skills reproducible
®
Reading a Thematic Map
Africa: The Struggle
for Independence
The map below shows Africa’s 53 countries and
the year that each nation came into being, gained
independence, or established its present form of
WESTERN
SAHARA
(disputed)
S
GUINEA
1958
H A
R
ASIA
LIBYA
1951
A
D
E
S
E
EGYPT
1922
R
T
Tropic of Cancer
N
MALI
1960
BURKINA
FASO
1960
NIGER
1960
ive
err
CHAD
1960
SUDAN
1956
River
GAMBIA
1965
A
ALGERIA
1962
ile
SENEGAL
CAPE 1960
MAURITANIA
VERDE
1960
1975
Available
as a PDF at
scholastic.com
/juniorscholastic
government. Use the map’s information to answer the
questions. Write your responses on a separate sheet
of paper.
TUNISIA
1956
MOROCCO
1956
v
RRi
er
N
Nig
Uses: copying machine, opaque projector, or transparency master for overhead projector. Scholastic Inc. grants teacher-subscribers to Junior Scholastic permission to reproduce this Skills Reproducible for use in their classrooms. Copyright © 2008 by Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
NAME: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Red
Sea
ERITREA
1993
DJIBOUTI
1977
SOMALIA
NIGERIA
CENTRAL
ETHIOPIA
1960
1960
AFRICAN REP.
1000 B.C.
1960
CAMEROON
BENIN
Indian
1960
GHANA TOGO1960
RWANDA UGANDA
1957 1960
Ocean
1962
1962
KENYA
CONGO
GABON REP.
GABON
0° Equator
0°
1963
DEM.
REP.
Lake
CÔTE
EQUATORIAL
1960
1960 1960 OF CONGO
SEYCHELLES
Victoria
D’IVOIRE
GUINEA
1976
1960
1960
SÃO TOMÉ
1968
TANZANIA
MALAWI
and PRÍNCIPE
BURUNDI
1964
1964
1975
1962
Atlantic
COMOROS
Ocean
1975
ANGOLA
1975
ZAMBIA
1964
MAURITIUS
AFRICA
ZIMBABWE
1968
MADAGASCAR
NAMIBIA
1980
NAMIBIA = Country
1960
1990 BOTSWANA
Tropic of Capricorn
1990 = Year of
1966
independence
SWAZILAND
SOUTH
0
400 MI
1968
MOZAMBIQUE
AFRICA
Scale:
1975
LESOTHO
1910
0
640 KM
1966
GUINEABISSAU
1973 SIERRA
LEONE LIBERIA
1961
1847
questions (Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.)
1. W
hich large island nation is located off Africa’s
eastern coast?
2. During which decade did most African nations gain
independence or establish their present form of
government?
3. If you crossed Africa from east to west along
the equator, through which countries would
you travel?
4. When did modern Egypt gain its independence?
5. Which African lake is located on the equator?
6. W
hat body of water separates Sudan from Asia?
7. How many miles wide is Africa at the Tropic of
­Capricorn?
8. What southern African country, before its independence in 1980, was called Rhodesia?
9. By the early 1900s, European nations had colonized
almost all of Africa. What do you think countries
hoped to gain by establishing these colonies?
10. What challenges do you think face a country trying
to rule an overseas colony a continent away?
JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC • Teacher’s Edition • December 8, 2008 T-7