The Influence of Ecological Factors and External Relations on the Mbembe Tribes of Southeast Nigeria

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Periodical article

Title:	The Influence of Ecological Factors and External Relations on the Mbembe Tribes of Southeast Nigeria
Author:	Harris, Rosemary
Year:	1962
Periodical:	Africa: Journal of the International African Institute
Volume:	32
Issue:	1
Period:	January
Pages:	38-52
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	Mbembe history ethnic groups Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External links:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/1157293 https://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pao:&rft_dat=xri:pao:article:4011-1962-032-00-000003
Abstract:	This paper analyzes environmental factors significant for the reconstruction of the history of the Mbembe tribes, with particular reference to their political development. The analysis has lent support to the traditions which tell of people moving to the river in search of trade, for the riverside has been shown to have had greater advantages than were obvious at first sight. It has provided an adequate explanation for the very high densities of population near the river which are not otherwise to be easily understood. The examination of ecological factors has suggested reasons for the marked variation in village size in the different tribes. It has suggested probable reasons for the dispersal of Osopong, and has made explicable the divergent type of village structure, and the widespread interconnexion between villages in Osopong. Map; French Summary.