Tolkien and Africa

[Aeros]

As you all know Tolkien was born in South Africa, and I heard recent speculation that certain Ethiopian places inspired parts of Middle Earth, for instance the fortress of Gondar may have lent its name to Gondor, and the rock-cut churches of Lalibela in the same country might have influenced descriptions of Minas Tirith. There's also this article I stumbled on while browsing the halfirian archive, an essay by Tolkien on Sigelwara Land: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigelwara_Land

Then of course, there is Harad, which is supposed to be a stand in for (north?) Africa in Middle Earth.

My questions are, to what extent did African places and peoples influence Tolkien's writing? If Harad is North Africa/Ethiopia, how much did Tolkien know about these places? Did he visit or carry out any research there? Where's the best place to find Tolkien's discussion of Harad? Are there any references to his life in South Africa as a child?

[Rivvy Elf]

One caution that I need to point out is that the African Continent is a pretty big place with so many differing cultures. Comparing South Africa to Ethiopia would be like comparing Turkey to China.

Heck I would even hesitate to compare North Africa to Ethiopia given that the latter is closer to the Arabian peninsula than North Africa. Ethiopia also is a country that was never colonized, retaining much of its culture.

Now that that caution is out of the way… I’ll let someone more knowledgeable than me on Tolkien’s life answer the question.