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The Geography Of India

If you are looking for a country which can offer you any sort of culture, climate or other conditions prevalent all over the world, it is India. There are no words which can describe the beauty and the diversity of the Indian subcontinent. There may be some of you who might have noticed the words Indian Subcontinent being used in many places, and it has a reason of its own.

India is a land of great diversity. When you observe the topography of India you would find that it has all sorts of landscapes you can think of. There is the plateau landscape, like the Malwa plateau, Deccan Plateau and so on. There is a plain as well, one of the greatest in the world, the Indo-Gangetic plain which is significant on its own.

The country is full of rivers and other water bodies. The main and the most important river is the Ganga which originates in the Himalayas and is associated both with religion and with providing water to various people across the nation. It divides into a lot of tributaries each with a significant role of its own. India has the Bay of Bengal in the southeast and Arabian Sea in the southwest, and the Indian Ocean in the south.

The country has a desert as well. The state of Rajasthan is a desert and the Thar Desert which is one of the largest deserts in the world. It has a number of coasts and wetlands which have done significant contribution to the culture and development of the country. With such varying topographies, it is not a surprise that the country has varying climatic conditions as well.

India is a country of varying cultures and one of the factors for this is the various geographical landscapes the land has. Each geographical region has contributed towards developing the culture and traditions of the people as it is seen today. In fact, each place boasts of its own culture and traditions entirely different from that of the others. Know it well.

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The Burden of Apartheid

South Africa experienced a period of segregation in the form of apartheid, which began after World War Ii had ended. This is when, in 1948, the National Party gained power in South Africa’s government. They ran on a platform that promised to pass racial segregation mandates and to give support to Afrikaners who were struggling. The legislation that was passed outlined a strict series of regulations and classifications of race within society.

The Race Classification Act stated that any resident of the country who did have a European lineage could be grouped according to his or her race. The Group Areas Act focused on separating racial groups into different areas to live and the Mixed Marriage Act outlawed marryiage between people who were different in race. This system was aided by a falsely scientific series of tests that helped to determine the race that an individual belonged to. For instance, a comb that became tangled in a person’s hair classified them as being African. There were four main groups set up: Indian, Coloured, Black and White.

This system affected every aspect of society, and many people were barred from taking part in various events. For example, women who were not white could not represent South Africa in the competition. People were also classified each year according to race, and one person could be classified with a different race each time.

Conflict arose as racial groups became fed up with the restrictions and racism that was inherent in apartheid. Leaders such as Nelson Mandela and many others fought to end it, and were often arrested and imprisoned. Mandela spend many years in jail before he was finally freed after the issue finally got the international attention it deserved. Many countries stopped supporting trade and other activities with South Africa, finally forcing the system to be halted and equality to be reborn once again.

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An Inside Look at the Mbundu People

The Mbundu, or Kimundu, people of Africa are centered in the country of Angola. This area has served as their home since ancient times, especially the northern central area. Their numbers are approximately 2,420,000 and they are number two in population of the ethnic language groups in the region. Their primary language is Kimundu, which is part of the Bantu language group. Their first homes were set up near the shores of the Kwanza River. This is a vital area as the river is a key connection between the Congo coast and that of the Cuene coast. Settling here ensured that the people could be actively involved in the profitable trade of the region and survive as a group. Groups with access to a trade accord were such as this were able to be very successful as a people and to survive longer in a region.

They are also akin to a group in the northern part of the country called the Kongo. During the 16th century, the Kongo exerted pressure on the Mbundu for political power. This pressure ultimately led to the creation of a leader who is called the ngola. The arrival of the Portuguese, this leadership role was removed and the Mbundu Web life changed dramatically. Many of them were put into slavery while others fight against the Portuguese. The impact of Europeans and the Portuguese along with rules that limited marriages between tribes cause the culture to become extremely diverse. Some of the tribes within the Mbundu include the Ndongo, Mbono and the Mbaka.

The Mbundu also played a role in the Liberation of Angola, which had a Marxist focus. This group eventually got the power it desired when the Portugese lost their control of the country in 1976. They are still a part of the Angola landscape, continuting their cultural traditions in the home they have long inhabited.

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