The Cultural Geography of Africa, South of the Sahara

Mr. MarstonDominion Christian High

SchoolFall 2009

Rapid Population Growth

• 711 million people• 11% of the world’s population• Highest birthrate • Highest death rate• Highest infant mortality rate• Shortest life expectancy

Population Density and Distribution

• Overall: not densePopulation density is unevenRwanda: 817 per square mileNamibia: 6 people per square mile

Explanations for uneven population distribution

Land Climate

Population and Food Production

• People live in the coastal belt of West Africa and the eastern coast of Southern Africa

Government actionsEffects of climateCash crop economies=Africa can’t produce enough food. Must

export

Population and Health Care

Poor Health Carea.Famineb.Poor nutritionc.Impure waterd.Inadequate sanitation: disposal of

waste productse.Diseases are widespread: (malaria,

AIDS)

A Diverse Population

• 3,000 ethnic groups• Europeans• South Asians• Arabs• Varying religious groups• Borders are fluid: don’t contain

peoples or cultures

Growing cities

• Urbanization: movement of people from rural areas to cities

30% of population lives in citiesMove to cities a.Better job opportunitiesb.Better health carec.Better public services

Growth of service centers: convenient business locations for rural dwellers.

History and Government

• 2000 B.C., people south of the Sahara began to domesticate (tame) animals.

• NE Africa: Egyptian civilization 3000 B.C. to 1000 B.C.

• Kush: capital at Meroe. South of Egypt• Axum: Ethiopian trading empire

Empires in the West

• Ghana: traded gold for salt• Mali: capital of Timbuktu• Songhai

Bantu Settlements

• Established settlements by 800 A.D.150 million Bantu speakers todayTanzaniaMalawiZambiaZimbabwe

European Colonization

• Europeans traded with African kingdoms by the 1200’s.

• Slaves• Gold• weapons

Slave Trade in Africa

• Africans were transported to the New World for work on plantations in S. America, Caribbean, and N. America (sugar, cotton, indigo, rice, and tobacco)

• Greatly impacted certain ethnic groups within Africa

Independence

• Mid 1960’s most African countries were independent

• Dependent economically on western countries: “Neo-colonialism”

Nigeria

• Different ethnic groups• Islam and Christianity• Civil war in Biafra

South Africa• Apartheid: separation of races. Official

policy of white minority government rule.• Blacks denied political rights and

equality with whites in education, jobs, and housing.

• Nelson Mandela: jailed leader of the ANC was released in the early 1990s

• First free election in 1994• Universal suffrage: voting rights for all

adult citizens.

Europe Divides and Rules

• Imperialism: European search for empire in the 18th and 19th centuries.

• Areas set up without regard to local identities or cultures

• Plantation economies replaced local agriculture.

• Christian missionaries