Transcript File - Mrs. Flowers History

The Sahel
Population Patterns

The People
 Sahel extends from Senegal to Sudan
 Many different ethnicities
 More than 100 in Chad alone
 Influenced by Arab, European, and indigenous cultures
 Major ethnic groups: Mande (Senegal and Mali), Wolof
(Senegal), and Hausa (Niger).
 Fulani (largest ethnic group of nomadic herders) and
Berbers live there, as well
 Hausa-used to be traders, but now agricultural
 Fulani- raise dairy cattle
 One of first to adopt Islam
 Islam is strong in Sahel, but many defy general Muslim
classifications
 Ex. Arabic is not the main language
 Many ethnic groups have maintained indigenous cultural
practices
History and Government

First Civilizations
 Around 2000 BC people fleeing a
dramatic shift in climate settled the
Sahel
 Sahara region became hotter and
drier (desertification)
 Nile valley remained fertile
 Gave life to Egyptian civilization
 Kingdom of Kush (Sudan) eventually
extended its rule into Egyptian territory
 Pushed south along the Nile
 Kush flourished until 300s, when its
trade routes were attacked by
Axum
 Trading empire in Ethiopia
History and Government
 Empires
and Colonization
 Several centuries later- trading
empires gained strength in W
Africa
 Mali and Songhai Empires grew
rich from the gold-for-salt trade
 Mali’s capital= Timbuktu
 Songhai took over Mali and
expanded east
 Prospered until about 1600s
(overrun by Moroccans)
History and Government

Europeans began trading as
early as the 1200s
 By 1600s and 1700s, they were
trading extensively
 1800s- European countries
began colonizing Africa
 Wanted raw materials, new
markets, etc.
 Created boundaries that
often cut across ethnic
homelands
 Set African groups against
one another and
strengthened European
rule
History and Government


Many Africans benefited from European rule
 Better education
 By mid 1900s- educated Africans launched
independence movements
 The colonies became independent
New countries faced difficulties
 Colonial powers did not include Africans in gov’t
 Didn’t provide models for democracy
 At independence, many countries adopted
boundaries set by colonial powers
 Rival ethnic groups struggled for power and civil
wars erupted
History and Government

Sudan Today
 Distinct cultural divisions separate north and south in Sudan
 North= Arab speaking Muslims, living in larger cities
 Favor Islamic gov’ts
 South= rural areas
 Focused on subsistence farming and prefer a secular gov’t
 Western region of Darfur holds 1.8 m displaced people
 Conflict between agrarian non-Arab black African Muslims and
gov’t-backed militias
 Led to death of tens of thousands and overcrowded refugee
camps
 About 250,000 nomads threatened as they try to avoid
conflict
 Peace deal signed in 2005 (ended conflict between N and S)
 Did not address Darfur
Culture

The Arts
 African art (often expressing traditional religious beliefs) comes in
many forms
 Ritual masks to rhythmic drum music to folktales
 Visual arts include ceremonial masks and wooden figures of
Dogon people of Mali
 Music= percussion, the talking drum, and the 5-string guitar
 Literature developed in NE Africa (societies came in contact
w/Mediterranean systems of writing)
 Modern literature includes works of Nafissatou Niang Diallo
 1975 biography- one of first to be published by Senegalese
woman
 Oral literature (chanted, sung, or recited)
 Oral tradition= the practice of passing down stories from
generation to generation by word of mouth
Culture

Family Life
 Most Africans value strong family ties
 Rural areas- most live in extended
families
 Most families are patriarchal (headed
by male family member)
 Women still involved in supporting
family
 Families are organized into clans
(large groups of people descended
from an early common ancestor)
 Often marry within their clan
 In the cities= nuclear family (husband,
wife, children) is replacing the extended
family
Culture

Language and Religion
 Hundreds of ethnic groups speak
several African language groups:
 Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and
Cong-Kordofanian
 French is spoken in Sudan
 Islam is predominant religion
 Christianity is also practiced in
Chad, Sudan, Niger, and
Senegal
 Many ethnic groups have
maintained indigenous religions
Culture
 Education
 School
enrollment and literacy
rates are low
 Poorest countries (Niger and
Mali)- Only about 1/3 go to
school
 Some countries few children
go to elementary school
 Parents are too poor to
send them
 Gov’ts are working on
increasing school
enrollment
Culture

Health Care
 Poverty= key factor in access to
health care
 Major health concerns: high
mortality rates and infectious
diseases
 Lack of adequate care in
childbirth results in high female
and infant mortality rates
 Small number of rural Africans have
access to clean water
 ¼ live where there is adequate
sanitation (disposal of waste
products)