Africa: South of the Sahara
Africa South of the Sahara Africa is not a country. It is a large continent that is the home of fifty-four countries. The continent faces numerous challenges and possibilities. One advantage many of the countries have is abundant natural resources. There are almost a billion people on the continent, and many of them are young, which is another advantage. Many countries are also developing strong, diversified economies. There are also challenges. Many people suffered at the hands of poor government. Violence and division resulting from ethnic differences have exploded at times. The AIDS epidemic has destroyed many lives and hurt economies. Continuing conflict interferes with development. Environmental challenges such as desertification and deforestation hurt the chances of success for the people of Africa.
Physical Geography Africa is the 2nd largest continent. The shape of the continent is a very large plateau. Around the edges there is a very narrow coastal plain (flat land next to the water), and then the elevation rises suddenly into the plateau. Africa has the highest overall elevation of any continent. Although the continent has a very high elevation it does not have a lot of mountains. The highest mountain is Mt. Kilmarjaro in Tanzania. One of the most unique physical features in Africa is the Great Rift Valley. The Rift Valley is a giant fault line in Eastern Africa. It runs from Jordan in SW Asia to Mozambique. There are four major rivers in Africa: the Nile River, the Congo, the Niger, and the Zambezi. The Congo twists and turns for almost 2700 miles. It contains a lot of water, so it could be used for hydroelectricity.
Resources Africa has a lot of resources. The biggest deposits of diamonds exist in Africa. There is a lot of gold in South Africa and the Great Rift Valley. There are large resources of oil in the coastal regions and places like Nigeria. These mineral resources and fossil fuels have the potential to make African countries wealthy. Many people hope these countries will figure out a way for these resources to be the basis of developing economies. They would like to see the countries in Africa to use their wealth in natural resources to invest in diversifying their economies and taking better care of their people through health care and education.
Special Focus: South Africa
One country that has done that well is South Africa. South Africa has a terrible history of war, colonialism, and racism. The government of South Africa used to be all-white and they represented only a small number of whites living in South Africa. This government started a policy of apartheid which kept the black South Africans living in terrible conditions and poor. They used violence to make sure the whites kept the power. It seemed hopeless but the people who thought apartheid was horrible, like Nelson Mandela (who became President of South Africa), fought and changed things. The old government was done away with and apartheid was destroyed. But South Africa still had problems based on their long history of racism. But they also have an incredible amount of mineral resources. Mining is the major industry in South Africa and because the government is run fairly well now, this has meant greater wealth and opportunity for the people of South Africa. They used their profit from mining to help create other types of jobs. These jobs helped create opportunities for both black and white South Africans. Now, South Africa’s economy is so strong they were able to host the World Cup in 2010, the first time that has ever happened in Africa. South Africa’s GDP is almost $12,000 per person.
There are some obstacles to this dream, though. First, many governments suffer from a great deal of corruption. That means that the people who run the government use the wealth of the country to make themselves rich. Nigeria is a great example of a country that should have a great deal of money to invest because they have a large amount of petroleum resources. But their GDP per capita is only about $2600. One country, Guinea-Bissau, is used by drug traffickers to smuggle drugs all over the world. The government of Guinea-Bissau allows this while their GDP is around $600. Another problem is wealthier countries have come into African countries and bought their resources to use for their own benefit. For example, China often makes contracts with countries like Madagascar to use their resources like land or minerals. In return, the Chinese agree to build things for the African country and give them money. The problem with this is many people think the African countries are not making very good deals. People worry that if China makes the roads in a country, no one in that country will learn how to make roads. So if the Chinese leave (which they will because the resource will eventually run out), they will be back where they started.
Climate There are a number of climates in Africa including Desert (P-less than 10 inches a year, V-none to small grasses, T-hot in the day, cold at night in Africa). The Steppe (P-10-25 inches a year, V-short grasses, T-hot in Africa) area surrounding the Sahara is called the Sahel. Along the Equator, there are wide areas of tropical savanna (P-wet season, dry season, V-tall grasses with small trees, T-mostly hot all year) and tropical rain forest (P-over 80 inches a year, rains daily, V-plants and large trees pile on top of one another, T-hot all year). There are some places in southern Africa and in the highlands that have more comfortable climates.
Population
The continent of Africa has nearly a billion people. When you consider that is divided up among 54 countries, the continent does not have a very high population. Nigeria, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have the highest populations. The AIDS epidemic has affected many country’s populations. Although Africa only has 12% of the world’s population, the continent has 60% of the world’s AIDS cases. AIDS is a disease that affects a person’s immune system and, if left untreated, will result in the person’s death. AIDS has caused a big drop in life expectancy in the countries where the problem is the worst. It took the countries of Africa a long time to deal with the AIDS problem, and in the time it took for them to deal with it, the virus spread. The epidemic is worst in Southern Africa. Before the virus hit the continent, the life expectancy in Botswana was around 65 years of age. After AIDS, the life expectancy in Botswana is now 35.
Special Focus: Ethnic Conflict
Another problem noticeable in Africa is ethnic conflict. There are many hundreds of ethnic groups. Because of how the Europeans took over in the 1800s, many of these ethnic groups were forced together into one colony. Much of the time, the European country that ran the colony would give one ethnic group benefits and power and leave the other ethnic groups out. A great example of this happening (and it happened all the time) is Rwanda. The Dutch used to run Rwanda. There are two major ethnic groups—the Hutus (about 85% of the population) and Tutsi (about 14% of the population). Once the Dutch left, they left the Hutus in charge. In the 1990s, the tension between these two ethnic groups exploded into violence. Many Hutus began attacking the all Tutsi and many Hutus who thought the violence was wrong. The goal of the Hutus was to kill all the Tutsi. Killing an entire ethnicity is called genocide. The Hutus killed over 800,000 people in 100 days (that is 8000 people a day). They killed about ¾ of the Tutsi population. No one, not the United Nations, not any other countries, tried to help the people who were being attacked. The Tutsis had to fight back and stop the killings. Today, the country is led by a Tutsi, Paul Kagame runs the country. He is kind of a dictator but at the same time no one is trying to kill whole groups of people.
Ethnic conflicts occur in other countries, as well. In Nigeria, there are four major ethnic groups. Two of these groups had all the power when the British were in control (they are also both Christian and live in the South). Once Nigeria gained independence, the other two ethnic groups (who are Islamic and live in the North) gained control. In the 1980s there were violent conflicts between these groups. In the 1990s, a government was created that tried to balance the ethnic groups and reduce the tension. Now, in one of the places where one ethnic group, the Igba, live, much petroleum has been discovered. The other ethnic groups think the money made from the petroleum should be shared among the different ethnic groups. The Igba aren’t so sure. There have other ethnic and cultural conflicts, as well. One group that has gotten a lot of attention, the Boko Haram is an Islamic group from the North that has committed many terrorist acts against the people in the North and the government.
A very recent, well-known ethnic conflict occurred in Sudan. The northern part of the country is ethnically Arab and Muslim. The southern part of the country is Christian or Animist. They warred for several years. In 2012, a new country, better reflecting these ethnic and cultural divisions, called South Sudan was formed from the Southern part of Sudan. They still have conflicts at the border.
History
Several great kingdoms rose during the time of Roman civilization and the subsequent Dark Ages in Europe. These kingdoms developed advanced trading systems. The earliest kingdom was called the Kush and was located where Ethiopia is now. Greater empires came later in West Africa with the growth of Ghana, Mali, Songhai empires. Southern Africa was the home of the Bantu kingdoms called Kongo, Luba , and Lunda. All this development occurred without a lot European interest or knowledge about Africa.
When European countries began settling the Americas in 1500’s, they discovered they needed a lot of labor. Since disease
killed of a lot of the Native American population the Europeans settlers had a lot of land and opportunity to make money from it, but they needed to get people to work the land. The Europeans’ solution was slavery comprised of people stolen from Africa. American and Europeans traded in humans from Africa via the Middle Passage which was the name given to the trip across the Atlantic.
While the slave trade was occurring, colonization began. European countries took over the entire continent except Ethiopia and Liberia. The point of taking over Africa was to make money. Europe could get cheap raw materials from the colony and then make people of the colony only buy the stuff that particular European country made. One of the things the Europeans did to keep control was to make sure different groups under their control fought each other. So, often one ethnic groups was given much greater power and opportunity than other ethnic groups. This increased the conflict between ethnicities and the problems that came from it continue today. Another thing the Europeans did was spread their culture. Most of the places in Africa have a lot of elements of European culture like language and government systems. This is because of colonialism.
Colonialism lasted a long time in Africa. Most countries gained their independence in the 1950’s –1960’s. Unfortunately, European countries kind of messed up the societies and did not prepare their colonies for independence. As a result, there has been a lot of conflict, instability, and suffering in the fifty years since independence. Many African countries still deal with the problems left over from the colonial period.
Today there is both good and bad in Africa. Some countries have fair, honest, and hard working governments, economic opportunities and ways to deal with problems in a positive way. Other countries have a corrupt government that exploits the people. In several places, violent conflict continues. A lot of people suffer.
Culture
The cultures of many groups in Africa are a combination of very traditional ways and new customs adopted from other groups, like the Europeans. Throughout Africa, religion is very important. Many people believe in traditional religions, although Christianity has influenced much of southern Africa and Islam has influenced northern Africa. The literature of Africa is rooted in what is called the oral tradition. An oral tradition basically means that the important stories in the culture are not written down, instead they remembered and retold over generations. Music and dance are very important Africa, and the music Africans enjoy and create ranges from traditional music to pop and rap. Soccer is the most popular sport in most African countries.
Economy
Countries in African have had a difficult time developing their economies. There are no developed nations in Africa, but that does not mean all the countries are at the same level of development. There are some individual countries that do well economically, especially South Africa, Equatorial Guinea, and Mauritius. Overall, the entire continent is poor. Much of Africa has a lot of resources it can use but many countries also struggle with problems that interfere with their economy such as disease, corruption, and violence. The poorest countries in Africa are those who have just ended a war or are engaged in a war. Sixty percent of the continent works in agriculture. The second largest economic sector is mining and drilling.
Special Focus: Humanitarian Relief in Africa
Because there is so much conflict, corruption, poverty, and environmental problems, many people are affected. They have no control over whether they are caught in the middle of a war, riot, or drought. The people who suffer because of this can often be assisted by organizations from outside the country in which they live. One major organization that provides humanitarian relief (help for people who are in the middle of a bad situation like a disaster or warzone) to Africa regularly is the United Nations. The United Nations is an organization that most other countries of the world belong to. The UN is supposed to help the world stay peaceful and to help people in need. They do several things for people in Africa (and a lot of other places, too). They provide food relief for people who are starving or malnourished (doesn’t get enough or the right things to eat).They set up camps for refugees. They negotiate zones in places fighting wars for people to go to if they want to escape the violence. They protect people from other organizations who are doing good things like the Red Cross/ Red Crescent. The UN will provide some healthcare and education for people who are suffering because of a natural disaster.
Environment
Africa faces numerous environmental challenges. One of the greatest problems is desertification. Desertification is the process of desert areas growing into places that did not used to be desert. The Sahara and Kalahari Deserts have grown significantly in the past 50 years. The most important causes of desertification are incorrectly farming and grazing animals in areas around the desert. If people and animals take all the grass and trees out of the land, it cannot hold moisture, and them it becomes arid, or dry. This has happened in the Sahel over the past 50 years. Deforestation is another problem. Africa contains a large amount of tropical rain forest areas. People need to live, so they cut away the forest in order to have plots to grow crops. Deforestation destroys habitats for animals and worsens the global warming problem.
Other issues facing many countries in Africa is the lack of available clean water, diseases that are hard to deal with such as malaria and AIDS, and lack of food for many that leads to malnutrition, or, at times, starvation.
Questions, Africa South of the Sahara
Physical Geography Africa is the 2nd largest continent. The shape of the continent is a very large plateau. Around the edges there is a very narrow coastal plain (flat land next to the water), and then the elevation rises suddenly into the plateau. Africa has the highest overall elevation of any continent. Although the continent has a very high elevation it does not have a lot of mountains. The highest mountain is Mt. Kilmarjaro in Tanzania. One of the most unique physical features in Africa is the Great Rift Valley. The Rift Valley is a giant fault line in Eastern Africa. It runs from Jordan in SW Asia to Mozambique. There are four major rivers in Africa: the Nile River, the Congo, the Niger, and the Zambezi. The Congo twists and turns for almost 2700 miles. It contains a lot of water, so it could be used for hydroelectricity.
Resources Africa has a lot of resources. The biggest deposits of diamonds exist in Africa. There is a lot of gold in South Africa and the Great Rift Valley. There are large resources of oil in the coastal regions and places like Nigeria. These mineral resources and fossil fuels have the potential to make African countries wealthy. Many people hope these countries will figure out a way for these resources to be the basis of developing economies. They would like to see the countries in Africa to use their wealth in natural resources to invest in diversifying their economies and taking better care of their people through health care and education.
Special Focus: South Africa
One country that has done that well is South Africa. South Africa has a terrible history of war, colonialism, and racism. The government of South Africa used to be all-white and they represented only a small number of whites living in South Africa. This government started a policy of apartheid which kept the black South Africans living in terrible conditions and poor. They used violence to make sure the whites kept the power. It seemed hopeless but the people who thought apartheid was horrible, like Nelson Mandela (who became President of South Africa), fought and changed things. The old government was done away with and apartheid was destroyed. But South Africa still had problems based on their long history of racism. But they also have an incredible amount of mineral resources. Mining is the major industry in South Africa and because the government is run fairly well now, this has meant greater wealth and opportunity for the people of South Africa. They used their profit from mining to help create other types of jobs. These jobs helped create opportunities for both black and white South Africans. Now, South Africa’s economy is so strong they were able to host the World Cup in 2010, the first time that has ever happened in Africa. South Africa’s GDP is almost $12,000 per person.
There are some obstacles to this dream, though. First, many governments suffer from a great deal of corruption. That means that the people who run the government use the wealth of the country to make themselves rich. Nigeria is a great example of a country that should have a great deal of money to invest because they have a large amount of petroleum resources. But their GDP per capita is only about $2600. One country, Guinea-Bissau, is used by drug traffickers to smuggle drugs all over the world. The government of Guinea-Bissau allows this while their GDP is around $600. Another problem is wealthier countries have come into African countries and bought their resources to use for their own benefit. For example, China often makes contracts with countries like Madagascar to use their resources like land or minerals. In return, the Chinese agree to build things for the African country and give them money. The problem with this is many people think the African countries are not making very good deals. People worry that if China makes the roads in a country, no one in that country will learn how to make roads. So if the Chinese leave (which they will because the resource will eventually run out), they will be back where they started.
Climate There are a number of climates in Africa including Desert (P-less than 10 inches a year, V-none to small grasses, T-hot in the day, cold at night in Africa). The Steppe (P-10-25 inches a year, V-short grasses, T-hot in Africa) area surrounding the Sahara is called the Sahel. Along the Equator, there are wide areas of tropical savanna (P-wet season, dry season, V-tall grasses with small trees, T-mostly hot all year) and tropical rain forest (P-over 80 inches a year, rains daily, V-plants and large trees pile on top of one another, T-hot all year). There are some places in southern Africa and in the highlands that have more comfortable climates.
Population
The continent of Africa has nearly a billion people. When you consider that is divided up among 54 countries, the continent does not have a very high population. Nigeria, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have the highest populations. The AIDS epidemic has affected many country’s populations. Although Africa only has 12% of the world’s population, the continent has 60% of the world’s AIDS cases. AIDS is a disease that affects a person’s immune system and, if left untreated, will result in the person’s death. AIDS has caused a big drop in life expectancy in the countries where the problem is the worst. It took the countries of Africa a long time to deal with the AIDS problem, and in the time it took for them to deal with it, the virus spread. The epidemic is worst in Southern Africa. Before the virus hit the continent, the life expectancy in Botswana was around 65 years of age. After AIDS, the life expectancy in Botswana is now 35.
Special Focus: Ethnic Conflict
Another problem noticeable in Africa is ethnic conflict. There are many hundreds of ethnic groups. Because of how the Europeans took over in the 1800s, many of these ethnic groups were forced together into one colony. Much of the time, the European country that ran the colony would give one ethnic group benefits and power and leave the other ethnic groups out. A great example of this happening (and it happened all the time) is Rwanda. The Dutch used to run Rwanda. There are two major ethnic groups—the Hutus (about 85% of the population) and Tutsi (about 14% of the population). Once the Dutch left, they left the Hutus in charge. In the 1990s, the tension between these two ethnic groups exploded into violence. Many Hutus began attacking the all Tutsi and many Hutus who thought the violence was wrong. The goal of the Hutus was to kill all the Tutsi. Killing an entire ethnicity is called genocide. The Hutus killed over 800,000 people in 100 days (that is 8000 people a day). They killed about ¾ of the Tutsi population. No one, not the United Nations, not any other countries, tried to help the people who were being attacked. The Tutsis had to fight back and stop the killings. Today, the country is led by a Tutsi, Paul Kagame runs the country. He is kind of a dictator but at the same time no one is trying to kill whole groups of people.
Ethnic conflicts occur in other countries, as well. In Nigeria, there are four major ethnic groups. Two of these groups had all the power when the British were in control (they are also both Christian and live in the South). Once Nigeria gained independence, the other two ethnic groups (who are Islamic and live in the North) gained control. In the 1980s there were violent conflicts between these groups. In the 1990s, a government was created that tried to balance the ethnic groups and reduce the tension. Now, in one of the places where one ethnic group, the Igba, live, much petroleum has been discovered. The other ethnic groups think the money made from the petroleum should be shared among the different ethnic groups. The Igba aren’t so sure. There have other ethnic and cultural conflicts, as well. One group that has gotten a lot of attention, the Boko Haram is an Islamic group from the North that has committed many terrorist acts against the people in the North and the government.
A very recent, well-known ethnic conflict occurred in Sudan. The northern part of the country is ethnically Arab and Muslim. The southern part of the country is Christian or Animist. They warred for several years. In 2012, a new country, better reflecting these ethnic and cultural divisions, called South Sudan was formed from the Southern part of Sudan. They still have conflicts at the border.
History
Several great kingdoms rose during the time of Roman civilization and the subsequent Dark Ages in Europe. These kingdoms developed advanced trading systems. The earliest kingdom was called the Kush and was located where Ethiopia is now. Greater empires came later in West Africa with the growth of Ghana, Mali, Songhai empires. Southern Africa was the home of the Bantu kingdoms called Kongo, Luba , and Lunda. All this development occurred without a lot European interest or knowledge about Africa.
When European countries began settling the Americas in 1500’s, they discovered they needed a lot of labor. Since disease
killed of a lot of the Native American population the Europeans settlers had a lot of land and opportunity to make money from it, but they needed to get people to work the land. The Europeans’ solution was slavery comprised of people stolen from Africa. American and Europeans traded in humans from Africa via the Middle Passage which was the name given to the trip across the Atlantic.
While the slave trade was occurring, colonization began. European countries took over the entire continent except Ethiopia and Liberia. The point of taking over Africa was to make money. Europe could get cheap raw materials from the colony and then make people of the colony only buy the stuff that particular European country made. One of the things the Europeans did to keep control was to make sure different groups under their control fought each other. So, often one ethnic groups was given much greater power and opportunity than other ethnic groups. This increased the conflict between ethnicities and the problems that came from it continue today. Another thing the Europeans did was spread their culture. Most of the places in Africa have a lot of elements of European culture like language and government systems. This is because of colonialism.
Colonialism lasted a long time in Africa. Most countries gained their independence in the 1950’s –1960’s. Unfortunately, European countries kind of messed up the societies and did not prepare their colonies for independence. As a result, there has been a lot of conflict, instability, and suffering in the fifty years since independence. Many African countries still deal with the problems left over from the colonial period.
Today there is both good and bad in Africa. Some countries have fair, honest, and hard working governments, economic opportunities and ways to deal with problems in a positive way. Other countries have a corrupt government that exploits the people. In several places, violent conflict continues. A lot of people suffer.
Culture
The cultures of many groups in Africa are a combination of very traditional ways and new customs adopted from other groups, like the Europeans. Throughout Africa, religion is very important. Many people believe in traditional religions, although Christianity has influenced much of southern Africa and Islam has influenced northern Africa. The literature of Africa is rooted in what is called the oral tradition. An oral tradition basically means that the important stories in the culture are not written down, instead they remembered and retold over generations. Music and dance are very important Africa, and the music Africans enjoy and create ranges from traditional music to pop and rap. Soccer is the most popular sport in most African countries.
Economy
Countries in African have had a difficult time developing their economies. There are no developed nations in Africa, but that does not mean all the countries are at the same level of development. There are some individual countries that do well economically, especially South Africa, Equatorial Guinea, and Mauritius. Overall, the entire continent is poor. Much of Africa has a lot of resources it can use but many countries also struggle with problems that interfere with their economy such as disease, corruption, and violence. The poorest countries in Africa are those who have just ended a war or are engaged in a war. Sixty percent of the continent works in agriculture. The second largest economic sector is mining and drilling.
Special Focus: Humanitarian Relief in Africa
Because there is so much conflict, corruption, poverty, and environmental problems, many people are affected. They have no control over whether they are caught in the middle of a war, riot, or drought. The people who suffer because of this can often be assisted by organizations from outside the country in which they live. One major organization that provides humanitarian relief (help for people who are in the middle of a bad situation like a disaster or warzone) to Africa regularly is the United Nations. The United Nations is an organization that most other countries of the world belong to. The UN is supposed to help the world stay peaceful and to help people in need. They do several things for people in Africa (and a lot of other places, too). They provide food relief for people who are starving or malnourished (doesn’t get enough or the right things to eat).They set up camps for refugees. They negotiate zones in places fighting wars for people to go to if they want to escape the violence. They protect people from other organizations who are doing good things like the Red Cross/ Red Crescent. The UN will provide some healthcare and education for people who are suffering because of a natural disaster.
Environment
Africa faces numerous environmental challenges. One of the greatest problems is desertification. Desertification is the process of desert areas growing into places that did not used to be desert. The Sahara and Kalahari Deserts have grown significantly in the past 50 years. The most important causes of desertification are incorrectly farming and grazing animals in areas around the desert. If people and animals take all the grass and trees out of the land, it cannot hold moisture, and them it becomes arid, or dry. This has happened in the Sahel over the past 50 years. Deforestation is another problem. Africa contains a large amount of tropical rain forest areas. People need to live, so they cut away the forest in order to have plots to grow crops. Deforestation destroys habitats for animals and worsens the global warming problem.
Other issues facing many countries in Africa is the lack of available clean water, diseases that are hard to deal with such as malaria and AIDS, and lack of food for many that leads to malnutrition, or, at times, starvation.
Questions, Africa South of the Sahara
- Make a T chart listing the opportunities and challenges the continent of Africa faces.
- What is a coastal plain?
- List in alphabetical order the four major rivers in Africa.
- SA! What are two effects of South Africa’s wealth in natural resources?
- SA! What is apartheid?
- SA! How have mineral resources helped South Africa move beyond apartheid?
- Why aren’t Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria more wealthy?
- Do you agree with what the Chinese are doing in Africa? Why?
- Write a postcard from the Sahel to your favorite Geography teacher describing the climate and vegetation.
- What does “Although Africa only has 12% of the world’s population, the continent has 60% of the world’s AIDS cases” mean?
- SA! Create a timeline showing 5 events from Rwandan history.
- SA! Should the Igba share the profits of the petroleum? Why do you think this?
- What is the newest country in the world?
- Why did it start?
- Had you ever heard of the ancient African empires?
- Describe two impacts of colonialism on African nations.
- What is corruption?
- What is the oral tradition?
- How could disease, corruption, and violence interfere with the development of an economy?
- SA! What is the UN?
- SA! What does the UN do in Africa?
- SA! Explain how poor farming leads to desertification.
- SA! Where has this been a problem?
- Why is Africa being deforested?