Subsaharan Africa

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Sahara

Sahara

A huge desert stretching across most of North Africa

Savanna

20 N - 10 S of equator. Monsoon climate, few trees, grassland, and large populations of animals.

Mediterranean

30 - 35 Northern latitude present in North Africa. Most temperate climate. Experiences mild wet winters and warm and dry summers

Tropical desert

20 N - 30 S of the equator. It is hot and has no rain most of the year. Has few plants and a hard windblown surface strewn with rocks and sand.

Humid sub-tropical

10 N - 30 S of the equator. A climate that is wet and warm, but still gets cold. Lots of agricultural-related industries (Mainly cash crops). Like Florida

Sahel

Exists between the savanna and the desert. Its name means the shore of the desert. Unreliable rainfall and desertification.

Rainforest

10 N to 10 S includes the equator. A tropical forest, usually of tall, densely growing, broad-leaved evergreen trees in an area of high annual rainfall.

Marine

Climate zone near the ocean/sea, cool summers and cool winters, narrow annual temperature, 35° and 60° north and south of the equator.

Low Climate Zones

30 N + S of the equator. Warm year-round, the majority of the population is subsistence farmers.

Middle Climate Zones

Moderates and extremes, 30°-60° N of Equator and S of Equator, Continental climates, "Seasonal" climates, Most heavily populated areas,Major agricultural production

Desertification

Degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions like excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting.

Great Rift Valley

area in Africa where parts of the plateau's surface dropped and early human fossils are found

Gold-Salt trade

The economic system of north Africa and across the Sahara Desert; controlled by African kingdoms like Mali and Songhai.

slave trade

European trade agreement with Africa dealing with slaves brought from Africa. An integral part of the Triangle Trade between the Americas, Africa, and Europe.

middle passage

A voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies

Scramble for Africa

Sudden wave of conquests in Africa by European powers in the 1880s and 1890s. Britain obtained most of eastern Africa, France most of northwestern Africa. Other countries (Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and Spain) acquired lesser amounts.

Berlin conference

A meeting from 1884-1885 at which representatives of European nations agreed on rules for colonization of Africa

AIDS

A serious (often fatal) disease of the immune system. acquired immune deficiency syndrome

Mali

Empire created by indigenous Muslims in western Sudan of West Africa from the thirteenth to fifteenth century. It was famous for its role in the trans-Saharan gold trade.

Ghana

First known kingdom in sub-Saharan West Africa between the sixth and thirteenth centuries C.E. Also the modern West African country once known as the Gold Coast. gold and salt trade.

Songhai

a West African empire that conquered Mali and controlled trade from the 1400s to 1591

Greater Zimbabwe

Part of africas trade network, middleman between gold mines to city-states on the coast

Nile River Civilization

Egypt and Sudan; fertile land and ruled by pharaohs or god-kings under a polytheistic belief. Old civilizations.

African Indpendence movements

(1900's AD) These movements started once African countries started rebelling against their mother country. One by one, the countries gained their independence.

Apartheid

Laws (no longer in effect) in South Africa that physically separated different races into different geographic areas.

Union of South Africa

In 1910, the British united Cape Colony, Natal, the Transvaal, and the OFS to form the Union of South Africa, a self-governing dominion. (Simultaneously in West Africa, Britain expanded trading stations into full-scale colonies).

Diaspora

A dispersion of people from their homeland- spreading the culture.

Timbuktu

City on the Niger River in the modern country of Mali. It was founded by the Tuareg as a seasonal camp sometime after 1000. As part of the Mali empire, Timbuktu became a major major terminus of the trans-Saharan trade and a center of Islamic learning.

Mansa Musa

Emperor of the kingdom of Mali in Africa. He made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca and established trade routes to the Middle East. Very rich and led to inflation in egypt.

FW DeKlerk

President of South Africa in 1989. Began to dismantle white-only rule and the official structures of the Apartheid. Shared Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandela

South African statesman who was released from prison to become the nation's first democratically elected president in 1994 (born in 1918)

Ibn Batuta

Arabic traveler who described African societies and cultures in his travel records

Askia Muhammed

The "greatest" leader of the Songhai Kingdom. Developed an efficient government bureaucracy to run agriculture, the military, and the treasury (collect taxes).

Shaka Zulu

Leader of Zulu people, Around 1816 used highly disciplined warriors and good military organization to create a large centralized state. The Zulu land became part of British-controlled land in 1887.

Tippu Tib

African ruler in the Eastern Congo, who also built his empire on trading slaves and ivory

Sunni Ali

First great ruler of Songhai, who established the empire

African National Congress

An organization dedicated to obtaining equal voting and civil rights for black inhabitants of South Africa. Founded in 1912 as the South African Native National Congress, it changed its name in 1923. Eventually brought greater equality.

Bantu

A major African language family. Collective name of a large group of sub-Saharan African languages and of the peoples speaking these languages. Famous for migrations throughout central and southern Africa.

Swahili

A Bantu language with Arabic words, spoken along the east African coast