By: David H.
Submitted: 2009-10-11 22:11:48 | Word Count: 566
Most inhabitants of Sahara Desert are nomads. They value the place despite the harsh climate.
Sahara Desert having 3.5 million square miles with 2.5 million people has one of the lowest populated places on earth. History reveals that more people inhabited Sahara Desert as with the numerous artifacts found.
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Most people living in Sahara Desert are nomads. This means that they move from one region to another depending on living conditions. They have no permanent homes.
Diverse groups populated the region but lived separately. They exchange trade of goods when needed. Later on it also led to the success of external trading with other countries and continents.
The principal ethnic group in Sahara Desert include
•Tuareg
This group lives in central Sahara. They originated from the Berber group. They settled in Air and Ahaggar highlands. They move from Central to Western Sahara.
They are popularly known as the Blue Men of the desert because of their blue robes. The face veil of men represents different styles and status of the male gender. On the other hand women wear head scarf to reveal their status.
They are located in Northern reaches of Mali near Timbuktu and Kidal also in Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Senegal. The most valuable possession they have is the sword. Women are in charge of the food and clothing related tasks. Men are in charge of selling products.
With regard to arts and crafts, they are also known for their jewelries and carved masks. They serve as guides to Western adventure tourists and oil operations. There is political instability in the region. The official language is Temajeg or Tamacheq. They practice fortune telling and Koran healing.
•Sahrawis
This group is from the Sunni Muslim Sect and are related to Bedouin race. They are mixture of Berber and Arab. They can be found in Western Sahara.
With regard to arts and culture, they are popular for their handcrafted curio. They use two instruments: Tbal(drum) and Tidnit(string instrument) to create desert music. Their economy depends on herd rearing of sheep, camels and goats. They also do fishing, handicrafts and iron/phosphate mining. They are under the Morocco government. Islam is the official religion.
•Tibu(Tebu)
This group dominated the Tibesti Massif, desert mountains and high plateaus region. They are also known as Toubou. They live in northern Chad, Libya, Niger and Sudan. As of this time with a population of more than 350,000 inhabitants. Some are nomadic while others are semi nomadic. They practice clan based society with own set of oases, pastures and wells.
They believed in the importance of family and practice large camping to bond with one another. They believed that the clan is one of the most stable institutions. Their major source of income is livestock and alternative source is herding dates and grain. They are divided into two: the Teda and Daza. These two groups are of common origin yet speaks two different languages. Daza group are greater in number compared to Gazas.
•Negroids
They are also known as Negroids: forest negroids, nilotic negroids, Negritogroup. Forest negroids have dark skin, protruding face, broad flat nose, broad hips and unequal arms and legs. Nilotic negroids come from Sudan and have black skin, abnormal size nose and a long flat narrow face. They are also known for the slim built. Negritogroup or pygmies have small height, medium brown skins and vague black hair.
