Sharon Sweet, age 14, of Baton Rouge, La., for her question:
WHO ARE THE BERBERS?
Berbers are a people of northwest Africa and the Sahara. There are about 25 million Berbers and most of them speak Arabic and follow many Arabic customs. They belong to the Caucasoid race and are Moslims.
About 5 million Berbers still chiefly speak various forms of the Berber language.
Herding and farming are the two occupations on which most Berbers depend. They live in compact villages, many of them fortified.
Some of the Berber speaking groups, such as the Tuareg of the Sahara desert, roam the vast territory with herds of camels, goats and sheep.
The Kabyle of Algeria and the Shluh of Morocco rank as the largest Berber speaking groups. Many people of these groups live in northern Niger and in Libya.
Berbers were the earliest known inhabitants of the Western Mediterranean coast of Africa. They most likely lived in this region as early as 2000 B.C.
Since about 600 B.C., Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks, Spaniards, Frenchmen and Italians have ruled portions of the Berber homelands at different times. Of these invaders, the Arabs had the greatest influence on the Berber culture.
From about 600 B.C. until about 400 A.D., the Carthaginians and Romans ruled the area, and the Berber traders linked the Mediterranean coast to the gold, ivory and slave markets of West Africa. Many coastal Berbers became Roman citizens, but Berbers in the mountains and desert continued to live in independent groups.
The Arab invasion of North Africa started in the 600s. Under Arab influence, most Berbers became Moslims. During the 700s, Moslim Berbers joined with Arabs in conquering Spain.
After 1050, empires ruled by Berbers controlled much of North Africa for nearly 200 years. Desert Berbers organized the Almoravid empire, which started about 1050.
At its height, the Almoravid empire ruled the regions that are now Morocco, western Algeria and southern Spain. About 1150, mountain Berbers overthrew the Almoravids and established the Almohad empire.
The Almohads controlled all of what is now Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia and part of Spain. This large empire split apart during the first half of the 1200s.
During the 1200s, Arabs continued to move into North Africa. In time, they occupied most of the coastal region. The Arabs drove the coastal Berbers southward or absorbed them into Arab society. Today millions of North Africa's people are of mixed Berber and Arab ancestry.
Morocco, the country just across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain, has a population that is either Berber, Arab or of mixed Berber and Arab descent. About one third of the country's people speak only the Berber language.