The term "tribalism" is a portmanteau. tribe is the tribe. In modern literature and political life is most often associated with tribalism, extremely hostile attitude of one ethnic group to another, etnosovinisticeskuu policy.
Geography of modern tribalism is wide, from Latin America to the islands of Oceania. However, this phenomenon was most common in sub-Saharan Africa, where there are still archaic institutions and organizations related to the tribal system. But it is more than that. The population of black Africa is a kaleidoscope of ethnicities, rather rudely disturbed the era of colonialism. Within colonial boundaries are peoples of different ethnic origin, different languages, different level of socio-economic and cultural development.
However, it would be wrong to blame in all of one's past and colonialism in particular. After all, tribalism in other countries escalated after they gained political independence. While it is difficult to say what specific factors were the "dynamite" for major outbreaks of violence. In some cases, is a usurpation of power in the hands of the tops of any one tribe or tribal Union. The other is the result of the struggle for fresh water, land, pastures. The third is to "secede", receive sovereignty. The socio-economic analyses progress, capable through the development of tovarnodeneznyh relations to break tribal "partitions", still not notable. First of all, this concerns farmers, who still lead the conduct polunatural'noye primitive economy. Their total illiteracy, ignorance, isolation from centres of cultural life is fertile soil for preservation of tribalism.
In sub-Saharan Africa, almost no country where tribalism anyway did not show itself. So, in Burundi, 85 percent of the 5 million population is of tribes, the Hutus. It happened that, historically, power was concentrated in the hands of a much smaller number of Tutsi. The Hutu resentment of this fact resulted in 1972 in a bloody battle with the many thousands of victims on both sides. A similar scenario developed in 1994, with the only difference being that there were many more victims. For many years the tribal basis "on fire" in Chad, where there is confrontation between the residents of the North (nomads, people of Arab origin) and the South (farmers, in whose veins flows the blood is negrityanskaya). In a sacrificial pyre, found its sad end of many thousands of residents of this country. Next, you can talk about Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and other countries where mutual hatred and aggressiveness of ethnic groups periodically leads to a tragic close nearby.
Leading scientists and politicians of the world as the principal "prescription" to overcome tribalism offer accelerated overall development of third world countries in all fields, from social and economic and spiritual. It is clear that this "recipe" is just as simple as it is difficult to carry out.
Tribalism is an old African illness