W geo ch 20 notes

ohio

The ____ lies south of the Sahara, where the land undergoes a radical change in climate.

Transition Zone

The ____, or the Arabic word for shore, marks the border between the Sahara desert and the tropical savanna of Equatorial Africa.

Sahel

The ____ is mainly flat with a series of plateaus.

Topography

The ____ region of the Sahel is one of the largest pastoral zones in the world

Steppe

Ghana's ____, made by damming the Volta River, has been a benefit, or gain, for irrigation, but also a detriment to the river's ecology.

Lake volta

The _ is the main artery of western Africa, important to agriculture and transportation, with inland deltas, or areas where the river slows down and spreads out into smaller channels.

Niger River

Two major tributaries of the Nile River, the ____ and ____ Nile, flow through the area and provide hydroelectric power to some areas in the region.

Blue & White

Two hot seasons occur in the region with one ____ season, but the location and amount of rainfall is unpredictable.

Rainy

In many areas, ____ is the only water source.

Rainfall

A vicious cycle of soil erosion, insufficient water, deforestation, and drought have plagued the area for decades, leading to _.

Famines

This biome is home to a diverse population of ____, ____, and _____.

flora, fauna, and wild animals

Few _ exist in the region

Natural resources

Many _ and ____ ruled the subregion, in the past, including the Egyptians, the Kush, and the Mali Empires.

Empires and kingdoms

In the 1800s, _ saw the subregion as a source of raw materials and a potential, or likely, market for finished goods.

Europeans

At the _, European rulers created artificial boundaries putting all of the Sahel under their control without regard to cultural, religious, or traditional boundaries.

Berlin Conference

The area is a cultural, as well as geographical, transition between North Africa and the and _ south.

Muslim; animist & Christian

_ remains low with uneven distribution and high growth rates; these cause concern as resources cannot support continual increases.

Population density

There are relatively few cities: the ancient city of _ still stands, and Nouakchott, Khartoum, and Port Sudan have many residents.

Timbuktu

Many different African languages are spoken throughout the subregion, with ____ also widely used because of colonial rule.

French

Islam is the dominant religion in the north, while Christianity is practiced south of the Transition Zone, along with many _ religions throughout the region.

Indigenous

Rural

to

urban migration has increased as ____ and overworked land force people into cities to find jobs.

Drought

What 3 things are major health concerns?

Poverty, lack of access to clean water, and santitation

Subsistence farming, where the farmer consumes most of what is produced leaving little to sell, and _ continue as the traditional economy of the subregion.

Semi

nomadic herding

_ is the subregion's only member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Nigeria

Most of area is rich in natural resources, such as ____, ____, and ____, but these resources have yet to be fully developed.

Oil, gas, & minerals

has decreased while the number of people depending on it has increased.

Precipitation

Over the past several decades there have been chaotic shifts in rainfall, causing problems for ____.

Crops

, or the destruction of land in arid and semiarid areas, is the result of variations in climate and causes food insecurity, poverty, and further water shortages.

Desertification

, , and ____ are all causes of desertification in the subregion.

Overgrazing, deforestation, and overpopulation

_ has created water management problems.

Climate change

In an effort to combat water problems, people have tried different methods of ____ and providing access to freshwater, with varying results

Irrigation

Poorly conceived water projects can cause problems, including attracting , increasing , and contributing to _.

disease

carrying insects; overgrazing; desertification

_ may be possible with better water management and land use practices.

Remediation

Many _ are working to stave off desertification by enhancing knowledge and understanding of the challenges.

Nongovernmental agencies

Local people are experimenting and discovering ways to reclaim _.

Dry land

By and areas affected by desertification, scientists hope to find solutions to the problem.

Monitoring & studying