I had thought that the North Caucasus was ethnically complex before I came to Ghana. But, today after hearing another presentation on ethnic conflict in northern Ghana I am convinced that the ethnic divisions in the Caucasus are rather simple and straight forward compared to those in north-eastern Ghana. I am pretty sure that neither the Germans or the British actually fully figured out the ethnic divisions in this region during colonial rule and that this lack of understanding was one of the reasons for conflict in the area.
I read a bit about ethnic diversity in Africa when I was in college. It's definitely complex, and from what I remember there was constant migration for a long time that made it more complicated than the Caucasus.
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