Geo exam 2 (sub-Sahara Africa)

What is the Great Rift Valley?

The divergent plate boundary through eastern Africa.

What is the African Plate doing?

Splitting into 2 new and separate plates.

Why is the Great Rift Valley more densely populated than many other areas of Africa?

It contains fertile volcanic soils, freshwater sources from lakes and rivers, and has a better climate for human habitation.

What is Africa’s largest watershed?

The Congo River.

Where does most of Africa’s rainfall come from?

The Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ).

Why does the ITCZ give Africa most of its rainfall?

It’s where warm winds converge from north and south causing air to rise, cool, and release moisture.

Where are ecosystems generally mirrored in Africa?

North and south of the equator.

What are the environmental issue of Sub-Saharan Africa

Desertification, drought, pollution in urban areas, and wildlife issues.

What is the Sahel?

A zone transition between Sahara to the north of savannas/forest in the south.

Why type of population growth does Africa have?

rapid population growth.

Does sub-Saharan Africa have a young or old population?

Young. 41% under the age of 15. 3% over the age of 65.

What is the fertility rate of sub-Saharan Africa?

~5 due to high mortality rates.

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to how much of the world’s HIV+ population?

70%

Wat is the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa?

Infectious and parasitic diseases.

How many people contact and die from Malaria annually?

200k contract, 400k die. (Mostly in Africa)

What has been used to reduce Malaria infections and deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.

Distribution of insecticide-treated nets.

What drew together the diversities of sub-Saharan Africa?

The history of slavery, colonialism, and struggles for independence.

How many living indigenous languages does Nigeria have?

520. 6 are used in schools.

What do places with many different languages close together have in common with each other?

Long-term isolation of small ethnic groups.

What is the traditional African religion?

Animist.

What is the religion in North Africa?

Islam.

What is the religion in South Africa?

Christianity.

Prior to European involvement Africa was:

A complex mosaic of kingdoms, states, and tribal societies.

The Mali Empire was:

a trading empire that flourished 13th-16th c., possible founded 1000CE.

Who were African slaves traded to?

Arab traders in the east, European traders in the west.

How many Africans were estimated to be exported as slaves to Islamic areas around the Mediterranean.

~9 million.

The long-standing custom of enslaving certain classes in Africa was a result of what?

Hostilities between ethnic groups.

Over 400 years, about how many slaves went to the Americas?

~13 million.

Most African slaves were traded to where?

Brazil. 3.6 million

Who built the first slave forts in Africa?

Portuguese in the 1600s.

What did Europeans supply nearby African kingdoms with to secure slaves?

Rifles.

What percentage of slaves died at sea?

~25%.

When did the British slave trade end?

1809.

What were the consequences of African slave trade?

Drained African interior of human resources.

Fostered dependence on European good and technologies.

What happened to Europeans who came to Africa until the mid 19th c.?

Half of them died from Malaria.

What was used to prevent Malaria for Europeans?

Quinine; a medicine made from the bark of the cinchona tree.

When were formal European colonies established in Africa?

Late 19th c.

What was more profitable to extract raw materials?

African labor in Africa.

Inland areas were exploited for agriculture, minerals, and laborers.

1884 Berlin Conference

Europeans set boundaries in Africa to prevent conflict.

Who were the earliest European settlers in Africa?

Dutch — employees of the Dutch East India Company.

When was the seizure of Africa complete?

By WWI with the exceptions of Liberia and Ethiopia.

What were the goals of colonizing Africa?

Raw material extraction,

Creation of markets for European manufactures,

Keep administrative costs to a minimum.

What were the patterns of colonization in Africa?

Limited European settlement,

Crop exports,

Labor reserves.

The Belgian Congo:

~10 million died from malnutrition during the reign of King Leopold of Belgium.

What were the impacts of colonialism in Africa?

Political boundaries,

Africa contains 40% of world’s landlocked states,

Lack of intra-African rail and road networks,

Many governments remain authoritarian, antidemocratic, and dominated by elites.

Syncretism.

Europeans decided to withdraw from Africa after:

WWII, there were also local independence movements.

Why was South African independence more complicated?

Because of the white settlers.

When did most African states become independent?

The 1960s

How long did the formal colonial period last in Africa?

1880s-1960s.

How long has Democratic Republic of the Congo been at war?

25 years.

1998-2010 were 5 million deaths.

What percentage of the sub-Sahara African population lives on $1.90/day?

41%

Where does the Human Development Index rank most of the sub-Sahara African states?

At the bottom.

What is the average GNI-PPP in sub-Saharan Africa?

$3,500.

What are the roots of African poverty?

Slave trade,

Colonization,

Failed development policies,

Corruption.

Why was slave trade a root of African poverty?

Large areas were depopulated,

Others fled to poot, inaccessible refuges.

Why was colonization a root of African poverty?

Europeans invested little in infrastructure, education, and public health,

European gov. focused on mineral and agricultural resources for their own benefit,

Transportation and communication systems were designed to link admin. centers and extraction zones only to the colonial powers.

David Livingston

Doctor, explorer, and Missionary in Central Africa,

He represents an era of exploration of the interior of the African continent, mid to late 19th c.

Why were failed development policies a root of African policies?

Created an over-reliance on export of raw materials and agricultural products,

Commodity prices declines in 1980s.

What type of commodity are many African countries:

One-commodity countries.

Many African countries depend on the export of 1 or 2 commodities for most of their income.

What accounts for the majority of foreign exchange earnings in Nigeria?

Petroleum and crude oil.

What is the principal export of Uganda?

Coffee.

What about having raw materials as a main or only export makes countries exposed to economic risk?

Most of them have low, unstable export prices.

What have some states of Africa done for economic nationalism?

Countries went into debt to build infrastructure, factories.

Their attempts to industrialize failed and left them with debts they couldn’t pay.

What attempt was done with structural adjustment programs (SAPs)?

Attempted to repay international loans through reducing government spending, cutting food subsidies, etc.

This created hardships for the poor.

In corrupt African countries, civil servants are not:

Paid a living wage.

What country was ranked as the most corrupt country?

Nigeria.

Kleptocracy is:

A state with institutionalized corruption; government leaders take country’s wealth for themselves.

What country had an example of kleptocracy?

Democratic Republic of the Congo with President Mobutu (r. 1965-1997.)

At time of independence, outsiders still:

Owned many African industries,

profits invested mostly in Europe and America.

Economies of sub-Saharan Africa generate about __ of the world’s GNI, but have __ of population.

2%: 13%

Where do most African exports go to?

Europe (especially England and France, former colonial power.)

Other major trading partners are US and China.

Many African colonies still depend on what for trade, technology, and other goods and services?

Their former colonizers.

Who owns 13% of Africa’s debt?

China

What is China’s central bank trying to negotiate with several African countries?

Debt reconstruction.

Why does China have investments all over Africa?

It wants to secure raw materials for its massive industrial economy.

Who are the top donors to Africa?

China, US, France, and Great Britain.