Great Lakes region. Burundi and Rwanda are at times considered to be part of Central Africa. Djibouti, Eritrea and Somalia – collectively known as the Horn of Africa; the area is the easternmost projection of the African continent, is sometimes considered a separate region from East Africa. Comoros and Seychelles – small island nations in the Indian Ocean. Réunion and Mayotte – French overseas territories in the Indian Ocean. Mozambique and Madagascar – considered part of Southern Africa, on the eastern side of the sub-continent. Madagascar has close cultural ties to the islands of the Indian Ocean. Malawi and Zimbabwe – also included in Southern Africa, constituted the Central African Federation.
Sudan and South Sudan – collectively part of the Nile Valley. Situated in the northeastern portion of the continent, the Sudans are included in Northern Africa. Members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa free trade area. Due to colonial territories of the British East Africa Protectorate and German East Africa, the term East Africa is used to refer to the area now comprising the three countries of Kenya and Uganda. However, this has never been the convention in many other languages, where the term had a wider geographic context and therefore included Djibouti, Eritrea and Somalia; some parts of East Africa have been renowned for their concentrations of wild animals, such as the "big five": the elephant, lion, black rhinoceros, leopard, though populations have been declining under increased stress in recent times those of the rhino and elephant. The geography of East Africa is stunning and scenic. Shaped by global plate tectonic forces that have created the East African Rift, East Africa is the site of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, the two tallest peaks in Africa.
It includes the world's second largest freshwater lake, Lake Victoria, the world's second deepest lake, Lake Tanganyika. The climate of East Africa is rather atypical of equatorial regions; because of a combination of the region's high altitude and the rain shadow of the westerly monsoon winds created by the Rwenzori Mountains and Ethiopian Highlands, East Africa is cool and dry for its latitude. In fact, on the coast of Somalia, many years can go by without any rain whatsoever. Elsewhere the annual rainfall increases towards the south and with altitude, being around 400 mm at Mogadishu and 1,200 mm at Mombasa on the coast, whilst inland it increases from around 130 mm at Garoowe to over 1,100 mm at Moshi near Kilimanjaro. Unusually, most of the rain falls in two distinct wet seasons, one centred on April and the other in October or November; this is attributed to the passage of the Intertropical Convergence Zone across the region in those months, but it may be analogous to the autumn monsoon rains of parts of Sri Lanka and the Brazilian Nordeste.
West of the Rwenzoris and Ethiopian highlands, the rainfall pattern is more tropical, with rain throughout the year near the equator and a single wet season in most of the Ethiopian Highlands from June to September – contracting to July and August around Asmara. Annual rainfall here ranges from over 1,600 mm on the western slopes to around 1,250 mm at Addis Ababa and 550 mm at Asmara. In the high mountains rainfall can be over 2,500 mm. Rainfall in East Africa is influenced by El Niño events, which tend to increase rainfall except in the northern and western parts of the Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands, where they produce drought and poor Nile floods. Temperatures in East Africa, except on the hot and humid coastal belt, are moderate, with maxima of around 25 °C and minima of 15 °C at an altitude of 1,500 metres. At altitudes of above 2,500 metres, frosts are common during the dry season and maxima about 21 °C or less; the unique geography and apparent suitability for farming made East Africa a target for European exploration and colonialization in the nineteenth century.
Today, tourism is an important part of the economies of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The easternmost point of the continent, Ras Hafun in Somalia, is of archaeological and economical importance. According to the theory of the recent African origin of modern humans, the predominantly held belief among most archaeologists, East Africa is the area where anatomically modern humans first appeared. There are differing theories on whether there was several. A growing number of researchers suspect that North Africa was instead the original home of the modern humans who first trekked out of the continent; the major competing hypothesis is the multiregional origin of modern humans, which envisions a wave of Homo sapiens migrating earlier from Africa and interbreeding with local Homo erectus populations in multiple regions of the globe. Most multiregionalists still view Africa as a major wellspring of human genetic diversity, but allow a much greater role for hybridization. Some
Mozambique
