EAST AFRICA

eastern region of the continent of Africa, comprising the areas now occupied by the countries of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Somalia. The more general term eastern Africa covers the area extending from The Sudan and Ethiopia in the north to the Zambezi River in the south; Mozambique is also sometimes included. See eastern Africa. Following World War I, German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika) was divided into British-administered Tanganyika (amalgamated since 1964 with Zanzibar as Tanzania) and Belgian-administered Ruanda-Urundi (now Rwanda and Burundi); the small Kionga (Quionga) triangle was allocated to Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique). Until 1920 Kenya was generally known as the East Africa Protectorate. World War II necessitated closer cooperation between the various territories and led to the establishment in 1948 of the East Africa High Commission, which, after the British-administered territories gained independence, in turn in 1961 developed into the East African Common Services Organization (EACSO), which became the East African Community in 1967. Economic tensions led to a progressive erosion of these links, and by 1977 the community had ceased functioning.