Unit 10: Sub-Saharan Africa Vocabulary

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and definitions related to Sub-Saharan Africa.

Abundant

Present in large amounts; plentiful.

Animist

Pertaining to traditional religious beliefs in which nature and objects, such as animals and mountains, are thought to have spirits.

Approximately

About or nearly.

Basin

An area drained by a river and its tributaries.

Biofuel

Fuel created from living matter, such as trees.

Canopy

Top layer of a rain forest, where the tops of tall trees form a continuous layer of leaves.

Carrying Capacity

The maximum population of any given species that an environment can sustain without undergoing deterioration.

Cash Crop

A farm crop grown to be sold or traded rather than used by the farm family.

Cataract

A large waterfall.

Clan

A large group of people descended from the same ancestor.

Conflict Diamonds

Diamonds that are mined in war-torn areas and are used to finance wars.

Constitute

To compose or form.

Convert

To change from one system, use, or method to another that is quite different.

Delta

An often triangular-shaped section of land formed as the waters of a river slow down and split into many channels as they deposit sand and silt.

Demonstrate

To clearly show.

Desertification

The destruction of land in arid and semi-arid climates.

Domesticate

To adapt plants and animals from the wild for human use.

E-commerce

Buying and selling on the Internet.

Environment

Natural surroundings.

Erosion

The wearing away of soil.

Escarpment

A steep cliff or slope between a higher and lower land surface.

Export

A commodity produced and sent from one country to another for purposes of trade.

Fault

A crack or break in Earth's crust.

Fishery

A place for catching fish; the fishing industry.

Goal

The aim of an activity.

Griot

Traditional oral historians, storytellers, singers, and musicians of West Africa.

Habitat

Area with conditions suitable for certain plants or animals to live.

Hamper

To make difficult; to impede.

Harmattan

A hot, dry wind that blows from the northeast or east in the western Sahara.

Hub

The center of an activity or region.

Incorporate

To blend or thoroughly combine.

Indigenous

Native to a place.

Infrastructure

The set of systems that affect how well a place or organization operates, such as telephone or transportation systems.

Intermittent

Occurring at irregular intervals; occasional.

Internally Displaced Person

A refugee within his or her own country.

Intervene

To take action to change what is happening.

Lingua Franca

A common language used among people with different native languages.

Montane

Referring to a mountainous area.

Navigable

Able to be traveled by boat.

Nuclear Family

A family unit made up of a husband, wife, and children.

Oral Tradition

The practice of passing down stories from generation to generation by word of mouth.

Overfarming

Situation in which land is repeatedly farmed so that the soil nutrients are depleted.

Parallel

Lying in the same direction with an equal distance between.

Patriarchal

A family that is headed by a male family member.

Plantation

A large commercial farm growing crops for export.

Poaching

Illegal hunting.

Priority

Something given or meriting attention before competing alternatives.

Prohibit

To forbid from doing through a law or rule.

Reservoir

A natural or artificial lake used as a source of water.

Rift Valley

A crack in Earth's surface formed by shifting and separating tectonic plates.

River Plain

A plain formed by the deposit of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers.

Sahel

Steppe region extending from Senegal to Somalia that receives little rainfall.

Sanitation

The disposal of waste products.

Scope

The extent of an activity or influence.

Subsistence Farming

Farming that provides the basic needs of a family with little surplus.

Survive

To manage to stay alive.

Transition Zone

An area in which the properties of the land undergo a radical change.

Understory

A lower layer of the rain forest.