Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Berber Tribes and Location

Berbers are a group of people who live in north eastern Africa and have been there for a long time. Most people who do not live in Africa but know the Berbers might not know that they have more than one type of them. Berbers are spread out and though some might look the same their traditions may differ, that is the easiest way to tell Berbers apart. The Berbers inhabit the Rif mountains which are in northern morocco next to the Mediterranean sea. There are more than one type of Berber in the Rif mountains, there are actually nineteen Berber social unit in the Rif mountains. Some of which include the Rhmara Berbers who live along the Mediterranean Sea and Sanhaja Berbers who live in the southern part of the Rif mountains. Some Riffians may have blue eyes and red hair, unlike the Imaziren Berbers that have wide set eyes, thin noses, and leathery faces. However like Riffian Berbers Shluh Berbers are Muslim. They live in the High and Anti atlas mountains. These Berbers are sedentary and also look different they have slightly slanted eyes and darker skin. They also speak three dialects of Tashilhait. They speak Shelia in the western High Atlas, Darwa spoken in the southern part of the High and Anti Atlas, and Es-susi spoken in the upper Sous area. But not all Berbers live in the atlas mountains like the Zenta Berbers who live in the dessert oases of the western Sahara.