Prisoners of geography or of human conflict? Somalia and the DRC
Jacob Stott
The African continent is riddled with socio-economic and ethno-political issues, no countries more so than Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). But to what extent have these issues arisen as a result of human factors, or of physical geography? In Somalia, the ‘Horn of Africa’, over 1 million people (a tenth of the population at the time) were killed in the Somali Civil War between 1991 and 1999. 1 Meanwhile, in the DRC – the second largest country on the continent – an estimated 6 million people have died since 1996, either through warfare or as a result of malnutrition, making the ‘Congo Wars’ the world’s largest conflict since 1945. 2 While these conflicts are becoming somewhat more manageable as time progresses and democratic systems are put in place, the populations of these war- torn states are only just beginning to experience the long-term ramifications of the conflict. In the DRC the majority of the population live in absolute poverty, meaning they earn less than $1.25 per day and therefore lack even the most basic necessities, and they rank 186 th out of 187 countries on the Human Development Index, a composite index of life expectancy, years of education, and per capita income. 3 Indeed, similar social issues are present in Somalia, with around 73% of people living in absolute poverty 4 and terrorism being prevalent, with the Jihadist group Al-Shabaab ‘ still constituting a serious threat ’ to peace and stability. 5 The cause of these serious problems throughout both countries remains ambiguous, although it is definite that the physical geography of the regions has played its part. The geography of Africa, especially the Sahel and Sahara regions, is extremely inhospitable and that is one major reason why Africa just is not as technologically or politically advanced as the western world. The size of the whole continent is arguably onemajor reasonwhy Africa has for long been isolated from the developed world. Africa is far larger than it appears on standard Mercator maps (as these maps depict a sphere on a flat surface meaning size becomes distorted) and is in fact 14x larger than Greenland. 6 Indeed, Africa’s huge size , along with the bottom two-thirds of the continent being surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian oceans, has meant that globalization and worldwide technological exchanges failed to touch the poorest regions within Africa for thousands of years, resulting in stunted continental development. Indeed, Somalia has its own personal issues as a result of physical geography. Located at approximately 6°N, Somalia has a hot climate and the northern regions have frequent problems with drought, with the aid organization Islamic Relief estimating that limited rain in the deyr (Oct to Dec) season could threaten the livelihoods of 2 million Somalians. This threat was exemplified in 2011 when a large famine caused by a prolonged period of drought in the country – as a result of an unusually strong and extended La Niña period – left the whole of east Africa suffering from failed rains, leaving over 260,000 people dead. 7 Meanwhile, the DRC is a prisoner of geography for far different and more complex reasons. On the surface, it may appear that the physical world has blessed the DRC, for the region is rich in natural resources such as copper, cobalt and
1 Fergusson, J. (2015) ‘Somalia: the world’s most failed state?’ Royal Geographical Society. 2 Oakes, S. (2011) ‘The Congo Wars: geography NOT in the news.’ Royal Geographical Society. 3 Marshall T (2015) Prisoners of Geography . London, pp. 120-31. 4 Fergusson (note 1). 5 Marangio R (2016) ‘Somalia: A Long Road Ahead.’ Istituto Affari Internazionali: 1-3.
6 Marshall (note 3). 7 Fergusson (note 1).
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