Zanzibar’s initial settlers were Bantu-speaking Africans and from the 10th century Persians arrived. But it was Arab incomers, predominantly Omanis, whose impact was paramount. Stone Town acknowledged as a World Heritage Site by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) set up trading colonies and in 1832 the Omani sultan moved his capital from Muscat to Zanzibar, which had become a major slave-trading centre. Zanzibar became an independent country governed by a sultan.
The slave trade was abolished in 1873 and in 1890 the British declared Zanzibar a protectorate. In 1963 the islands regained independence, but upheaval was around the corner. Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of the United Republic of Tanzania, in East Africa. Zanzibar comes from the Persian word Zangi-bar- Zangi, black and bar, the place of. Zanzibar consists of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones:
Unguja, the main island, informally referred to as Zanzibar and Pemba. Other nearby island countries and territories include Comoros and Mayotte to the south, Mauritius and Réunion to the far southeast, and the Seychelles Islands about 1,500 km to the east.
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Algeria is located Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia. The Sahara desert envelops a little more than four-fifths of the land in Algeria. Oil and gas reserves were discovered in the 1950s, but most Algerians live along the northern coast. Algeria supplies large amounts of natural gas to Europe and energy exports are the backbone of the economy. Algeria has the eighth-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the fourth-largest gas exporter; it ranks 15th in oil reserves.
Algeria was originally inhabited by Berbers until the Arabs conquered North Africa in the 7th century. Staying mainly in the mountainous regions, the Berbers resisted the spreading Arab influence, managing to preserve much of their language and culture. They make up some 30% of the population. Part of the Turkish Ottoman empire from the 16th century, Algeria was conquered by the French in 1830. Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. Today most Berber-speaking people live in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Mali and Niger. Although they are the original inhabitants of North Africa, and in spite of numerous incursions by Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Ottomans and French, Berbers lived in very contained communities. Having been subject to limited external influences, these populations lived free from acculturating factors.
Robben Island is known the world over as a place of banishment exile, isolation and imprisonment. For nearly 400 years, colonial and apartheid rulers banished those they regarded as political troublemakers, social outcasts and the unwanted of society to this 575-hectare rocky outcrop in Table Bay.
The Island’s unwilling inhabitants included; slaves; political and religious leaders who opposed Dutch colonialism in East Asia; troublesome local Khoikhoi and African leaders who resisted British expansion in South Africa; Leprosy sufferers and other sick and the mentally disturbed; French Vichy prisoners of war; and most recently, political opponents of the apartheid regime in South African and Namibia.
During the apartheid years Robben Island became internationally known for its institutional brutality. Some freedom fighters spent more than a quarter of a century in prison for their beliefs. Yet people such as Nelson Mandela emerged to lead South Africa to democracy, with a message of tolerance, reconciliation and hope.
Those imprisoned on the Island succeeded in turning a prison “hell-hole” into a symbol of freedom and personal liberation.
Robben Island
While we will not forget the brutality of apartheid we will not want Robben Island to be a monument of our hardship and suffering. We would want it to be a triumph of the human spirit against the forces of evil a triumph of wisdom and largeness of spirit against small minds and pettiness a triumph of courage and determination over human frailty and weakness.
By Ahmed Kathrada, 1993 Imprisoned: 1964-1982 on Robben Island; 1982-1989 in Pollsmor prison
December 25th, Christmas day is of course celebrated throughout the African continent by Christians. Christmas in South Africa is a summer holiday and Christmas celebrations are colorful and joyous. Like in many parts of the world the Christmas season is celebrated with visits to family and friends. Boxing Day, December 26th is a public holiday. It is observed in the Ghana, Nigeria, and other countries with a mainly Christian populations. In South Africa this public holiday is now known as the Day of Goodwill.
How to Say Merry Christmas
In Akan (Ghana) Afishapa
In Zimbabwe Merry Kisimusi
In Afrikaans (South Africa) Geseënde Kersfees
In Zulu (South Africa) Sinifisela Ukhisimusi Omuhle
In Swazi (Swaziland) Sinifisela Khisimusi Lomuhle
In Sotho (Lesthoto) Matswalo a Morena a Mabotse
In Swahili (Tanzania, Kenya) Kuwa na Krismasi njema
In Amharic (Ethiopia) Melkam Yelidet Beaal
In Egyptian (Egypt) Colo sana wintom tiebeen
In Yoruba (Nigeria) E ku odun, e hu iye’ dun!
