• 2nd largest continent
• 2nd most populous continent
• Many cultures, languages
Geographic Barriers
• Sahara – largest desert in the world (besides Antarctica),
uncrossable till camel in 100 AD.
• Rough seas, rugged coasts, few bays for harbors
• Tropical & seasonal rains
• Savanna – good for wild game, bad for farming
Effects of Barriers
• Little contact with others – some with Arabs & Asians, none
with Europe
• Huge continent, with barriers – small, separated population
• Good for hunting and gathering, bad for farming – villages,
few cities
• Few major water ways – scarcity of water
• Malaria and tsetse fly keeps population smaller and isolated
Communication
• About 800 languages spoken on the
continent
• Few written languages – history passed
down orally (by mouth)
• Swahili – major language, blend of Bantu
and Arabic
Early Civilizations
• Kush – conquered Egypt in 751 BC, fell to
Assyrians 671 BC (powerful for 1,000+ years)
– Meroe – prospered because of iron, great trade
• Axum (Aksum) – conquered Kush in 350 AD,
became a Christian kingdom
Other Civilizations
• West African Civilizations
– Based on Trade
– Salt – necessity for life
– Silent trade – gold for salt
• Ghana – powerful kingdom, gold trade
• Mali
– powerful leader – Mansa Musa
– Timbuktu became important center (university)
• Zimbabwe (south) – great trade, then abandoned
Culture
• Families organized in lineages of a common
ancestor
• Women in many tribes were treated well and
respected
• Religion – mostly polytheistic with one major god
• Art – music, dance
• Heavy Arab Influence
• Islamic religion, Arabic language, trade, culture,
architecture