Ch. 7 Key Issue 3

Why do ethnicities clash?

Ethnic competition to dominate nationality• Sub-Saharan Africa has been plagued with ethnic

conflicts.– Ethiopia and Eritrea: Eritrea won freedom from Ethiopia

in 1991 yet conflicts arose over the border regions. Eritrea has 9 major ethnicities

– Sudan: civil war among black Christian and animist rebels and Arab-Muslim government forces. Government forced segregation among men and women. Darfur- ethnic war black Africans rebelled against discrimination and neglect= government crushed the rebellion= 450,000 have been killed, 2.5 million live in refugee camps.

– Somalia: 6 major ethnic groups (clans), then divided into subclans. Famine and warfare among clans has killed over 300,000 Somalians.

Ethnic competition in Lebanon• Lebanon has been damaged by fighting among

religious groups since 1970s.• Christians are most numerous with Maronites,

Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Armenian, Syrian Orthodox, and Chaldeans.

• 2/3of Lebanon’s Muslims are from the Shiite sect.• Each religion is represented in the Chamber of

Deputies, however Christians constitute the majority, Muslims demanded political and economic equality. Each religious group formed a private army to guard its territory.

Dividing ethnicities among more than one state

• Conflicts arise when an ethnicity is split among more than one country.

• South Asia: India gained independence from Britain in 1947, the country was divided into 2 countries- India (Hindu) & Pakistan (Muslim). Hinduism is a national unity in India, Muslims have fought for territory and control. Gandhi tried to reconcile peace among both religions but was assassinated- never was achieved.

Forced Migration

• 17 million people felt compelled to migrate during the late 1940s.

• 7 million Muslims moved from India to Pakistan

• As they moved, Hindus' and Muslims attacked and killed each other

Dividing Sri Lanka among ethnicities

• Fighting between Sinhalese and Tamils since 1983, 60,000 have died in the conflict.

• Sinhalese: 74% of total population, Buddhist, Indo-European language

• Tamils: 18% of population, Hindus, Tamil is part of the Dravidian family.

• Dispute goes back 2,000 years. Sinhalese dominate government military and commerce. Tamils feel discriminated.