Global StudiesGlobal Studies
Unit #5Africa
Physical Geography of Africa
• Huge continent• 1/5 of the total landmass of the Earth• Dominated by extremes – huge deserts and
dense jungles• Longest River – the Nile• Great Rift Valley – center of original human
activity
Major Regions of Africapart 1• Arab Africa
• area north of the Sahara• Mostly Muslim today – strong ties to the Middle East• Small strip of land for development along the Med Sea
• Sahara Desert • largest desert in the world• Separates black Africa from Arab Africa• Largely impenetrable, except for area around the Nile River
• West Africa• largely grasslands – best farming on the continent• Some jungle areas – especially south of the Equator• Heavily populated region• Long legacy of slavery and the slave trade
Major Regions of Africapart 2
• Great Rift Valley • 4000 mile long rip in the land where the continents pulled apart
millions of years ago• Includes the Red Sea and most of Africa’s major lakes• Area where first pre-humans appeared (Olduvai Gorge) – oldest
fossils may be 3.5 million years old• East Africa
• Stretches from Ethiopia to South Africa• Strong ties to the east (India and Indonesia) through trade• Dominated by the Great Rift Valley
• Central and South Africa• Flat grasslands and deserts on a plateau• Heavy diamond mines in the region• Vast mineral resources (gold, silver, copper and uranium)• Legacy of legalized segregation (Apartheid) in South Africa and
brutal colonization by European powers in other parts of the region
Major Rivers of Africa• Nile river– longest in the world (over 4000 miles)– Runs from the mountains of Ethiopia north to the
Mediterranean Sea– Very fertile delta – settlements along the Nile may be
as old as 6000 years– River cuts through the boundary between Black Africa
and Arab Africa• Congo River
– Over 2750 miles long– Drains the Congo Basin: an area of dense jungles and rainforest– Not fully navigable due to large waterfalls and intense current– No delta: current actually flows out to sea
Agricultural Resources of Africa
• Most of Africa supports only subsistence farming (farming that only supports the nutritional needs of the farmer and his family with nothing left to sell)
• Geographic factors such as climate and soil limit the ability of some regions in Africa to support wide scale agriculture
African History
Ancient history in Africa
• Egypt and Nubia – settlements along the Nile may be 5000+ years old– Carved out an empire by about 2500 BC (multiple
nations – river cuts across the line between Black Africa and Arab Africa)
– Legacy of this volatile relationship can be seen in the Sudan today
• Bantu Migrations– About 4000 BC: black Africans from what is today Nigeria
begin to filter down throughout the continent– Today most of Black Africa is populated by people who
are ethnically and linguistically related, yet are members of hundreds of different African tribes
Expansion of Islam (Africa)
– Attraction as a religion of salvation after 650 AD
– Berber traders crossed the Sahara Desert and into West Africa
– Estimates of 25% conversion by 1500 AD
– Timbuktu in Mali becomes a center of Islamic learning with a great library
– Islamic proverb states that "Salt comes from the north, gold from the south, but the word of God and the treasures of wisdom come from Timbuktu.“
Mosque in Timbuktu
–To Black Africa
Ghana• Powerful west African kingdom in the bight of
Africa – unknown to Europeans until the arrival of the Portuguese in the 1450s
• Specialized in three major trading items – Salt: used to preserve meat and milk– Gold: Ghana still produces vast amounts of gold– Slaves: simply another commodity in all ancient
societies – slave trade was in effect across the Sahara and into the Islamic world for hundreds of years before the Portuguese arrive
Slavery and the Slave Trade
Slave Trade
• Portugal took the lead in the slave trade • Most slaves went to work in the New World
on Sugar plantations• Europeans tried to enslave the American
Indians first, but 90% died within the first 100 years of colonization – mostly from smallpox
• Africans had been exposed to the same diseases as Europeans and thus were largely immune to smallpox
Pre-19c European Trade with Africa
IndustrialRevolutionIndustrialRevolution
Source forRawMaterials
Source forRawMaterials
Markets forFinishedGoods
Markets forFinishedGoods
EuropeanNationalismEuropeanNationalism
MissionaryActivityMissionaryActivity
Military& NavalBases
Military& NavalBases
EuropeanMotivesFor Colonization
EuropeanMotivesFor Colonization
Places toDumpUnwanted/Excess Popul.
Places toDumpUnwanted/Excess Popul.
Soc. & Eco.OpportunitiesSoc. & Eco.Opportunities
HumanitarianReasonsHumanitarianReasons
EuropeanRacismEuropeanRacism
“WhiteMan’sBurden”
“WhiteMan’sBurden”
SocialDarwinismSocialDarwinism
Africa
in 1880
Berlin Conference of 1885
• Called by chancellor Bismarck of Germany to settle European issues regarding Africa
• Major European powers divided Africa among themselves – most of the modern boundaries were actually drawn by the Europeans without regard to tribal loyalties and hatreds
• Africans were seen as savages• French and British got the most square miles, but much of this
area was either already under French or British control, or was in the Sahara desert
• Only Liberia left alone (it was seen as a US protectorate)• Ethiopia will remain independent – they defeat the Italian
army in 1896 – Italians will eventually take Ethiopia in 1935
Social Darwinism
The “White Man’s Burden”
Rudyard Kipling
• Poem written by British writer Kipling in 1899 that called on America to bring civilization to the “savages” of the third world
• Very paternalistic
• Kipling saw non-whites as lacking in sophistication
• Call for the expansion of Christianity to save souls as well – call will be heeded by missionaries around the world
The “White Man’s Burden”?
Harvesting Rubber
Punishing “Lazy” Workers
Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902)
“The Colossus of Rhodes”
African Independence Movements
Review Question
• Name two changes the Europeans brought to Africa
Impact of Colonialism - Review
• Economic– Cash Crop economies– Money Economies
• Infrastructure– Roads, railroads and
ports were built– Communication
improved– Sewers
• Education– European style schools
taught Africans Western ideals
– European languages taught Africans a common language
– Africans w/ European Ed. Became the leaders of independence movements
Pan African Movements
• African people began to reject European culture
• Africans tried to move toward the unity of African people and
• The celebration of African culture
World War I and World War II
• European countries used African troops to help them fight the war
• Africans believed if they were good enough to fight—they should also have a say in their own government
• Africans provided resources for the war effort as well, showing that they could be useful to themselves
World War II
• Africans saw Br. And Fr. lose battles
• Europeans were no longer seen as invincible
• Some military losses came at the hands of the Japanese—a non-European power
• WWII devastated the economies of imperialist powers
• They were no longer strong enough to maintain their empires
Self Determination
• End of WWII saw the beginning of the UN
• The UN called for self-rule by all nations
• This increased the desire of Africans for freedom
Methods of Achieving Independence
• Peaceful• Economic sanctions –
boycott and strike• Negotiated transition of
power—from Europeans to Africans
• Violent• War for independence• Guerrilla warfare
Problems of Independence
• Tribalism Vs. Nationalism
• Tribes within African countries fight each other for control
• Single Party Rule• A strong leader would
emerge and ban other parties
• Often the military would seize power in a coup d’etat
• This led to tyranny
Socialism and Land Redistribution
• White colonizers still held a majority of the businesses and land
• Land redistribution called for taking the land from the land owners
• Africans will distribute the land equally
• Socialism – Gov’t controls some of the economic resources
• Ideally the gov’t distributes those resources equally
• Gov’t takes away power of big business
Cold War Pawns
• America and Russia tried to influence the independence movements in Africa
• Russians preferred socialist governments
• America preferred anything BUT socialist gov’ts
Africa Today• Over 60 countries – mostly in black Africa• Tremendous growth and potential – especially in
Black Africa• Rapid industrialization – serious growing pains –
terrible poverty• Ethnic, religious and tribal issues have led to
terrible bloodshed over the years• AIDS – ravaging the continent – some countries
have up to 1/3 of the population infected with the HIV virus
