Tenth Parallel Analysis

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1. Physically, the tenth parallel is a circle of latitude that runs across Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, Central America, South America, and Southeast Asia. Culturally, the tenth parallel is the front line where Christianity and Islam collide.
2. According to the article, the relationship between Muslims and Christians along the Tenth Parallel is very obstreperous as the author had stated, “But in 2008, when Roger Winter paid Nyol Paduot a visit, the north was threatening to send its soldiers and Arab militias to attack the village and lay claim to the underground river of light, sweet crude oil running beneath the chief ’s feet.” The Muslims and Christians of the Tenth Parallel are on the brink of a fight as tensions grow over land, food, oil, and water.
3. The author states that “Christianity and Islam share a fifteen-hundred year old history in Africa”. This history, she explains, starts off in 615 when Muhammad sent a total of 83 people, men and women, consisting of his family and his followers, to find refuge in Abyssinia. Around 642, the first Muslim armies
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The author notes geographical patterns that impacted Muslim/Christian interaction such as the trade winds. The trade winds, as stated by the author, are “high-pressure air currents that move steadily from either pole toward the equator.” These trade winds that are part of the inter-tropical convergence zone, the weather system that moves north and south of the equator, drove Muslims and Christians to the same islands, beaches, and ports. This season also brings about catastrophic storms, floods and drought that necessitate migrations by African nomads (mostly Muslims) and farmers, (Muslims, Christians and other believers) to new territories best suitable for agriculture. Migrations lead to increases in populations and a substantial expansion of religion across the region. As the number of believers increase in Islam and Christianity, the amount of conflicts do

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