Africa Notes
Geography….
► About
50
countries
► 1/3 of all the
world’s
countries
► 2nd largest
continent in
land area
Continent of Plateaus….
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Africa is a giant
plateau
Plateau - flat
landmass higher than
the surrounding land
with at least one steep
side
Narrow coastal plains
extend inland less than
20 miles
One plateau follows the
other as the land rises
from west to east in a
series of steps
Continent of Plateaus…
►
►
►
►
►
Escarpment – steep
cliffs or slopes,
separate the plateaus
The highest and broadest
plateaus and escarpments
lie in the south and east
Rivers turn into
cataracts – waterfalls,
as they flow over the
escarpments
Because of plateaus, Africa
has the highest overall
elevation of any other
continent
The average elevation is
2000 feet above sea level
Mountains & Highlands…
► Not
many mountains
 Atlas Mountains
 Drakensberg
Mountains
 Mount Kenya
 Mount Kilimanjaro
► Africa’s
highest
mountain
Great Rift Valley…
► Great
Rift Valley valley that
creates a Y
shaped trench
3500 miles long
 Series of faults
 Mt. Kilimanjaro –
famous of the rift’s
volcanoes
 Steep escarpments
over a mile high
Pangaea….
► Pangaea
 Theory that all the
continents were
connected to form
one large continent
 Scientists believe the
Great Rift Valley was
created during violent
movements that
separated the continents
and caused them to drift
apart 180 million years
ago
Deserts….
► Kalahari
Desert
 Located in south-central
Africa
 Grasses & palm trees
 Biodiversity – many
different types of
plant & animal life
► Namib
Desert
 Some of the world’s
highest sand dunes
 As little as ½ inch
rain per year
 Beetles, lizards, snakes
 Lake Victoria
► Source
of the White
Nile River
► 2nd largest freshwater lake
in the world
 Lake Tanganyika
► Stretches
420 miles
► World’s longest
freshwater lake
 Lake Malawi
► Many
species of fish found
in Lake Malawi that are not
found anywhere else on
earth
 Lake Volta
► Formed
due to a dam
on the Volta River
 Lake Chad
► No
outlets to the sea
Rivers….
 Nile
► World’s
longest river
 Zaire River
► 2700
miles long
► Crosses the equator
twice
 Congo River
► Flows
northward from
Zambia & then southwest
into Atlantic Ocean
 Niger River
► Empties
into the
Atlantic Ocean
 Zambezi River
► Empties
into the Indian
Ocean
► Forms Victoria Falls
 Explorer, David
Livingstone, name this
after the British Queen
Victoria
 Twice the height of
Niagara Falls
Climate….
►
Western Africa
 Lies within the tropics
 Warm temperatures
throughout the year
 Areas around the
equator have arid
climate
 Sahel – region of
semiarid climate
extending below
the Sahara Desert
► Major
droughts can
occur & causes
widespread famine
Climate cont…
►
Southern Africa
 Tropical wet and dry
 Winds from Sahara bring
hot, dry conditions in winter
 Winds from the ocean bring
rain in summer
► Grasslands
animals
& grazing
 Drakensberg Mountains
► Causes
►
rain shadow effect
Central Africa
 Rainfall year round
 Dense tropical rainforest
 Home to many endangered
species
Natural Resources….
► Diamonds
 Found in South Africa and
Zaire
► Gold
 Geologists believe ½ the
world’s gold comes from
South Africa and the
Great Rift Valley
► Oil
 Found in Nigeria member of OPEC
► Cacao
Beans (coco)
 West Africa is world’s
major source
Population….
► 967
million
► World’s youngest
population
► About half of the
people are less than 15
years old
► World’s highest
birthrate - statistic
that tells the # of
babies born in a
population
Population…
► World’s
shortest life
expectancy average age people
are expected to live
► World’s lowest
economic growth rate
► High infant mortality
rate - the # of babies
that die in a population
► World’s highest
population growth
rate
Population Distribution….
 Uneven population
distribution due to
physical geography
► Sparsely
populated:
 Deserts
 Mountains
► Densely
populated:
 Around lakes and
rivers
 Fertile soil
 Good climates
Problems Facing the Population…
 Due to a growing
population, many regions
in Africa are struggling to
feed their population
 Food production has
declined due to:
► Loss
of soil fertility
► Droughts
 Famine and malnutrition
kill many Africans
► Famine
- severe food
shortage for an
extended period of time
 Only about 40% have
clean drinking water
Problems….
 Many diseases
► AIDS
has become an
epidemic - a disease
affecting many
persons at the same
time, and spreading
from person to
person in a location
 Poor medical care due
to:
► Lack
of doctors
► Lack of medical
supplies and equipment
 Very low Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) - total
amount of goods and
services produced in a
county in a year
 Low per capita income average amount a
person earns in a
year
► Varies
from region to
region
► Sierra Leone - $530
► South Africa - $10, 270
Urbanization….
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►
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Urbanization - the movement of people from rural
to urban areas
Africa is the least urbanized continent but it is urbanizing
at the fastest rate
Most cities are located along rivers or near natural
resources
People often move to cities in search of jobs
 Housing shortages
 No electricity or running water
History….
►
Great kingdoms
ruled areas of West
& Central Africa
 Trading sites
 Gold, cloth, slaves
 Islam spread to region
►
1400s – Europeans
began trading with
Africans
 Trying to find route to
East Asia
 Tropical disease, few
navigable rivers, and
thick forests kept
Europeans out
History….
► European
Colonization
 1500s to 1800s the
Europeans began
trading with African
societies for slaves
 Europeans sold
enslaved Africans to
American colonists
 The slave trade existed
for a long time
► Disrupted
families &
societies
► Coastal states became
more powerful than inner
savanna
 The triangular slave
trade:
► Europeans
traded with
Africans for
slaves in
exchange for
goods like
weapons
► Slaves were taken
from Africa to the
colonies in the
Americas
► Raw materials
grown in the
Americas were
taken to Europe
to the
manufacturing
plants
 Millions died during
the “Middle
Passage”- ocean
journey from Africa
to the Americas
History cont….
 David Livingstone
► Scottish
doctor and
missionary
► One of the first
Europeans to explore the
interior of Africa
► For 30 years, he explored
and set up Christian
missions
► Sent detailed reports back to
Great Britain of the exotic
wildlife and people
 The stories from Africa made
people very curious
European Colonization
► Mid-1800s
– slave
trade was ending
► Europe was
industrializing
and needed
resources
 Europeans sought
control of fertile
African territories
and resources
Scramble for Africa….
 European nations
scrambled to make their
claims in Africa
 By the 1800s, European
nations divided up
Africa and colonized it
 In 1885, 14 nations met in
Berlin to partition- or
divide, Africa
 By 1914, European
nations controlled 90%
of Africa
 Europeans controlled most
of Africa until the mid to
late 1900s
History cont….
 Liberia
 The only free
independent
state in west
Africa
► Established
in 1822
by freed Africans
who were once
enslaved
► Received support
from the U.S.
► This discouraged
European powers
from seizing it as a
colony
► Only other free
country was
Ethiopia
History….
► Boer
War – 1899 to 1902
 Dutch vs British
 British were victorious
 White minorities controlled South Africa
► Held
political power
► Controlled the economy & owned most of the land
Post-Colonialism….
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Colonialism lasted
less than 100
years
1976 – all
African
countries were
independent
Effects:
 Many ethnic
conflicts
 Workers shifted
from agriculture
to industry
History…
 Apartheid – official
policies that forced
black South Africans to
live in separate areas
and use separate
facilities from white
South Africans
 African National Congress
pushed for end to
apartheid
 1990 – apartheid ended
 1994 – Nelson Mandela
elected first black
president
Culture….
►
Language
 Over 800 languages
and dialects
► Some
originated in
Africa
► Some were brought by
foreigners
► Some are a mixture of
languages
 Lingua francauniversal language
that trade and
business is conducted
in
► Swahili
is the lingua
franca of East Africa
 Many countries still have
the language of the
European country that
colonized them
Culture cont….
► Religion
 Many ethnic groups have their own traditional
religions
 Traditional religions, Islam and Christianity each consist
of about 1/3 of the religions practiced in Africa
 African religions
► Believe
spirits of ancestors are important
► Spirits are honored in ceremonies
► Animists believe in sprits of the natural world
 Islam
► Religion
of the Sahel
 Christianity
► Atlantic
coast
Housing
Housing South African slums
1) Market in West
Africa selling
fruits
2) Farmer and his
laid-out field
(needs to be
located near
water for
irrigation
3) Farmer plowing
his field to grow
crops (lack of
technology)
4) Typical business
woman in South
Africa where
opportunities
are greater
5) Copper mining
in Central Africa
Agriculture….
 Most Africans still rely
on agriculture to make
a living
 Cash crops - grown to
make a profit
 Millet & sorghum are
staple crops – drought
resistant
 Other staple crops –
cassava, yams, corn
 Dual economies – some
goods produced for
exportation while others
are produced for local
people
Agriculture cont…
 Farming methods
► Commercial
farmingfarming organized as a
business produce cash
crops
► Shifting farming- farmers
move every one to three
years to find better soil
► Sedentary farmingfarming conducted on
permanent settlements
 Problems
► Most
people cannot afford the
machinery, technology and
fertilizers to increase food
production
► Food shortages are a
constant problem
 Important economic
activity
 Very dangerous
 Work long hours
 Many poor Africans
work in the mines to
support their families
► Mineral
wealth has
made South Africa
one of the richest
regions in the area
► Most black South
Africans do not
benefit from this
because the mines
are owned by
white South
Africans or foreign
companies
Mining….
Industrialization….
 Manufacturing is not a big
part of the economy
 Obstacles to
industrialization
►Lack
of capital - tools
and equipment used in
factories
►Political conflict (within
countries and between
neighboring ones)
►Not enough skilled
workers
Environment….
► Famine




is caused by:
Rapidly growing populations
Lack of capital (tools and equipment)
Overdependence on cash crops
Desertification- transformation of arable (fertile)
land into desert
► Using
land too much for grazing and farming causes erosion
► Droughts have impacted this too
 Civil War is the biggest cause of famine
► Used
food as a weapon by burning the fields of their enemies
► Relief agencies like the Red Cross would send food but it was often
stolen by rebels or warlords
 Example - the movie Black Hawk Down was set in Somalia
 The destruction of
forests for:
► Wood
to export
► Burn forests to clear
land for farming or
grazing
► Fuel
 Results of deforestation:
► Deforestation
may
make the earth hotter
 Carbon dioxide holds in
more heat than oxygen
 Increase in carbon
dioxide (since plants
turn carbon dioxide into
oxygen)
► Plants
and animals are at
risk for extinctiondisappearance from the
earth
Deforestation…
Deforestation cont….
► Protecting
rain forests and endangered wildlife
 As the population grows, farmers need more land for
farming
 Taking land from grasslands and forests where animals live
 Many animals are becoming endangered because:
► Humans
have pushed into the animals’ natural habitats –
living areas
► Increase in hunting:
 Poaching – illegal hunting
 Elephants and rhinos (Tusks and horns are very profitable)
 Some countries have made huge game preserves to protect
animals
 Ecotourism- tourism based on the environment
 Ecotourism has increased visits to preserves
 Some Africans object to preserves because they need the
land and often don’t profit from ecotourism
Current Issues….
► Slow
economic development
► Rapid population growth
► Internal war & conflict
► Deforestation
► Extinction of plants & animals
► Malaria & HIV/AIDS
► Genocide – intentional destruction of people
 Rwanda (1994)
 Hutu vs Tutsi