World Geography: Africa – Flashcards
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Describe the importance of the Nile River to the region where it's located.
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The Nile River had a smooth, steady flow which provided a natural route for transportation, as well as a seemingly endless supply of life-giving water. Since the Nile flowed North-to-South, the early people were able to move goods upland.
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Why are Africa's rivers less useful than rivers in other countries? Give examples.
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The river is not a good way to travel, unlike many contintents' rivers. This is because of it's large amount of waterfalls and cataracts. One of it's major river empties out at the Victoria Falls, making it very unwise to travel on.
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What are rift valleys, how are they formed, and how are they a beneficial land form?
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Rifts are steep-walled valleys caused by a separation of the tectonic plate. They create large basins, which help with water supply.
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Why haven't African countries been able to take advantage of their large amounts of minerals?
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They don't have the industrial equipment to develop things with their minerals, so most of their minerals are exported.
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Why isn't Angola rich because of its vast oil reserves?
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Because the vast oil they have cant be sold or bought by anyone.
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What is the most important economic activity in Africa?
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Mining of gold, diamonds, minerals and nuclear related minerals.
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Is the Sahara always hot?
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Not always in the afternoon it is, but at night it could be freezing cold depending on the climate.
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Why is the camel an important vehicle for transportation across the Sahara?
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It's the camel's ability to withstand extreme temperatures that makes them so valuable in arid and hot conditions during the day, and cold temperatures at night. Camels are generally used as pack animals and not so much as a free ride.
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Explain what causes the presence of oases in the Sahara.
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An oasis is actually a spot in the desert where the elevation is low enough that the water table is right underneath the surface, resulting in the presence of springs.
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How has oil been both beneficial and damaging to the Niger Delta/Nigeria?
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The oil industry in the Niger Delta of Nigeria has brought impoverishment, conflict, human rights abuses and despair to the majority of the people in the oil-producing areas
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Describe HEI (its causes and effects) in the Sahel.
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the impact of desertification is intensifying due to climate change, which is reducing the availability of freshwater, fertile soil, and forest and vegetation. as the degraded land loses value, investments in agriculture and rural development decline even more.
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Describe HEI (its causes and positive/negative effects) along the Nile River.
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it is the longest river in the world (over 4,000 miles) as a source of food and was crucial to agriculture and the region. Ancient Egyptians economy was based on agriculture.
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Why is east Africa called the "cradle of humanity"?
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Fossils discovered at sites in eastern Africa provide the oldest evidence of human-like creatures and people found anywhere in the world.
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What was the significance of the Aksumite (Aksum) Empire?
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Was an important trading nation in eastern Africa. It was a major player in the commerce between the Roman Empire and Ancient India.
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Why did European countries want to colonize Africa in the 19th century?
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It developed the 19th century following the collapse of slave trade, abolition and suppression, as well as the expansion of the European capitalist industrial revolution.
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What was the "scramble for Africa"?
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It was a process of invasion, occupation, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the new Imperialism period, between1881 and WWI in 1914.
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What was decided at the Berlin Conference?
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European nations would have to alert one another about any African territory they claimed.
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How did the Berlin Conference help become "one of the root causes of the political violence and ethnic conflicts in Africa during the 20th century"?
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The main fighting is because of the vast amount of natural resources. The 14 European powers that held this conference had no considerations of the peoples of Africa. These new lines created havoc when these new lines split ethnic groups and communities.
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What African country in East Africa was able to evade European colonization?
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Kenya
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What kind of problems have existed in East Africa since gaining independence? What is the root cause of these problems?
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they were split multiple ways, and the countries who owned them, didn't want them to be independent.
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What types of crops are grown in East Africa?
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Papyrus, fruit, vegetables, wheat.
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Why is relying on cash crops risky? What other reasons than the book mentions might make it risky?
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Some people may not be able to afford the crops, thus the farmers going out of business.
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Describe health problems in East Africa.
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Hunger, AIDS, HIVS, water ins't clean.
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What have been the natural and human factors have led to famine in the Horn of Africa?
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Droughts and wars.
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Other than being important for agriculture, how has the Nile been important culturally?
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The ancient Egyptians depended on it for food, water, transportation and much more. They even thought of it as a kind of god. It flooded once every year, creating fertile soil for growing crops.
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Throughout history, why has the Nile been so important?
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The Nile river is important to the Ancient Egyptians because it kept them alive and developed their knowledge.
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What is the major religion in North Africa and how did this come to be?
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Christianity.
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What's the most important resource in North Africa? Describe.
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Oil and water. Lots of rivers and Oil rigs.
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Describe the culture of North Africa.
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The people of the Maghreb and the Sahara almost exclusively follow Islam, speak various dialects of Berber and Arabic.
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Describe the roles of women in North Africa. What is probably the biggest influence on the roles of women there?
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Particularly in rural areas today, women at home remain responsible for childcare, food production, and domestic chores.
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What was the major activity at Goree Island from the mid-1500s to the mid-1800s?
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it was the largest slave-trading center on the African coast.
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What activity led to the growth of the West African empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai?
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In 1340, the Songhai took advantage of the Mali Empire's decline and successfully asserted its independence. Disputes over succession weakened the Mali Empire and many of its peripheral subjects broke away. The Songhai made Gao their capital and began an imperial expansion of their own throughout the western Sahel. By 1420, Songhai was strong enough to exact tribute from Masina.
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How were stateless societies confusing to European colonizers? How do you think Europeans changed the area?
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It was confusing because a stateless society goes by family lineage, unlike how the Europeans, who expected one ruler govern the society, They changed it to be the way Europe worked.
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How is the current economic activity of Ghana similar to those of the ancient West African Kingdoms?
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Ghana is a solid economy largely based on trade within Africa and with other nations.
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Where would you find the worst economic conditions in West Africa? Describe the situation there.
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Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world. The average worker's annual salary is approximately US$1,500.
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What's the significance of the Bantu Migrations in African history?
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Populations grew faster which led to migration of African black tribes from Great Lakes in central Africa, to the south of Africa.
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How did Africans participate in the African slave trade? Why did they do this?
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African people participated in the slave trade as they were forced too and would be killed otherwise. The captures would also kill their family and friends and burn their houses. If they did not go, they would lose their lives, although most of them died on the ship journeys. No one dared to form a party against them as it was usually the Americans doing the trade and they were to strong, rich and power full to make a stand against. Still to this day illegal trades do happen, but it is done in great secrecy and is usually discovered.
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who was king Leopold and how did his actions lead to the Berlin Conference?
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He opened up the African interior to European trade along the Congo river and by 1884 controlled the area known as the Congo free state.
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What have been the effects of colonialism in Central Africa?
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Europeans installed more centralized governments that destroyed the organizing principle of stateless societies, and new African governments in the 1960s were then forced to govern a diverse population.
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What have been the economic effects of colonialism in Central Africa?
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Colonialism in Central Africa has resulted in loss of resources, political instability, and oppression of its people.
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What kind of barriers do people face in Central Africa regarding obtaining an education?
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Shortage of trained teachers, a high dropout rate, a shortage of secondary schools, and central Africa's more than 700 languages also pose barriers.
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Describe the continuing problems between whites and blacks in southern Africa as a result of colonialism.
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There are situations in Africa where the whites have impinged themselves against Africans, against people of races other than their own and the dividing line is racial. Other causes of discrimination in South Africa are economic hazards and the history of colonialism and an imperialism of the country.
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The main resource of southern Africa is and has been ______.
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The region has the worlds largest resources of platinum and the platinum group elements, chromium, vanadium, and cobalt, as well as uranium, gold, titanium, iron and diamonds.
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What led to the conflicts between Europeans and groups of people already living in southern Africa?
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There are many ethnic groups already living in Southern Africa.
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What was the policy of APARTHEID?
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creation of "white only" and "black only" jobs, racial classification of all Africans, curfews, no minimum wage of unemployment benefits, 2+ gathering banned pass books (containing fingerprints, chart of travel, photo ID, current employment status)
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who is Nelson Mandela and why is he important?
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the president of Africa, fought for black rights.
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What has been the legacy economically of Apartheid?
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the system of apartheid ("apartness" in Afrikaans) was a cornerstone of south African economic development and political policies from 1948 until 1994. south Africa's political and legal system classified people by race and accorded (or denied) specific rights to the identified "race" groups.
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What impact has Botswana's mineral wealth had on the country?
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Africa is now in the upper-middle class range.
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describe the impact of AIDS in southern Africa.
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Because of AIDS, children who have it, are not going to school. Some children may have to care for an ill parent.
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most of the economies of Africa are based on?
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north Africans are active in a variety of economic systems: they raise food, produce goods, export minerals, and work in services industries.
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how did European colonization limit Africa's economic growth?
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The Europeans sold the native people as slaves and heavily mined the area. They put in place no economic system other than the export of minerals, which did not allow for economic growth.
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What is Africans economic status today?
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Africa is a resource-rich continent but many African people are poor.
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what are some ways African countries are improving their economies?
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Economies in many African countries have shown tremendous growth. Farmers in Ghana have improved their crop production efforts.
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whats the risk of being a "one-commodity" country?
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The economy relies on one resource which could run out.
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what challenges does Africa face regarding educating its citizens?
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Too many children have AIDS/HIV and are not going to school.
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what factors lead to disease in Africa?
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Insects, Food and Water,
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name and describe some of the major diseases that devastate Africa.
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-Cholera: Mostly spread by unsanitary conditions and contaminated drinking water. -Hepatitis A: Highly contagious liver diseases. -Malaria: Mosquito-borne. -AIDS/HIV: AIDS is caused by HIV. HIV is a antivirus, which is a subgroup of retrovirus, but HIV contains more genes than a regular retrovirus. CD4+ cells in the immune system are affected by HIV; the human immune system is unable to eradicate the HIV virus from the body as completely as it does when other viruses enter the body.
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what are some African countries doing to stop the spread of disease?
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Some nations in Africa have shown a more proactive response to the crisis. Acting early to prevent AIDS
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how can African nations bring peace and stability to their people? what role, if any, should the rest of the world play in solving the problems Africa faces?
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By instilling a democratic tradition, they can bring stability to their people. The world should leave Africa alone so they can learn and develop as an independent nation.
