The most popular social structure of ancient Africa is known as the caste system which is consist of town leaders, religious chiefs, merchants, free citizens and slaves. In most cases, leaders are people who are considered to have discovered the settlement or community.
What was the social structure of the African kingdoms?
Social classes included leaders, merchants, religious leaders, labourers, free citizens and the slaves. The leaders were people who founded a community or settlement, their lineage naturally became the new leaders of the communities as the years went by.
What was the social structure in West Africa?
Visual Representation of the West Africa Caste System showing Clerics and Kings on the top of the hierarchy, Farmers and Warriors beneath them, Fishermen on the third layer, Weavers and Leatherworkers on the fourth layer and Smiths and Griots at the bottom layer.
What is social structure in civilization?
Social Structure is the way in which people are organized in any given civilization. In ancient civilizations and in some today, people are ranked as more powerful than others based on multiple factors. These can change from region to region.
What was the social structure of sub Saharan Africa?
One common social structure among ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa is segmentary lineage organisation. Segmentary lineage societies are characterised by the foremost importance of kin relationships in determining individuals’ social and political allegiances, as well as their patterns of residence.
What is the social structure of South Africa?
NIDS identifies five main social classes: the elite, the stable middle class, the vulnerable middle class, the transitory poor and the chronic poor. “Only one in four South Africans are part of either the secure middle class or the elite.
Did Africa have a caste system?
Caste systems in Africa are a form of social stratification found in numerous ethnic groups, found in over fifteen countries, particularly in the Sahel, West Africa, and North Africa.
Does Nigeria have a caste system?
In 1956, the legislature in southeastern Nigeria passed a statute outlawing the caste system, which then simply went underground.
Is there a class system in Nigeria?
Defining African socio-economic classes is difficult, and it is no different in Nigeria. … This paper will attempt to bring some of these class definitions to life by describing the lives of three Nigerians; one categorized as lower middle class, another as upper middle class, and a third in the upper class.
What are the 5 social structures?
Key Takeaways. The major components of social structure are statuses, roles, social networks, groups and organizations, social institutions, and society.
What are the 5 social classes?
Gallup has, for a number of years, asked Americans to place themselves — without any guidance — into five social classes: upper, upper-middle, middle, working and lower. These five class labels are representative of the general approach used in popular language and by researchers.
Why is social hierarchy important in a civilization?
Importantly, the organization of social groups into a hierarchy serves an adaptive function that benefits the group as a whole. When essential resources are limited, individual skills vary, and reproductive fitness determines survival, hierarchies are an efficient way to divide goods and labor among group members.
What is unique about Sub-Saharan Africa?
In addition to an array of landforms from rift valleys to mountains to deserts, Sub-Saharan Africa contains a wide variety of climate zones and precipitation patterns. In general, the continent is relatively hot with temperate climates in the higher elevations.
What happened to sub-Saharan Africa in the 20th century?
By 1914, European powers controlled almost 90 percent of the continent, often through the use of unmitigated violence. Twentieth-century sub-Saharan Africa also saw a wave of independence movements, sometimes bloody, sometimes peaceful, but almost always the result of a long and hard-fought battle with colonial powers.
What is the environment like in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from some serious environmental problems, including deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, wetland degradation, and insect infestation. Efforts to deal with these problems, however, have been handicapped by a real failure to understand their nature and possible remedies.