Transcript West Africa

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East, West, Central, and South
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In what ways do major rivers contribute to
the economies of West African countries?
Air Massif
Tibesti Mountains
Jos Plateau
Fouta Djallon
Niger River
Benue River
Sengal River
Lake Chad
Ennedi
Lake Volta
Black Volta River
White Volta River
* The region has no major
mountain ranges
* Air Massif – group of
mountains in central Niger
where the Tuareg people
graze their livestock
* Tibesti Mountains – highest
elevations in West Africa
* Ennedi – desert plateau region
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* Jos Plateau – mostly open
grassland and farmland
* Fouta Djallon – highland
region of savanna and
deciduous forest
* Guinea Highlands – densely
forested region
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* Sengal River marks the
border between the
countries of Mauritania and
Senegal
* Black Volta River and the
White Volta River originate in
Burkina Fasso.
* Akosomo Dam located where
the two rivers meet. Create
Lake Volta
* Provides irrigation and
electrical needs
* Lake Chad is also used for
irrigation and electrical
needs.
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* The Niger river – longest and
most important river
* During the rainy season it
floods leaving fertile farmland
* Benue River – joins the Niger
and doubles its water volume
* These two rivers provide
water for irrigation and
hydroelectric power
* Main source of Mali’s fishing
industry
* Important transportation
route
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* The climate of the region is
diverse
* Ranges from harsh, arid
Sahara in the north to lush
costal rain forests in the south
* Between are vast stretches of
grasslands
* Key feature of the region is its
distinct wet and dry seasons
* From late November until
mid-March, the Harmattan
blows through the Sahara.
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* Rainfall in the region can
range from 200 inches in
some areas to as little as 20
inches a year. This make life
in the region difficult.
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* Nigeria – regions biggest
* Ghana’s main source of
* Chad – oil fields
* Benin and Ghana have offshore
* Senegal River provides half the
producer of petroleum and
natural gas
oil fields
electricity are two dams on the
Volta River
energy used in Mauritania
* Toto and Nigeria also depend
on hydroelectric power.
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* 10,000 years ago the Sahara looked
more like a savannah than a
desert.
* Lakes, forests, large animals such
as ostriches, giraffes, elephants,
antelope, and rhinoceroses roamed
the area.
* As the area grew drier, people
moved south.
* Camels became important to the
survival of the people. They can
carry heavy loads for long distances
and can go for long periods without
water.
* They became the perfect
domesticated animals for desert
dwellers.
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* The Bantu people inhabited
West Africa in Ancient times
* 2,000 BC developed farming
* 1000 BC a vast migration of
Bantu people began
* Wherever they moved to, they
brought their culture.
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* For 1,000s of years, the Sahara
was a barrier between West
and North Africa.
* 700 AD, Arabs controlled trade
in the North. They soon
realized that West Africa
offered opportunities for
conversion to Islam.
* The Berber People of North
Africa, Almoravids – Fierce
fighters that wanted to spread
their faith.
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* Ghana was a powerful west
African kingdom
* Controlled gold-for-salt trade
in the region
* 1,000 AD the Almoravids
conquered Ghana
* Their rule brought about a
decline in this kingdom
* Desertification, lack of trade,
and famine ruined the once
thriving area.
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* Mali grew rich from the gold-
for-salt trade after the decline
of Ghana
* It reached its height under the
emperor Mansa Musa
* Became a center for Islamic
culture.
* During the emperors
pilgrimage to mecca the world
learned of the powerful Mali
empire.
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* Songhai replace Mali
* A strong army and navy
controlled the Niger River and
trade in the region.
* It also became a center for
Islamic learning
* It fell to the Moroccans by the
end of the 1500s
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* Slavery had been practiced in
Africa for centuries.
* Muslims from North Africa and
Asia had bought enslaved people
from south of the Sahara.
* European colonists began to buy
slaves to do the work in their
colonies in the Western
Hemisphere.
* Small African kingdoms along the
Atlantic coast became highly
profitable in these kingdoms.
* When Europeans outlawed the
slave trade, the kingdom’s
economies began to fail.
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What were some of the factors that aroused European interest in
exploring and colonizing Africa?
* 1807 – the British outlawed the slave trade
* 1787 – Sierra Leone – a safe haven for runaway or freed enslaved
persons.
* 1822 – Liberia – founded by Americans as a home for freed
American slaves.
* To make up for the loss of revenue from the slave trade, Britain
started to develop and then profit from the palm oil trade.
* 1869 – Suez Canal opened and Diamonds found in South Africa
* These two events increased European interest in the area.
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* Imperialism – the practice of seizing control of other places to
create an empire.
* 1884-1885 Berlin Conference to divide up Africa
* Some colonies were ruled more harshly than others.
* Settlers could force Africans off the best lands
* Africans resisted violently, but to no avail.
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1957
* Ghana became and independent states.
Was the Gold Boast
under British Rule.
* For many years it was troubled by conflict.
* 1992 – adopted a new constitution.
* Has become a model of political reform in West Africa
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1960
* Mauritania
* Niger
* Cote D’lvoire
* Gamiba
* Burkina Faso
* Declared independence from France
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* 1914 – British combined the Igbo – Christian tribes in the south,
and the Hausa – Muslim tribe in the North, into one country under
the Nigerian Protectorate.
* When Nigeria gained independence in 1960, tensions flared.
* Thousands of Igbo in northern Nigeria were massacred.
* 1967 – The eastern region became the republic of Baifra (they
seceded, or withdrew formally)
* Military forces invaded and reclaimed the region.
* Millions of people were killed and the area was left in ruins.
* Since then, Nigeria has been mostly under military rule.
* 1978-consitution was written
* 1999 – the first democratically elected president ruled the
region.
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* Liberia and Sierra Leone have also been plagued by civil war and
military coups.
* Ethnic conflict in the region has been rampart.
* 50,000 people lost their lives and 2 million people lost their
homes in civil war and destruction.
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* Independence from colonial rule did not lead to peace.
* Most countries maintained their colonial borders after
independence.
* This lead to ethnic strife in the region.
* People in this region tend to identify more with their ethnic
background than their national background.
* Members of the same ethnic group may live in multiple countries.
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* Most independent countries continue to use the languages
brought in by the colonist to this day for business and
government.
* Arabic is often a national language.
* Most ethnic groups use their traditional African languages in the
region.
* This has created a pidgin language.
A simplified language used by
people who cannot speak each other’s languages but need to
communicate.
* When two or more languages combine to create a new language
it is called a creole language.
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* Islam was established in many parts of western Africa
* In some parts, Christianity is also a prevalent religion.
* Many other people continue to practice traditional African
religions.
* Animasts – people who believe a supreme creator or god created
all things. They believe in spirits – the spirits of their ancestors,
the air, the earth, and rivers.
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* The air is traditionally made up of scattered villages.
* They are homesteads of extended families – families made up of
parents, children, and other close relatives.
* Population density is dependent on land sustainability.
* In the north, density is low due to water shortages.
* Most large cities are capital cities.
* The largest city in West Africa is Lago, Nigeria with 10.5million
people.
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* The are is cultural diverse.
* Mali, Mauritania, and Niger
are influenced by North Africa
* People in cities are influenced
by western culture
* Village life is traditional to
African culture.
* Cities are ethnically diverse
* Ethnic pride still causes
conflict in rural areas.
* Dance is used for healing
* Music blends many sounds and
combines traditional and
modern instruments.
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* Infrastructure – underlying framework of an area
* Europeans did not invest in infrastructure in the area.
* They also concentrated their development of the colonial
economies around minimal resources.
* Therefore the area needs to develop additional resources and
develop infrastructure in order for their economies to be
successful.
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* Foreign investments in the area did not help.
* They lead to corruption and mismanagement of funds and
increased debt in the area.
* Debt relief provided by the International Monetary Fund and
World Bank have been very important to the stabilization of the
region.
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* Sub-Saharan Africa holds 22.9
million of the 34 million
people in the world living with
HIV or Aids.
* People dealing with the
disease have several
challenges.
* West Africa’s population is
growing quickly.
* The educational system must
also grow to meet the needs
of new generations.
* A lack of funding for
education means that some
countries cannot afford to
make update or improvements
to their schools.
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