Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
the people see their religious differences as a source of
social division within their country. This is the case in sev-
eral countries in Africa that straddle the Christian-Muslim
interfaith boundary (Fig. 7.34). Other countries with major
religious disputes straddle
intrafaith boundaries
, the
boundaries within a single major faith. Intrafaith bound-
aries include divisions between Christian Protestants and
Catholics, divisions between Muslim Sunni and Shi'ite,
and the like. This is the case in Northern Ireland, where
Protestants and Catholics, who both worship in the
Christian tradition, have a long history of confl ict.
Interfaith and intrafaith boundaries can be peace-
ful, or they can spur enormously violent political con-
fl ict. Israel/Palestine, Nigeria, and the former Yugoslavia
provide examples of interfaith confl icts, and Northern
Ireland is an example of an intrafaith confl ict. In each case,
religious difference is not the only factor, but it certainly
plays an important symbolic and perceptual role.
Figure 7.34
African Transition Zone.
Percent Muslim by State.
© H. J. de Blij, P. O. Muller, and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
U.A.E.
W. SAH.
10
°
0
°
10
°
20
°
30
°
40
°
50
°
76%
99%
EGYPT
ALGERIA
LIBYA
SAUDI
ARABIA
95%
97%
98%
MAURITANIA
97%
99%
MALI
OMAN
88%
93%
Dakar
CHAD
NIGER
SUDAN
.
YEMEN
56%
SENEGAL 96%
ERITREA
99%
95%
99%
37%
GAMBIA
95%
GUINEA-
BISSAU
GUINEA
Khartoum
Niamey
Bamako
BURKINA
FASO
59%
Adan
N'Djamena
42%
Kano
DJIBOUTI
97%
85%
Conakry
Adis
Abeba
99%
SIERRA LEONE
71%
ETHIOPIA
GHANA
16%
NIGERIA
51%
LIBERIA
CENTRAL AFRICAN
REPUBLIC
9%
34%
SOUTH SUDAN
OGADEN
12%
IVORY
COAST
Lagos
14%
CAMEROON
18%
37%
EQUATORIAL
GUINEA
4%
Mogadishu
UGANDA
12%
KENYA
CONGO
2%
13%
GABON
10%
Nairobi
THE
CONGO
2%
INDIAN
OCEAN
RWANDA 2%
BURUNDI
Mombasa
2%
Kinshasa
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
Dar es Salaam
TANZANIA
30%
Luanda
10
°
ANGOLA
<1%
ZAMBIA
1%
ZIMBABWE
1%
20
°
NAMIBIA
<1%
BOTSWANA
<1%
23%
Walvis
Bay
AFRICAN TRANSITION ZONE:
PERCENT MUSLIM BY STATE
Maputo
Johannesburg
SWAZILAND
1%
Over 90
Approximate boundary
between Muslim and
non-Muslim regions
SOUTH AFRICA
2%
Durban
30
°
30
°
51 - 90
LESOTHO
<1%
11 - 50
Armed conflict,
current or recent
Cape Town
Under 11
400
800
1200
1600
2000 Kilometers
0
0
400
800
1200 Miles
40
°
Longitude West of Greenwich
Longitude East of Greenwich
30
°
20
°
10
°
0
°
10
°
20
°
30
°
40
°
