CHAPTER 24 SOUTHERN AFRICA HUMAN GEOGRAPHY HISTORY Fossils

CHAPTER 24: SOUTHERN AFRICA

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

HISTORY • Fossils of first humans found in Tanzania and Kenya • 1978: Mary Leakey and family discover bipedal footprints in Olduvai Gorge • Later, uncover “Lucy”, the skeletal remains of an Australopithecus • First people to live in Southern Africa were the San (20, 000 yrs ago)

BANTU PEOPLES • Originated in central Africa • Spread across Africa 3, 500 yrs ago • Bantu refers to a group of 500 related languages spread across the continent • Shona, a Bantu people, est. Great Zimbabwe • This became a center of a huge trading empire • 1400 s: Great Zimbabwe is abandoned (no one knows why)

MADAGASCAR • Population due to migration • C. 800 A. D. : Malagasy ppl migrate from SE Asia to island • Mix with migrants from African continent

EUROPEAN INFLUENCE • 1480 s: Portuguese sail into Kingdom of Kongo (northern Angola) • Mid-1500 s: slave trade runs through Southern Africa • 1600 s: other European countries come in, weakening the power of the Portuguese in Africa • 1700 s: Dutch, British, and local African forces control most of Southern Africa

BOER WAR • 1652: Dutch East India Company settles on the Cape of Good Hope • Dutch took land • Called themselves “Afrikaners” (Africans) • Also called “Boers” (Dutch for farmers) • Used slaves on farms • Mixed Dutch language with African dialects, creating a new language (Afrikaans)

BOER WAR CONT • Early 1800 s: British move in and outlaw the slave trade • Afrikaners fight back after years of British dominance • British win the Boer Wars • South Africa gains independence shortly after WWI and is controlled by former Boer commanders

SHAKA ZULU • One of the most important Africans in the history of this region • Shaka takes control of Zulus in 1816 • He reorganizes and trains the Zulu army • Began taking territory from other clans • 1828: assassinated • 1879: British declare war on Zulus • Zulus eventually defeated and divided into 13 small territories

CECIL RHODES • One of the most important European figures in Southern African history • 1891: starts De Beers (produced 90% of world’s diamonds) • Prime Minister of Cape Colony from 1890 -1896 • Ruthless with indigenous ppl

NELSON MANDELA • South Africa • Society segregated btwn whites and blacks • 1948: policy of apartheid adopted (separate but equal---not equal) • Civil protests and international boycotts led to its end • Nelson Mandela helped lead the fight against apartheid • He was imprisoned for 27 years • 1994: Mandela becomes South Africa’s 1 st black president