Sub-Saharan Africa

Keys to understanding

Physical Setting

1. Africa=3 x size of USA

2. Africa has 2 x population of the USA

Plateau Continent

2. Africa is a huge plateau fringed by narrow coastal plains.– Its coastline is short,

leaving few good harbors.

– The highlands of East Africa are cut by the 4,000-mile-long Great Rift Valley.

Dry Continent

3. Most climates of Africa south of the Sahara are tropical or subtropical.

Rain forests, savannas, steppes, and deserts cover large areas.

Overall, Africa is a dry continent with the disadvantage of low and unpredictable rainfall.

Living off the Land4. 80% of Africans are

agriculturalists:

a. shifting cultivators

b. settled farmers, or c.herders

who live close to the land.

African Kingdoms and Empires

5. Kingdoms and empires have existed Africa for thousands of years.

Stupid Boundaries

6. European Powers divided Africa into colonies and ruled the continent for seventy years (1890-1960)– Stupid Boundaries

• Landlocked

• Lumping enemy tribes together

• Separating tribes

– Caprivi’s Finger

Colonial Legacy

7. Problems at independence:

a. bad boundaries

b. poor infrastructure

c. colonial economies

d. lack of preparation

e. “one man-one vote…once.”

Development?

9. “Islands” of development:

a. coasts

b. near mines

c. commercial farming regions

Migration into these areas is intense.

Future of Development

9. Most African countries export low-priced raw materials and commercial crops and import high-priced food, machinery and technology.

Countries in Crisis

10. Many Sub-Saharan countries are in crisis– Unstable governments

– Internal strife

– Imploding economies

– AIDS and other diseases