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World Geography- African Regions
Directions.ÿhile reading this article, make at l ea_s_t 8 annojtio_ ns_ (highlight/underline AND label).
(Examples: ÿ = Key point, ? = Question, EV = evidence, CE = Cause/Effect, CC = Compare/Contrast)
African Regions
Annotations
Africa is generally divided into 5 regions: North Africa,
West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa and Southern
Africa. These regions are distinguished by both physical
and cultural characteristics.
North Africa
The main physical feature of North Africa is the Sahara
Desert. The Sahara, the world's largest desert, defies
imagination: 3.3 million square miles or around 25 percent
-ÿ ;"ÿ
ÿ÷ÿ
of Africa. Camel caravans looking for gold. ivory, grain,
salt and slaves made the Sahara the world's first gateway to Africa. These endless trains, run by
Tuaregs, Arabs and others, gave rise to the legendary era of trans-Saharan trade, a phenomenon
that still defines the Sahara to many outsiders.
Today, the Sahara still serves as a border
between the continent's black African south and
Arab-influenced north. Its scorching heat and size still
influence the cycle of drought and rainfall in subSaharan Africa. With one of the planet's lowest
population densities, its people -- Tuareg, Arab, Tubu, Moor - can seem afloat in vast seas of sand.
The Tuareg, a semi-nomadic* group known for their salt caravans and distinctive blue veils,
are the region's best-known people. From their head veils to their tea pots, the Tuareg are a
people whose traditions have been shaped by the Sahara. The desert's Arab, Berber and subSaharan African customs and religious beliefs are all reflected in Tuareg artifacts*.
For nearly 500,000 years, the Sahara has attracted people from throughout North Africa.
Early residents came when the Sahara was lush and teeming with wildlife. As the region became
desert, the Sahara's residents turned to livestock herding. And, to trade caravans that brought gold,
ivory, salt and slaves north, and commercial goods and metals south.
But much has changed. The Arabs have retreated to Saharan cities like Cairo, Egypt. Trucks are
replacing camels in the salt trade. Tuaregs are acting as guides to Western adventure tourists and oil
and gas operations promise far greater riches than gold and ivory ever could.
Example:
CE: gold, ivory, salt
--ÿ trans-saharan
trade
West and East Africa
South of the Sahara lies the Sahel region
ixÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ
(shaded in the image to the right). The Sahel is
a narrow band of semi-arid* land that
attracted both Arabs* looking for gold from
Sudan and Europeans looking for slaves from
West Africa. The two influences merged with
native ones, creating a culturally complex area. The Sahel is widely French-speaking, Islamic and
takes its name ("shore") from Arabic.
The Sahel is home to two important bodies of water- the Niger River and Lake Chad- yet the
region is one of the poorest and most environmentally damaged places on earth. In the 1970s, the
Sahel captured international attention when drought* and famine* killed nearly 200,000 people.
Though conditions have since improved, it has yet to shake a vicious cycle of soil erosion,
insufficient irrigation, deforestation, overpopulation, desertification and drought.
As the environment has suffered, the scramble for income has intensified. Ethnic lines that
divided many traditional occupations -- herders and farmers -- have blurred, often sparking
bloodshed. Instead of sticking to the land, rural workers are now heading for the cities. Open
sewers are common, and electricity, running water and trash collection all too infrequent.
Both desert and grazing land, the Sahel has attracted a population as varied as its environment.
Some are semi-nomadic cattle herders, moving with the seasonal flooding of the Niger. Others are
farmers. The border with the Sahara is fluid and many of the people found in one region - the
Tuareg and Hausa -- can be found in the other. But many groups owe their culture strictly to the
Sahe[. The Fulanli, the world's largest group of nomadic herders, have long played an influential role
in the region not only for their cattle, but for their advocacy of Islam.
Savanna
When most non-Africans think of Africa, this is the biome they
picture. Making up parts of West, Central and East Africa, Africa's
great savannas are a place dominated by sky and rolling grassland.
Their wildlife has long been the focus of filmmakers, photographers
ÿ
and writers.
f ÿt
Of Africa's great plains regions, the Serengeti is the most
famous. Straddling Kenya and Tanzania, it is the only part of Africa
where vast, annual migrations of animals -- wildebeest and zebras -- still occur. Early man first
appeared in the Serengeti region's Olduvai Gorge some 2 million years ago. Today, the plains boast
a wide range of cultures, from Maasai nomads to Kikuyu farmers and Dorobo hunter-gatherers.
For thousands of years, the region's rhythm of life remained unchanged. But now, sporadic
droughts, soil erosion and overgrazing are tiring the land out, while demands on it from
impoverished human populations continue to grow.
The people of Africa's vast savanna are united by their strong identity with the sprawling plains
that surround them. Originally, these pastoral* groups came to the savanna looking for food,
_scavengingafteEleftover game killed by large predators. Today, these original hunter-gatherersÿxist
in the form of the Dorobo tribes of the eastern Serengeti, who survive by hunting small game and
collecting honey and wild fruits and vegetables. Long ago, the Dorobo were joined by herdsmen and
pastoralists from northern Africa. Among these, the Maasai- tall, dark skinned herdsmen in striking
red cloaks and beadwork- have come to symbolize the face of Africa's savanna people to the outside
world.
Southern Africa
In Southern Africa, the land offers rich soil, temperate
climate and regular rains. Not surprisingly, it has attracted
diverse groups, many descended from the migrant Bantu people
whose influences have been left all over the continent. Two of
the largest groups descended from these original Bantu pioneers
are the Xhosa and Zulu, who, together, make up about 40
percent of South Africa's population.
Under the soil of Southern Africa, lays a very old and huge rock. Called the Kaapval craton, this
massive geologic formation is over 2.6 billion years old, and is one of the most stable continental
formations on the planet. But this is no ordinary rock. The Kaapval craton contains some of the
world's richest mineral deposits, ranging from gold and diamonds to platinum and asbestos.
Their presence has shaped the modern history of Southern Africa. In 1870, a gigantic deposit of
diamonds was found near the South African town of Kimberley. Just 16 years later, the world's
largest deposits of gold were found at Witwatersrand in South Africa's central Transvaal region. The
region boomed.
But so did conflict between black and white. Competition for land grew. Germany seized
Namibia. Cecil Rhodes, owner of De Beers diamond company, grabbed the Zimbabwe plateau to
form the colony of Rhodesia. In South Africa, white landowners and mine owners' demands for
special privileges escalated. Beginning in 1910, a series of laws were introduced that restricted black
ownership of the land and limited skilled, high-paying mining jobs to whites. The framework for the
policy of apartheid* was laid.
Nearly a century later, with apartheid disbanded, the struggle to overcome the past lives on.
Dominated by South Africa, the region is dogged by the legacy of racial and economic disparity, the
ravages of mining and wars. And now, an even more vicious threat lurks: AIDS. Southern Africa has
among the world's highest rates of HIV infection.
*Nomadic: Describes a community that moves from place to place.
*Semi-arid: Describes a climate that is dry but not in an extreme way.
*Arab: The name for the people group that speaks Arabic and practices primarily Islam. This group lives mostly in the Middle East and
North Africa.
*Artifacts: An object produced or shaped by human craft, especially a tool, weapon, or ornament of archaeological or
historical interest.
*Drought: A long period of abnormally low rainfall.
*Famine: A drastic, wide-reaching food shortage.
*Pastoral: Of or relating to shepherds or herders.
*Apartheid: A policy or practice of separating or segregating groups.
Directions: Answer the following questions in at least 2 complete sentences.
I. Describe the physical geography of North Africa. How has this geography affected population density?
2. Who are the Tuareg? Describe their culture.
3. What is the Sahel? Which regions of Africa is it located in?
4. Describe the Savanna of Sub-Saharan Africa.
5. How has Southern Africa's physical geography created conflict in the region?