Afar (or Danakil) are a tribal people who reside principally in the Danakil Desert in the Afar Region of Ethiopia and in Eritrea and Djibouti. Afar is a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jamaah. ... The Oromo are an African ethnic group found in Ethiopia and to a lesser extent Kenya. ... The Sidama are a tribal people in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia. ... The Agaw are a people of Ethiopia. ... BEJA PEOPLE The Beja tribes are the indigenous inhabitants of the Eastern Region of the Sudan. ... The Danakil Desert lies in north eastern Ethiopia and in southern Eritrea, where it forms the Southern Red Sea district. ... Map of Ethiopia highlighting the Afar region. ...

General

The Afar make up about half the population of Djibouti, and are one of the nine recognised ethnic divisions (kililoch) of Ethiopia. The Afar language (Cushitic) is spoken in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, eastern Eritrea, and Djibouti, but as the Afar are traditionally nomadic herders, they may be found further afield. Ethiopia is divided into 9 ethnically-based administrative regions (kililoch; singular - kilil): Afar Amhara Benishangul-Gumaz Gambela Hariai Oromia Somali Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region Tigray Additionally, there are two chartered cities (astedader akababiwach, singular - astedader akabibi): Addis Ababa Dire Dawa These administrative regions replaced the older system of... Afar is a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. ... The Cushitic languages are a subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic languages phylum, named after the Biblical figure Cush by analogy with Semitic. ... Kazakh nomads in the steppes of the Russian Empire, ca. ... A herder is a worker who lives a semi-nomadic life, caring for various domestic animals, especially in places where these animals wander unfenced pasture lands. ...

Lifestyle and culture

Although, as with most peoples, some have migrated to cities and adopted "Western" or cosmopolitan ways of life, the majority have always been nomadic pastoralists, raising goats, sheep and cattle in the desert. During the dry season most move to, and camp on, the banks of the Awash River. Camels make up the most common means of transport as they move from watering hole to watering hole. Most move to higher ground with the arrival of the November rainy season to avoid flooding and mosquitos. An Afar tent house is known as an 'ari' and made of sticks covered with mats, beds of mats raised on sticks are used. The 'burra', or camp, consists of two or more ari, and is the responsibility of the women. The Afar supplement their diet of milk and meat by selling salt that they dig from the desert along with milk and animal hides at markets in Senbete and Bati. Leonardo da Vincis Vitruvian Man, for many a symbol of the changes of the Western culture during the Renaissance Western culture refers to the culture that has developed in the Western world. ... This article is about goats, the animals. ... Species See text. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle (called cows in vernacular usage) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... The Awash (sometimes spelled Hawash) is a major river of Ethiopia. ... Species Camelus bactrianus Camelus dromedarius A camel is either of the two species of large even-toed ungulate in the genus Camelus, the Dromedary (single hump) and the Bactrian Camel (double hump). ... Genera See text. ... The term Bati may refer to: The wattle-eye, or puffback flycatcher, a small, stout passerine bird of the African tropics; One of the Bamileke ethnic groups of Cameroon. ...

Afar are organised into clan families, and into classes -- asaimara ('reds') who are the dominant class politically, and the adoimara ('whites') who are a working class. It is a patrilineal society, with men inheriting strength of character from their fathers, but physical characteristics like height, and some spiritual characteristics, from the mother. Circumcision is practiced for both boys, and, controversially, girls. Boys are judged for their bravery on bearing the pain of circumcision, and is then allowed to marry the girl of his choice, preferably someone from his own ethnic group, ideally a cousin. When married, women traditionally wear a black headscarf called a 'shash' or 'mushal'. For men and women, the main article of clothing is the 'sanafil', a waistcloth. Women's are dyed brown (although today many women adopt multi-coloured sanafil) while men's are undyed. Traditionally the society is ruled by sultanates made up of several villages, headed by a 'dardar'. A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by perceived descent from a common ancestor. ...

The Afar have a strong relationship with their environment and its wildlife, sharing land and resources with animals and doing them no harm. It is this tendency that is largely responsible for the preservation of the critically endangered African wild ass (Equus Africanus), which has become extinct in more vulnerable environments.

Religion

The Afar converted to Islam in the 10th century after contact with Arabs. The brand of Islam they practice is heavily syncretic, and includes many elements of their older, indegenous religion (focused on the Sky God). Islam (Arabic: ; ( (help· info)), the peaceful submission to the will of God) is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions and the worlds second-largest religion. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are a large and heterogeneous ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia. ... Syncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate, even opposing, beliefs and to meld practices of various schools of thought. ...

History

The ancestors of the Afar settled farm land in the Ethiopian highlands some time before AD 1000 and primarily raised livestock. Some time after this they began a gradual transition to a more nomadic lifestyle and moved to the area they currently occupy. Since then they have been involved in many conflicts with bordering tribes and peoples. The Ethiopian Highlands are a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia and Eritrea in northeastern Africa. ... Kazakh nomads in the steppes of the Russian Empire, ca. ...

In 1975 the Afar Liberation Front (ALF) began in Ethiopia after an unsuccessful rebelion led by a former Afar sultan. The Derg established the Autonomous Region of Assab (now called Aseb and located in Eritrea), although low level insurrection continued until the early 1990. Parallel, but less violent, movements were present in Djibouti. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Assab (or Aseb) is a port in Eritrea on the west coast of the Red Sea. ...

See also

• Afar Depression

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External links

• National Geographic - "Cruelest Place on Earth - Africa's Danakil Desert"