SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
DEFINING THE REALM
Topics:
• The cradle of
humankind
• Wildlife conservation
and sustainable
development
• Neocolonial land
grabs?
• Africa’s complex,
fragmented ethnic
mosaic
• The AIDS scourge
• Africa: The latest
emerging economy?
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
PHYSIOGRAPHY
‒ One-fifth of the Earth’s
entire land surface.
‒ Much of region far from
maritime sources of
moisture.
‒ Large areas lie under
Subtropical High Pressure
Belt producing arid
conditions.
‒ Water supply one of
Africa’s great problems.
African Genesis
• Cradle of humankind!
• 7 million years of
archeological research.
• Predominant “Out-of-Africa
Theory” based on findings.
African Rift Valley
• Great Lakes, Waterways,
Volcanoes created by tectonic
forces.
‒ Rift Valleys—formed as
parallel faults appear and the
crust between them sinks,
forming great steep-sided,
linear valleys.
• Unusual river courses
‒ Inland and coastal deltas, long
distance flows, valley
waterfalls.
• Plateau continent
‒ No large mountain range.
Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics
• Continental drift
‒ All continents once part of one giant
landmass called Pangaea.
• Plate tectonics created Rift Valleys.
• Oldest human remains found here.
AFRICA’S HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY
Early States and Trade
• West Africa Origins
• Regional complementarity
‒ Trade between forest and
dryland people.
• Markets and urban centers in
savanna belt.
‒ Timbuktu (Mali)—once a
thriving center of commerce
and learning and one of the
leading urban centers in the
world.
• Cultural Hearths
‒ Ghana—Oldest and best
known (9-12th centuries AD).
‒ Kush—irrigation systems, iron
tools, impressive structures
(Egyptian influences).
‒ Axum—richest market,
controlled Red Sea trade.
Great Bantu Migration
• Nigeria and Cameroon south
and eastward.
‒ Zulu Empire in South Africa
• Rich and varied cultures (precolonization).
• Highly fragmented groups—
weak security, little cooperation.
European Slave Trade
• Africans forced migration to Brazil,
Caribbean Basin, and USA.
• Largest in volume (30 million poeple).
• Ravaged interior populations.
• Major cruelty (Christopher Columbus
and Portuguese trading ships).
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
AFRICA’S HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY
The Colonial Transformation
Colonization of Africa
•1884—Berlin Conference
•After 1900, European powers
control of acquired areas.
•Government with differing
political, social, and cultural
impacts.
‒ British—indirect rule with local
rulers representatives of the
British Crown.
‒ Portuguese—harsh and direct
control.
‒ French—created culturally
assimilated elites.
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
Natural Environments
Animals Fairing Poorly
• Shrinking rainforest and
savanna habitats—last
refuges for wildlife.
• Species threatened and
extinct.
‒ European colonizers and
hunting as a “sport.”
‒ Farmers killing wildlife
‒ Poaching in protected areas.
• Game reserves and
conservation areas—
inadequate and poorly
connected for migration and
food/water sources.
• Climatic region distribution:
‒ Congo Basin (Equatorial
Africa) – warm and wet.
‒ Cape Good Hope (South
Africa) – moderate and dry.
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
Natural Environments
Wildlife Management and Tourism
•Recognize importance of nature
conservation.
•Tourism generates important revenues.
‒ Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa
•Challenge of meeting needs of:
‒ Sedentary people
‒ Migratory animals
‒ Tourist facilities
People, Farmlands, and Environments
•Major population clusters in West Africa, East Africa, and the Horn.
•Dependence on subsistence agriculture (government policies and exports,
75% women’s work, few green crops).
•African farming challenges:
‒ Climatic variability.
‒ Economic policies of national governments—prices are kept artificially low.
‒ Difficulties in reaching world markets.
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
AFRICANS AND THEIR LAND
Political and economic factors
• Land tenure—the way people
own, occupy, and use land.
‒ African communal land
ownership, not individual.
Stolen Lands
• Colonialism/land alienation.
• Unequal distribution of land
ownership (ex. Bushmen and
Khoisan nomadic peoples).
• Governments sell public lands
to agrobusiness-investors.
• Rapid population growth has
led to land/resource overuse.
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
ENVIRONMENT AND
HEALTH
Types of Infectious Disease:
• Endemic—disease that infects
many people in a kind of
equilibrium without causing
rapid or widespread deaths.
‒ Examples: hepatitis, venereal
diseases, and hookworm.
• Epidemic—disease outbreak of
local or regional dimensions.
‒ Example: “Sleeping Sickness”
vectored by the tsetse fly.
• Pandemic—disease spread
worldwide.
‒ Example: “Malaria” transmitted
by mosquitoes.
The AIDS Scourge
• “AIDS Belt”—Democratic
Republic of Congo to Kenya.
‒ Worst-afflicted areas in
South/Western Africa.
• South Africa, Nigeria,
Mozambique, Tanzania, and
Zimbabwe.
• 60% of those infected are women.
• Impacts life expectancies,
children, and economy.
South African Orphanage – mostly HIV+ children.
• AIDs Epidemic Poorly Treated
‒ Originated in tropical Africa
and spread throughout.
‒ Social stigma.
‒ Expensive medications.
‒ Government leadership is
inconsistent.
• Example: Orphan children.
© Alexander B. Murphy
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
CULTURAL PATTERNS
African Languages
• More than 1,000 languages.
• Many without written tradition.
• Geographic realm and AfroAsiatic language family.
‒ Niger-Congo family—dominant
native language family.
• Common modern languages =
‒ Hausa, Yoruba, Swahili.
‒ English, French (lingua franca)
• Some languages on the verge of
extinction, many already gone.
Language and Culture
• Multilingualism—society with a
mosaic of local languages.
‒ African federal governments decide.
• Colonial language vs. dominant local
language.
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
CULTURAL PATTERNS
Religion in Africa
• Indigenous African belief systems
‒ Spiritual forces in natural environment.
• Christianity
‒ Christian denominations spread through colonialism.
• Roman Catholicism, Anglican, Presbyterian, Evangelical.
• Islam
‒ Out of Arabia across the Sahara and along the north coasts of Africa.
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
URBANIZATION AND
SOCIAL CHANGE
• Least urbanized world realm.
‒ Rural population issues.
• Formal sector—
governmental control and
regulations affecting civil
service, business, industry,
and their workers.
• Informal sector—areas
where activities are beyond
governmental control.
‒ Migrants/refugees in squatter
settlements.
• Example: Rwanda and warfare.
‒ Black market animal trading.
• Example: Ivory poaching in
protected wildlife areas.
‒ Piracy in Gulf of Aden and
Indian Ocean.
Zaire-Rwanda border – Hutu Refugees heading home (1996)
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
A POSTCOLONIAL REALM
African Governments Problematic
• Geographic territory and ethnic identity discrepancies.
• Authoritarian rule, unstable political systems, exploitation.
• Colonial infrastructure to ports for European economic benefit.
• Modern conflicts (ex. Southern Sudan and independence).
Supranational Organizations to Overcome Disadvantages
• ECOWAS in 1975 (15 countries), SADC in 1990s, AU in 2001
‒ Promote trade, transportation, industry, and social affairs.
Fast-Growing African Economies
• Stereotype—realm made up of dysfunctional government, economic
underperformers, famines, and violence.
‒ 6 countries with fastest economic growth worldwide! (2001-2010)
• Angola, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Chad, Mozambique, Rwanda.
• World’s newest emerging market.
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
REGIONS OF
THE REALM
Topics:
• South Africa after apartheid
• Madagascar’s unique
wildlife
• Oil and blood in the Niger
Delta
• The shadow of Islam
• The unforgiving Sahel
• Pirates in the Gulf of Aden
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
Regions of the Realm
Southern Africa
East Africa
Equatorial Africa
West Africa
African Transition Zone
SOUTH AFRICA
• Largest economy -
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
SOUTHERN AFRICA
‒ Produces 45% of GDP.
‒ Minerals, farmland, cities, ports,
transportation, stability.
• Zulu and Xhosa nations.
• Gateway from the Atlantic to the
Indian Ocean.
• Dutch and British colonies
‒ East India Trading Company
founded Cape Town—1652.
‒ Boers—Dutch descendants
‒ Afrikaners (later descendants)
• Apartheid—1950-1990
‒ Strict racial segregation.
‒ Separate development—racially
based entities whose inhabitants would
be citizens of those ethnic domains.
• First democratic election—1994 in
Republic of South Africa.
• Nelson Mandela (of African descent)
became president – ANC, “A Long
Walk to Freedom” and hero status.
Population = 50 million.
•
•
•
•
79% black
9% white
9% coloured
3% asian
SOUTH AFRICA
Soweto shantytown
The Ethnic Mosaic
•Regionalism of ethnic groups
Ecologically Protected Areas • Kalahari National Park,
Kruger National Park, Cape
Ranges, Marine Protected Areas.
Ongoing Challenges
• Economy dependent on
minerals exports, weak
manufacturing sector.
• High unemployment and
low income among blacks.
• Scourge of AIDS and
governmental failure to
solve the crisis.
• Democracy has prevailed
‒ ANC presidents elected
‒ 1999—Thabo Mbeki
‒ 2007/2009—Jacob Zuma
(Zulu ancestry).
‒ Zulu nation—Kwazulu‒
‒
‒
‒
Natal Province.
Xhosa—Eastern Cape.
Tswana—border with
Botswana.
Coloured—Cape Town.
South Asian—Durban.
THE MIDDLE TIER
• Botswana
‒ Diamond-exporting.
‒ Kalahari Desert, Central
Game Reserve, Chobe NP.
‒ Okavango River and Wildlife.
‒ Most severely AIDS afflicted
country.
• Lesotho and Swaziland
‒ Traditional kingdoms.
‒ Dependent on remittances
Zimbabwe
• Good farmlands, cool uplands,
mineral resources, and varied
natural environments.
• After white-minority rule
ended, enormous inequality
hindered development.
• Ethnic conflict
‒ Shona and Ndebele
• President Mugabe
‒ Encouraged squatters to invade
from workers in South Africa.
• Namibia
‒ Former German colony.
‒ 1919-1990—administered by
South Africa.
‒ Namib Desert—one of
world’s driest deserts.
‒ Subsistence farming, mining,
and ranching.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
white farms, destroyed
agriculture economy and
informal settlements, lacking
foreign investment.
‒ 80% unemployment.
‒ 4 million refugees (of 12.9M
population).
‒ Socio-political tragedy.
THE NORTHERN TIER
• Zambia
‒ Former British colony.
‒ Copperbelt—mineral wealth.
‒ Chinese influence and expansion
of mining operations.
• Malawi
‒ Agricultural economy, cycles of
boom and bust (Lake Malawi as
eastern border).
• Angola
‒ Former Portuguese colony.
‒ Fastest growing economy
in the world (oil rich).
‒ Exclave (outlier)—Cabinda.
‒ Victim of Cold War
(communism vs. rebel mvt.).
• Mozambique
‒ Former Portuguese colony.
‒ Bauxite deposits.
‒ Good relative location—
Port traffic and trade.
‒ Poverty reigns.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
EAST AFRICA
• Great Lakes
‒ Rift valley and high-plateau
basins.
‒ Lakes Albert, Edward, Kivu,
and Tanganyika.
• Highlands
‒ East African Plateau.
‒ Fertile soils and abundant
precipitation.
‒ Towering volcanoes.
‒ Lake Victoria.
• Bantu population
‒ Ancient ways.
Tanzania
EAST AFRICA
• Largest and most populous state.
Kenya
‒ Dar es Salaam—capital city.
• Dominant state of the region.
‒ 100 ethnic groups
‒ Nairobi—region’s largest city.
‒ Mombasa—East Africa’s busiest
‒ 30% of population are Muslims
port.
• Agricultural exports—coffee
and tea.
• Tourist industry – Serengeti
plains and safari.
• Problems of past decades.
‒ High population growth and
‒
‒
‒
‒
pressure on resources.
Poaching and terrorism.
Natural disasters—El Niño.
Government corruption and
ethnic divisions.
AIDS epidemic
Uganda
•
•
•
•
•
• Serengeti National Park—tourism,
wildlife, and preservation.
• Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,240 ft.)
• Massive Lake Victoria to north.
British colony.
Kampala—capital city.
Landlocked state.
Lake Albert, Nile River.
Economy
‒ Agriculture—coffee,
cotton, farm exports.
‒ Mining—copper.
• Idi Amin—dictator
‒ Ousted Asians.
‒ Destroyed economy.
• AIDS epidemic
• Lord’s Resistance Army
EAST AFRICA
Rwanda and Burundi
• Belgian territories.
• Africa’s mostly densely
populated countries.
• Tutsi—pastoralists.
• Hutu—farmers.
• Twa—pygmy.
• 1994—Rwandan genocide
and refugee migration.
Ethiopia
• Adis Abeba—capital.
• Coptic Christian population.
• 1993—yielded
independence to Eritrea.
• Chinese investment in
Ethiopian infrastructure
projects.
Madagascar
• World’s 4th-largest
island.
• Southeast Asian—
Malay influence.
‒ Rice is the staple food.
‒ Malagasy—language.
• French colony.
‒ French—lingua franca.
• Unique wildlife (large
tropical island south
east of continent)
‒ Forests and Primates.
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
EQUATORIAL AFRICA
• Equatorial—locational
warm/wet conditions and
significant biodiversity.
• Low-elevation western
tropics.
• Dominated by Congo
Basin.
‒ The Congo—largest in
territory and population.
• Atlantic coastal and
landlocked states.
EQUATORIAL AFRICA
The Congo—Democratic
Republic of Congo
• Centrifugal forces pull the
country apart.
• Forested basin creates
communication and
transportation barriers.
‒ Amazing fauna: Great Apes.
• Productive areas in the
periphery.
• Areas tend to look across the
border for outlets, markets, and
ethnic kinship.
• Civil war spillover from
Rwanda.
‒ One of world’s largest refugee
flows in The Congo.
‒ Civil unrest erupted in 2007 and
continues intermittently.
Across the Congo/Ubangi Rivers
• Chad—landlocked, remote, oil
discoveries, assistance from China.
• Central African Republic—
landlocked, chronically unstable,
and mired in poverty.
• São Tomé and Príncipe– densely
forested volcanic islands.
‒ Ministate transformed by recent oil
discoveries.
EQUATORIAL AFRICA
Coastal States—petroleum and timber
important for states’ economy.
• Gabon—upper-middle-income
economy with largest proven
mineral resources.
• Cameroon—strongest agricultural
sector because of its higher-latitude
location and higher-relief
topography.
• Congo—recovers from civil war,
potential transit hub for the region.
• Equatorial Guinea—mainland
territory and island of Bioko,
Spanish colony, one Africa’s leastdeveloped territories, potential to
be transformed by oil production.
‒ Cabinda—Angolan exclave.
South Sudan
• Africa’s newest country—2011
independence.
• Religious divide between Islam
and Christianity-animism.
• Oil revenue potential.
• Grinding poverty, lack of good
governance and infrastructure.
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
WEST AFRICA
• Extends from margins
of Sahara to Gulf of
Guinea and from Lake
Chad west to Senegal.
• Steppe-desert North to
wet coastal south.
• British and French
colonial legacy.
• Realm’s most
populous region.
Nigeria
•
•
•
•
Africa’s most populous state.
1960—independence from Britain.
Muslim North/Christian South.
Niger Delta—large oilfields
discovered in 1950s.
• Misguided development plans.
‒ 80% population earn less than U.S.
$2 a day.
• Islam Ascendant
• Sharia law (strict Islamic)
‒ Persecution of non-believers.
‒ Riots between Christians and
Muslims (suicide bombing attacks).
‒ Christians fled northern states.
WEST AFRICA
WEST AFRICA
Coast and Interior
• Desert and steppe
environments.
• Burkina Faso
‒ Muslim majority.
‒ Poor, landlocked,
• Ivory Coast—Côte d’Ivoire
‒ 1960—independence from
France.
‒ Muslim North/Christian
South.
‒ Turbulent history.
undeveloped gold reserves,
• Senegal
relies on cotton exports.
‒ Dakar—capital
• Ghana—Gold Coast
‒ 95% Muslim population.
‒ Democratic government.
‒ Wolof—dominant ethnic
‒ Sound economy based on
group.
cocoa exports.
‒ Lacks valuable resources.
‒ Discovery of coastal oil
reserves.
‒ Subsistence-farming.
‒ Democratic and stable.
• Gambia
‒ English-speaking enclave.
‒ Surrounded by Senegal.
‒ Democratic and
independent.
• Liberia
‒ 1822—founded by freed
American slaves.
‒ Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,
Africa’s first female president
(elected 2006).
• Nobel Peace Prize
• Democratic and stable state.
• Sierra Leone—Diamond
Coast
‒ Dictator/rebel havoc to free
elections.
• Guinea
‒ Potential economic
opportunities in both
agriculture and mining.
‒ Violent power struggle.
• Periodic markets—village
markets open every three or
four days, ensuring that all
villages get a share in the
exchange network (tradition).
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
AFRICAN TRANSITION ZONE
• Between northern arid
Sahara and southern
humid savanna zone.
• Sahel—steppe region.
• Intersection of
Subsaharan cultures
and Muslim world.
• Islamic Front—
religious frontier
through Africa.
‒ Marked by conflict.
AFRICAN TRANSITION ZONE
The Horn of Africa
Volatile subregion.
• Djibouti
‒ 95% Muslim.
‒ Ministate.
‒ Choke point—Bab el Mandeb
Strait and entry to the Red Sea
(oceanic shipping lane).
• Eritrea
‒ 1993—split from Ethiopia.
‒ Ongoing boundary conflicts
with Ethiopia have damaged
both economies.
Ethiopia
AFRICAN TRANSITION ZONE
• Highlands—core area.
‒ Adis Abeba—capital.
• Christian heartland.
• Encircled by Muslim
societies.
‒ 34% of population Muslim.
• Landlocked and fragmented.
• Weak political and economic
systems.
Somalia
• Desert-dominated climate.
• Muslim population.
• Failed state—fragmentation.
‒ Somaliland—independent, most
stable, not recognized by
“international community.”
‒ Puntland—degree of autonomy,
warlords, and Islamic militia.
• Mogadishu—official capital
Somalian Pirates
Homework
1. Read Textbook Chapter 6a/b
2. Homework:
• Choose one “@from the Field Notes”
subsection topic in Ch.6 textbook; research
and summarize (1 page).
OR
• Choose a realm/region within or adjacent
to South Africa to review in detail (1 page).
Use Chapter 6b for ideas and information,
research and summarize.