Africa
Chapters 21 – 24
Modern
Language
Families
Of Africa
North Africa
North Africa
• North Africa stretches from the Atlantic
Ocean to the Red Sea.
• Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia
North Africa Natural Environment
• Sahara is the world’s largest desert.
• Covers 3.5 million square miles
(roughly the size of the U.S.)
• High winds and seas of sand called
ergs
Sahara Desert
Sahara Desert Erg
• In the Sahara, the Nile River runs north
to the Mediterranean through Egypt.
• This creates an arable (great for crops)
region along the Nile.
• Egyptian cotton has become a large
part of the economy.
• Most of Egypt, Algeria, and Libya are
desert.
• Oil and natural gas are located in all of
North Africa.
• Libya has the largest oil reserves
North Africa History and Culture
• Egypt
– 3000 BC a great civilization grew along
the Nile River and its Delta in Egypt
– Polytheistic religion (belief in many
gods) that believed gods controlled
forces and elements of nature.
– Kingdoms ruled by monarchs called
Pharaohs.
– Pharaohs were considered deities
(gods)
Gods
Pharaohs
– Built great pyramids as religious,
burial monuments that showed
wealth and status
– Hieroglyphs – system of writing
using symbols
– Power weakened and foreigners
(Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans)
began to control North Africa.
Menkaure, Khafre, Khufu
Khafre
Giza, Egypt
Ramesses’ Temple, Egypt
Phoenician Empire – 650 B.C.
Greek Empire 332 B.C. – 30 B.C.
Roman Empire 117 A.D.
• 600’s AD Arab armies conquered North
Africa bringing in the Islamic culture
and new technologies.
• Most North Africans consider
themselves Arab or Berber
descendants.
• Cities grew rich selling gold, ivory,
spices, and slaves.
• Until late 1800’s the Ottoman Empire
ruled North Africa.
Arab Conquests 600’s A.D.
Ottoman Empire
• Scramble for Africa
– Invasion, occupation, colonization
and annexation of African territories
by European powers during the
period of New Imperialism, between
1881 and 1914; looking for new
sources of raw materials
– 1884 Berlin Conference –
colonization of Africa by European
countries without regard to which
ethnic group they were
• 1882 Great Britain took control of Egypt
in order to gain control of the Suez
Canal.
– Suez Canal – manmade waterway
connecting Mediterranean Sea and
Red Sea to shorten trade route from
North Atlantic Ocean to Indian Ocean
• 1952 a group of Egyptian military
officers led revolution that won
independence for Egypt.
• 1962 Algeria gained independence from
France through a war.
• Libya became a socialist republic in
1969 following a military coup by
Mu’ammar Gadhafi.
• Arabic is the official language
• Most North Africans are Muslims, but
Jewish and Christian minorities exist.
Mu’ammar Gadhafi 1969 – 2011
North Africa Today
• Morocco and other North African
countries have taken steps to
strengthen ties with Europe.
• Oil and natural gas are the backbone of
the Algerian and Libyan economies.
• Agriculture is important to Egypt.
• Libya is the only country in North
Africa that does not have a strong
farming sector.
• Libya must import 75% of its food
• Tourism is important to Egypt, Tunisia,
and Morocco.
• Islamic fundamentalists believe that
government should be based strictly on
Islam.
West and Central
Africa
West and Central Africa
Natural Environment
•
•
•
•
•
The Congo and the Niger are two of Africa’s major
river systems and essential to their success.
The Sahara desert extends into northern Niger, Mali
and Mauritania.
The Sahel is a semi-arid region along the southern
edge of the Sahara.
The Sahara Desert is slowly expanding southward
(desertification) because of a combination of
droughts and a growing population in the Sahel.
The desert is encroaching upon the savannas
(tropical grasslands).
Niger River System
Congo
River
System
People in the Congo
African Bush Elephant
African golden wolf
Cheetah
Lion
Leopard
Nile Crocodile
Chimpanzee
Gorilla
Sahel
West and Central Africa
History and Culture
• Bantu
– Nomadic people (moved to new
places to find new resources for
survival) who migrated out of West
Africa around 1000 B.C.; spread and
changed cultures as they went
through the center of Africa to the
east and south searching for new
farmland
• Great kingdoms ruled large areas because of
nearby trading routes.
– Ghana – 800’s AD; used camel caravans
across Sahara Desert to export gold, iron,
and slaves in exchange for highly prized
salt, horses, cloth, swords, and books
– Mali – 1200s replaced Ghana; the wealthy
city of Timbuktu was an important trading
city and helped to spread Islam.
– Songhai – 1400’s – 1500’s; taken over by
Moroccans in 1591 for financial benefits
– New ideas, Arabic culture and Islam
spread to this region among trade routes.
Salt Caravan
Timbuktu 1830’s
Timbuktu
Spread of Islam
• 1400’s discovered by European explorers
while searching for a water route to Asia.
• Slavery
– Labor demands in the world’s colonies
changed focus of trade from gold to
slaves.
– Most slaves came from areas between
what are now Senegal and Angola.
– 1500’s – 1800’s Europeans and Africans
traded at least 10 million slaves using the
Triangle Trade Routes and the Middle
Passage
– This greatly changed the area in
many ways.
– Coastal states that traded slaves for
guns got upper hand over interior
states.
– It disrupted entire societies and
families.
– By the mid 1800’s, the slave trade
was coming to an end.
Modern slavery takes many forms:
• human trafficking
• forced labor
• slavery or slavery-like practices
• debt bondage
• forced marriage
• sale or exploitation of children including in armed
conflict
• Europe was industrializing and wanted
more minerals than they could produce at
home.
• During this time, West and Central Africa
quit subsistence farming (just enough for
your family) and began working for wages.
• In 1957 Ghana became independent; by
1976 all African countries in this region
were independent.
• Because rival ethnic groups had to share
power, this caused serious political
rivalries in the new countries.
West and Central Africa Today
• Societies are very diverse.
• Three major cultural influences
– African cultures
– European cultures
– Islam
• Most of the languages spoken here
belong to the Niger-Congo language
family.
• English and French are the lingua
francas (common language) of much of
Africa and are still used frequently
today.
• Islam is the main religion in the Sahel,
however many Christians live in the
south.
• Region of developing countries (low
economic status/low literacy rate/low
life expectancy and high
unemployment/high disease rate).
• Education
– Main obstacle is poverty.
– Children are needed for work and to
care for younger siblings.
– Small percentage finish high school.
Few go to college.
– Many do not have the opportunity to
learn reading and writing.
• Most people of the region produce their
own food (subsistence farming).
• Customs and traditions differ from
ethnic group to ethnic group.
• Gabon is one of the richest countries in
Africa because of its oil reserves.
• West and Central Africa have dual
economies in that some goods are
produced for export to wealthy
countries and some are produced for
locals.
Gabon
• Nomadic herds have been forced into
stationary ranches and have led to soil
erosion and overgrazing.
• Lack of factories leads to exporting
primary goods (crops) instead of
secondary goods (products).
• Most of these countries depend heavily
on only a few major exports.
West and Central Africa Challenges
• Growing population and lack of
infrastructure and food sources to
support it.
• Rapid urbanization leads to housing
shortages.
• Many live in shantytowns without
electricity or water.
Shanty town or Slum
• War and conflicts (Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Liberia, and Sierra
Leone)
• Destruction
of their
natural
environment
such as the
rain forests
in the Congo
for lumber
and clearing
grasslands
for farming
• HIV has spread rapidly
East Africa
East Africa
Natural Environment
• Nile River
– Major river that flows northward through
the Sudan.
– Two sources:
• The White Nile (from Lake Victoria and
Albert)
• The Blue Nile (starts in the Ethiopian
highlands)
• Weather is often unpredictable
Lake Victoria
White Nile Rapids
Blue Nile Falls
• Serengeti Plain has many safari animals
such as giraffes, lions, wildebeest, and
zebras
Serengeti Plain
Mt Kilimanjaro- Tanzania
16,001 ft
Ngorongoro - Tanzania
2,000 feet deep
100 square miles
• Tsetse fly keeps human populations
away from the large savannas because
it causes a disease called sleeping
sickness that only affects humans.
Uganda
• Not rich in energy
or mineral
resources and
most soils (dry
lands) have too
much salt and
lime to be used.
• Most valuable
resource is
scenery for
tourists.
Somalia
Burundi
East Africa
History and Culture
• Some of the world’s earliest artifacts are
found in East Africa.
• Little is known about East Africa’s early
people because no written record was kept.
• Arab traders began trading gold, slaves, and
ivory in this region 1,500 years ago.
• The Swahili language (mixture of Arab and
African languages) developed during this
period.
• By the late 1800’s, European countries
scrambled to claim territory in the
region.
• Ethiopia stayed mostly independent
• Europeans created most of the major
cities today and brought hospitals,
ports, roads, and schools to profitable
areas.
• East Africa includes several hundred
ethnic groups, but they can be
organized into three categories
according to language:
– The Nilotic People (Nile area of the
Sudan)
– The Cushitic Speakers (Red Sea to
the Horn of Africa)
– The Bantu Speaker (Kenya, Rwanda,
South Africa)
• Most of the traditional religions of the area
are animist. (They believe spirits reside in
animals, trees, mountains, and waters.)
• Christianity came to Ethiopia over 1,500
years ago.
• Missionaries from the 1800’s through today
have spread Christianity throughout this
region.
• Boiled sorghum (a grain that can withstand a
drought ) was the main food of the region.
sorghum
• Every country of
East Africa is a
developing country
• Subsistence
farming is common.
• Depending on the
climate, the
important crops are
beans, corn, rice,
sorghum, and
wheat.
East Africa Challenges
• Drastic rise in population leading to
widespread poverty.
• High crime rates due to unemployment.
• Unstable governments
• Disease such as cholera, Ebola, malaria
and AIDS kills thousands of East
Africans every year.
• Conflicts
– Ethnic conflicts – Rwanda in 1994 the Hutu tried
to wipe out the Tutsi. Thousands were
slaughtered (genocide – killing of a race)
– Somalia in the early 90’s different clans fought
over control of grazing rights, ports like
Mogadishu, and food.
– Darfur in the western Sudan the Janjaweed, a
militia group recruited from the tribes of the
Abbala (camel-herding Arabs) have been fighting
and killing the non-Baggara people (mostly landtilling tribes) of the region.
– The World Health Organization (WHO) has
estimated the killing between 50,000 and 450,000
since 2003.
Tutsi
Hutu
Darfur
Southern Africa
Southern Africa
Natural Environment
• Between the coastal plain and the plateau is
an escarpment (a steep face at the edge of a
plateau)
• Several major rivers flow across this region:
– The Orange River (empties into the Atlantic/
source of hydroelectricity)
– The Limpopo (Crocodile river, drains into
Indian ocean)
– The Zambezi (major source of
hydroelectricity / Victoria falls located here)
5,604 ft wide
354 ft tall
• The wettest area is the tropical rain
forest region known as Madagascar
(large island off coast) which is known
for its biodiversity.
• The Namib Desert is located in Namibia and
has the world’s largest sand dunes.
– Dry and lacks much life
– Dew and fog are the most important
sources of water.
• Eastward is the Kalahari Desert where
more plant and animal life can exist
because it is not as dry.
• The Kalahari merges into the veld.
(African savannas/grasslands)
• South Africa has many valuable energy
and mineral resources. (oil, coal, gold,
platinum, diamonds, copper)
Southern Africa
History and Culture
• 100 AD – migrant Bantu peoples were
farmers and animal herders. Changed culture
by knowing how to make tools.
• In 1652 the Dutch set up a settlement at the
Cape of Good Hope. Other Europeans
followed suit.
• Known as Boers (Dutch for farmers), they
eventually came to think of Africa as their
home and began to call themselves
Afrikaners.
Castle of Good Hope 1680
• Afrikaans – new language that combined
words from the Dutch, African, German
and Asian peoples who lived there
• In the 1800’s the British took control of
the area. This moved the Afrikaners
inland so they could be independent.
• From 1899-1902, the Boer War was
fought in this region between the British
and the Boer people over a desire to
control mineral wealth (diamonds).
Boer Encampment
• In the end the British gained control of
what is now South Africa.
• Britain granted independence to most
of its remaining colonies during the
1960’s
• Both Angola and Mozambique battled
communist regimes until the 1990’s.
• In South Africa White Afrikaners
continued to control the economy,
political power, and owned most of the
land.
• Apartheid (separateness)
– 1948 blacks in South Africa were
denied political rights
– Laws forced blacks to live in different
areas and use different facilities than
whites in South Africa
– Nelson Mandela – key leader of
reform movement (African National
Congress) imprisoned in 1962 for his
activities
Apartheid
South Africa
– In 1990 South Africa finally began to
change its politics and end apartheid
Nelson Mandela was released from
prison
– In 1994 South Africa held its first free
elections and Nelson Mandela was
elected South Africa’s first black
president.
• Southern Africa’s cultural mix reflects its
diverse history.
• Today millions of Africans belong to
Christian churches.
Southern Africa Today
• All of the countries in Southern Africa
are classified as developing countries.
South Africa is sometimes considered
middle income.
• Mozambique is one of the poorest
countries in the world and relies on
farming.
• Farming, whether market economy or
subsistence, is the most widespread
economic activity.
• Minerals and oil are becoming
increasingly important to the economics
of southern Africa.
• South Africa produces more gold than
any other country. Some mines are
13,000 feet below ground.
• Botswana is one of the world’s leading
producers of diamonds and has the
fastest growing economy in Africa.
• Southern African countries are very
dependent on a few primary exports.
This can be risky because of price
fluctuations.
• Many tourists travel to the wild game
parks of Botswana, Namibia, South
Africa, and Zimbabwe to see African
wildlife.
• Greater Johannesburg is the largest
urban area in southern Africa with 4
million people
Southern Africa
Issues and Challenges
• Poverty is the most serious problem
facing southern Africa.
• Droughts and floods often strike (More
than 1 million people were uprooted in
Mozambique due to flooding in the year
2000.)
• A decrease in air quality in the large
cities in a problem.
• In some countries in southern Africa
more than ¼ (25%) of the population is
infected with HIV.
• In Botswana, 36% of adults have HIV.
• Because of AIDS, the life expectancy in
these countries is rapidly falling.
• Attempts are being made to educate
the public by the South African
government, missionary groups, and
private charitable organizations.