The coolest thing I've ever learned...

I have told a few of you about the Tsetse fly. But I haven't written about it here so I thought now would be a good time.

Everybody knows that the Tsetse fly is the reason Islam stopped spreading south across Africa in the 10th century. Oh. You didn't know that? Well, lets begin.

Islam grew fiercely popular in the 8th and 9th centuries and the traders from the Middle East who traveled down to North and West Africa brought their religion with them. Most Africans at the time were animist (worshipped multiple gods, celtic style), and they were quickly brought into the Muslim fold. Today, all of these areas are heavily influenced by the Islamic culture brought to them 1000 years ago by these traders. That was all fine and good, until the Muslims got south of the Sahara and met a strange obstacle in the Tsetse fly. The Muslims, as did just about everybody in those days long ago, traveled by horse and camel across the desert and brought cattle with them to trade and eat along the way. At around the 10th parallel north, the Muslims left the Sahara and entered a more tropical climate. And then they stopped. For all their animals started to die.

The reason was the Tsetse fly, a carrier of Nagana, a disease that kills livestock but has no visible affects in game animals. At the time, no one understood the disease but it stopped the expansion of Islam in its tracks and even now Islam has barely penetrated south of the "Flybelt," as its called. OK, so there's not much Islam south of the flybelt, well who cares?

I do, and I'll tell you why.
At least two of the countries on the 10th parallel have been in bitter civil wars for most of their modern history. Sudan and Chad have both been decimated by genocide and internecine warfare. One of the main conflicts in both countries is the northern Muslims fighting with southern animists. Where are these lines of conflict drawn? Right on the flybelt. Now I don't mean to say that these conflicts are directly related to the Tsetse fly, but I think it is pretty amazing that 1000 years later the affects of a tiny little fly are still making themselves known in some of the most brutal conflicts on our planet.

I first read in depth about the conflicts in Chad and Sudan in Martin Meredith's book The Fate of Africa (called The State of Africa outside the US) and then was told about the Tsetse fly situation later. Meredith refers to the 10th parallel as the dividing line between Muslims and non-Muslims although he doesn't mention the Tsetse fly. The history of split government in that country is literally on the flybelt and I think that it just fascinating. Wars are being fought because of a fly. Not exactly because of a fly, but in my head, that fly is a pretty important part of International Relations. So, tell your friends about the bizarre case of the Tsetse fly and War in Sub Saharan Africa. I've looked all over the internet and haven't found anyone writing about the connection, so maybe I'll develop my theory through research and write my masters thesis about it.