Southeast Africa



Southeast Africa, or Southeastern Africa,  is an African region that is intermediate between East Africa and Southern Africa. It comprises the countries Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe in the mainland, with the island-nations of Madagascar, Mauritius, Comoros, and Seychelles also included.

Prehistory
East and southern Africa are among the earliest regions where modern humans (Homo sapiens) and their predecessors are believed to have lived. In September 2019, scientists reported the computerized determination, based on 260 CT scans, of a virtual skull shape of the last common human ancestor to modern humans/H. sapiens, representative of the earliest modern humans, and suggested that modern humans arose between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago through a merging of populations in South and East Africa.

Bantu expansion
Bantu-speakers traversed from Central Africa into Southeast Africa approximately 3,000 years ago.

Modern history
In the 19th and 20th centuries, David Livingstone and Frederick Courtney Selous visited Southeast Africa. The latter wrote down his experiences in the book Travel and Adventure in South-East Africa.

Demographics and languages
People include the San people. The Swahili language is spoken, both as an official language and lingua franca, by millions of people.

Geography


Lake Malawi and Limpopo River are located in Southeast Africa.

Wildlife


Fauna includes the cheetah, leopard, lion, Nile crocodile, hyena, Lichtenstein's hartebeest and white rhinoceros.