SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
PBS Africa Website and Slideshows
Sub-Saharan Africa
• Plateau, Waterfall, Savanna, Rainforest, and Desert
• Poorest continent
– Only region to get poorer over last 25 years
– World’s largest number of displaced people and refugees
– Debt crisis
• Most rural continent, though cities growing very fast
– Village life and subsistence agriculture important
– Glorious wildlife still exists
• Legacies of Colonialism
– Cash crop economies, ethnic conflict, flawed transport systems
• Medical Crises, including most HIV/AIDs in world
• Most of world’s remaining Animists
– But missionaries spreading Christianity and Islam
• War and Failed Political Leadership Common
– Few successful democracies
African Landscape
Plateau, Waterfall, Savanna, Rainforest, and
Desert
• Plateau – high
tableland
– Highest in:
• Ethiopian Highlands
• Drakensberg Mtns.
– Lesotho & RSA
Major
Rivers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Niger
Congo
Blue Nile
Victoria/White Nile
Zambezi
Rivers
• Rapids and Waterfalls…
– Limits transportation
• Congo…
– Good for Tourism
• Whitewater Rafting
– Hydroelectric Production
Beautiful
Waterfalls
Victoria Falls
Blue Nile Falls
Victoria Falls
• On Zambezi River
– Zim/Zam border
Rift Valleys
• Crust pulls apart
• Block of crust sinks
Rift Valleys
Often have long, narrow lakes
Rift Valley
Lakes
• Lake Tanganyika
• Lake Malawi
Volcanoes
•
•
•
•
Near rift valleys
Eastern Congo
Mt. Kenya
Mt. Kilimanjaro…
Mt. Kenya
Climate and Vegetation
• Tropical Rainforest
– Congo Basin &
coast of W. Africa
– Diseases
• Malaria
– Anopheles Mosquito
Tropical Savanna
• Grasses and scattered trees
• Dry winter, Rainy summer
Savanna
• Wildlife
• Tourism
Best Wildlife Countries
• Kenya & Tanzania
• Zimbabwe, Botswana & Republic of S.A.
Poaching
• Elephant
–
–
–
–
–
Ivory Tusks
2.5 million (1970)
1.8 million (1978)
350,000 (1997)
600,000 (2005)
Rhino
• Horn used as aphrodisiac in
Asia
– 65,000 Black Rhinos in 1982
• 2300 (1992)
• 3600 (2004)
Savanna
• Masai
– Nomadic Herding of Cattle
Cattle Herding
• Destroys wilderness
– Nat. Veg. Lost
– Soil compacted, eroded
– Loss of Wildlife Habitat
• Tsetse Fly – sleeping sickness
– Disease to Animals & Humans
– Wildlife Unaffected
– Benefits Wildlife by preventing
spread of domesticated cattle
Deserts
• Somalia
• Kalahari
– Botswana
• Namib
– Namibia
Kalahari
• Semi-Desert
• Bushmen…
Bushmen Languages (Khoisan)
• “Clicking”
Kalahari
• Okavango Delta…
Sub-Saharan Africa
• Poorest continent
–
–
–
–
–
Only region to get poorer over last 25 years
World’s largest number of displaced people and refugees
Debt crisis
44% of population younger than 15
In 1990s number of those living in “extreme poverty (<$1/day) rose from
242 million to 300 million+
Angola, 2000
Rates of Natural Increase
Sub-Saharan Africa
• Most rural continent,
though cities growing very
fast
– Village life and subsistence
agriculture important
– 69% of population is rural
– Glorious wildlife still exists
Masai Village, Kenya
Village, Zimbabwe
Rwandan Farm
Sub-Saharan Africa
• Most rural continent, though cities growing very fast
– Village life and subsistence agriculture important
Rank
– Glorious wildlife still exists
Lagos, Nigeria
City
Population
1
Tokyo, Japan
28 million
2
New York
City, United
States
20.1 million
3
Mexico City,
Mexico
18.1 million
4
Mumbai, India
(Bombay)
18 million
5
Sao Paulo,
Brazil
17.7 million
6
Los Angeles,
United States
15.8 million
7
Shanghai,
China
14.2 million
Lagos,
8 Nigeria
13.5
million
9
Kolkata, India
(Calcutta)
12.9 million
10
Buenos Aires,
Argentina
12.5 million
Sub-Saharan Africa
• Most rural continent, though cities growing very fast
– Village life and subsistence agriculture important
– Glorious wildlife still exists
Lagos, Nigeria
Cape Town, Black Township, S. Africa
Legacy of Colonialism
– Cash crop economies, ethnic conflict, flawed
transport systems
Oil Palm Production
Coffee in Kenya
Rail Systems Connect Cities to Ports, Not Other Cities
Slavery
• Impacted
West Africa
– Angola
– Senegal
– Ghana
European
Colonialism
• Britain
– East
• France
– Northwest
• Belgium
– Congo
• Portugal
– Mozambique
– Angola
• Spain
– Equatorial
Guinea
BERLIN CONFERENCE
1884
• 14 countries divided up Africa without
consideration of cultures; political and tribal
fragmentation were the result.
• Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great
Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain,
Sweden-Norway (unified from 1814-1905), Turkey, and the
United States of America.
• Of these, France, Germany, Great Britain, and
Portugal were the major colonizers of Africa
INDEPENDENT STATES IN AFRICA
1960
1950
1970
INDEPENDENT
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA’S
ECONOMIC CHALLENGE
• Economic growth rate- 1.5% - world’s
lowest
• The region’s 646 million people have a
combined GNP of less than $150 billion,
roughly the same as Belgium and its 10
million people.
• Population - growing at a rate of 2.6%
annually, vs 1.7% for South America
and 1.9% for South Asia
Medical Crises, including most
HIV/AIDs in world
MEDICAL GEOGRAPHY
• Studies spatial aspects of disease and
health
• Africa is an extraordinary laboratory.
-- Disease incidence and diffusion
-- Widespread nutritional deficiencies
• Millions suffer from:
– malaria
- river blindness
– yellow fever - sleeping sickness
– AIDS
- bilharzia/schistosomiasis
Figure 17-A (b), p. 450
MEDICAL GEOGRAPHY
• Endemic
-- Exists in equilibrium with the population
-- Many develop an immunity of sorts
-- Saps energy, lowers resistance, shortens lives
• Epidemic
-- Sudden outbreak at local, regional scale
• Pandemic
-- Worldwide spread
MALARIA
WIDESPREAD
INCIDENCE
SLEEPING SICKNESS
Tsetse Fly
WIDESPREAD
INCIDENCE
Most of world’s remaining Animists
– But missionaries spreading Christianity and Islam
The Roots of Religion
Animism (Shamanism) - the belief that
all objects, animals, and beings are
“animated” or possess a spirit and a
conscious life. Also called shamanism
because of the prominence of a shaman.
• Such beliefs are common among hunter-
gatherers.
• 10% of Africans follow such traditional
ethnic religions.
• These beliefs are losing ground to
Christianity and Islam throughout Africa.
Nigerian Shaman
War and Failed Political Leadership Common
– Few successful democracies; political violence common
– Free press is rare
– Conflicts limit foreign investment
Some of Africa’s Current
Dictators
Teodoro Obiang Nguema,
Equatorial Guinea
Age 61. In power since
1979 coup. Corrupt.
Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe
Age 80. In power since
1980. Breaking up whiteowned farms. Nepotism.
King Mswati III, Swaziland
Age 35. In power since 1986.
Lavish lifestyle. Poor subjects. 11
wives. 3 Fiances. 25 children.
Mobuto Sese Seko. Zaire (now
Democratic Republic of Congo).
Reign: 1965 -1997. Famous for
kleptocracy (billions stolen)
Idi Amin. Uganda.
Reign: 1971 -1979. Famous
for his brutality
Fig. 17-22, p. 476
The Sahel – 7 countries
Sahel - “Shore” (7 Countries)
“Sahel” =
“Shore”
– Southern edge
of the Sahara
• Semi-Desert
– Between
Savanna &
Desert
• Grasses and
small trees
Sahel Environment
• Semi-Desert
– Grass and small trees
Desertification of the Sahel
• Expansion of Sahara, due to:
– Drought
– Overgrazing
Cultural Transition of the Sahel
Cultural Transition of the Sahel
• North of Sahel – Light-skinned Muslims
South of Sahel
• Black Africans
• Christian or animist
People in the Sahel
• Mostly Muslim, Black Africans
West Africa – 9 Countries
Environment
• Savanna in north
• Tropical Rainforests on Coast
– 90% Deforested
Southern
Benin
W. African Agricultural Exports
• Peanuts in savanna north
• Cocoa & Palm Oil in rainier south
W. African Agricultural Exports
• Palm Oil
• Cocoa
– Ingredient of Food & Soap
Cash crop economies are a
major problem throughout
sub-Saharan Africa.
– Ivory Coast: 50% World’s Supply
West African Empires, 800-1800 AD
• Mali Kingdom
– Capital: Timbuktu, on southern edge of Sahara
•
•
•
•
Ancient Trade & Educational Center
Niger River
Pop = 100,000 in 1500 AD
Pop = 15,000 now
Niger River
Liberia
• Founded 1847 by freed American Slaves
• Capital: Monrovia named for…
• Civil War: since 1980 war – child soldiers
Nigeria
 Largest pop. In Africa
 3 Main Concentrations
 SW
 SE
 North
Nigeria
 250+ Ethnic Groups
– Yoruba in SW
• Lagos – Nigeria’s largest city
– Ibo in SE
• Niger River Delta
– Hausa & Fulani in N
• Muslims
• Kano – Nigeria’s main Muslim city
• Shari’a (Islamic Law)
Nigeria
• Oil
– 90% of export
income
– Niger Delta
– Coastal oil to
Angola
Nigeria
 Ethnic Tensions & Violence
 Civil War in late 1960s
 Ibo unsuccessfully tried to secede
• 1 million deaths
• Capital moved
– From Lagos to Abuja
• Abuja – in “neutral” region
Central
Africa
• 7 Countries
Central Africa Environment
• Tropical Rainforests
– 20% of World’s Remaining TRFs
• Rapid Deforestation
Central Africa
Resources
• Coastal Oil
• D. R. Congo
– Rich in Metals &
Diamonds
– Old name = “Zaire”
– Terrible Corruption &
Warfare
EAST AFRICA
• 5 Countries
• Landscape
– Plateau
• Serengeti Plain (Tan.)
– Rift Valleys
– Lake Victoria
Nairobi,
Kenya
• 5000’ Elevation
• “Year-round spring”
• Industrial Center of East Africa
Agriculture
• Tea in Kenya
Rwanda & Burundi
• Ex-Belgian Colonies
RWANDA
• 2 Tribes
– Hutu (Majority)
– Tutsi (Minority)
• 1994 Genocide against Tutsi
– Million killed in 100 days
RWANDA
• Mountain Gorillas
– 650 in world
Horn of Africa
• 4 Countries
– Ethiopia
– Eritrea
– Djibouti
– Somalia
Landscape
• Hot, Dry Coastal Lowlands
– Muslim
• Ethiopian Highlands
– Christian
C
M
Ethiopian Highlands
• Canyons carved by water
Historical Background
• Ethiopian Kingdom
– Adopted Christianity, 300 AD
Ethiopia
• Difficult Environment:
– Deep Canyons  Isolated Villages
– Crops Depend on Erratic Rainfall
– Prolonged Drought  Famine
Southern Africa
Minerals in Southern Africa
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe
• Rep. So. Africa
–
–
–
–
Gold
Diamonds
Platinum
Coal
Rep. of South Africa
• Environment
– Middle Latitudes
– 5000’ Plateau
– Mild Temps (60-70F)
Drakensberg Mtns. RSA
Republic of
South Africa
• Blacks = 75%
• Whites = 14%
• Coloreds = 8%
(mixed race)
• Asians = 3%
(mostly Indians)
History of RSA
• Dutch Settlers
• Cape Town, est. 1652
– “Boers”
– Descendents: “Afrikaners”
• Afrikaans Language
• British control, 1800s
History of RSA
• Independence, 1910
– White Rule
– Apartheid
• 1994 Elections
– Nelson Mandela
Cities of South Africa
• Johannesburg & Pretoria
– “High Veld” Region
– Grassy Plateau
• Durban
– Warm & Rainy
• Like Florida
• Cape Town
– Mediterranean Climate
• Like So. Cal.
Johannesburg
• Largest City…
• Built amid…
Durban
• Zulus
• Sugarcane Plantations
• Asians (Indians)
Durban
• Beach Resorts
• Surfing
Cape Town
• Legislative Capital
• Beautiful Location
Cape Town Area - Mediterranean Climate
• Winter rain
(June – Sept)
• Spring wildflowers
Vineyards & Wineries
Madagascar
• Settled 2000
years ago by…
Madagascar • Mtns
• Trade Winds…
– Rainforests
• 90% Cut Down
Madagascar
• Unique Plants & Animals
– 90% are Endemic…
– Lemurs
Madagascar
• Endangered Species
– Lemurs
– Habitat Destruction…