Human Geography of Africa Chapter 19 East Africa

Human Geography of Africa Chapter 19

East Africa “Cradle of Humanity”

“Cradle of Humanity” �Olduvai Gorge – northern Tanzania � Most continuous known record of humanity � Gorge has yielded fossils from 65 individual hominids, or humans �Louis and Mary Leakey �Discovery of “Lucy”

Ethiopia Avoids Colonization Ethiopia: A Successful Resistance Successfully resisted Europeans Menelik II – played Italians, French, and British against each other 1896 – Battle of Adowa – Ethiopian forces successfully defeated the Italians and kept their nation independent

Conflict in East Africa � 1970 s – most of East Africa had regained its independence from Europe � Internal disputes and civil wars � Ex: colonialism inflamed the peoples of Rwanda and helped to cause a bloody conflict in the 1990 s. � Causes: European colonial powers had not prepared East African nations for independence � Ethnic boundaries created by the Europeans forced cultural divisions that had not existed before colonialism. � Cultural divisions = internal conflicts among native groups.

Farming and Tourism Economies � Agriculture – economic foundation of East Africa � Raw Materials – economic base of most African nations � World-famous wildlife parks generate millions of dollars of revenue � 70% rural � Relied on cash crops – coffee, tea, and sugar, which are grown for direct sale � Wildlife parks – Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania

Health Care in Modern Africa �AIDS – has become a pandemic �Pandemic – an uncontrollable outbreak of a disease affecting a large population over a wide geographic area �AIDS – caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) �Decline in population by 10 to 20%

West Africa �Goree Island – busy point for exporting slaves during the slave trade �Mid 1500 s to the mid 1800 s – 20 millions Africans were transported through Goree Island

Stateless Societies �Stateless Society – people rely on family lineages to govern themselves, rather than an elected government or monarch �Members of a stateless society work through their differences to cooperate and share power �Example: Igbo of SE Nigeria

West Africa Struggles Economically � Trade is important � Economic well-being is based on the sale of its products to industrialized countries in Europe, North America and Asia � Ghana’s Stabile Economy � Export of gold, diamonds, magnesium, and bauxite � Problems in Sierra Leone � Worst economic conditions � Once produced some of the world’s highest-quality diamonds � Years of political instability and civil wars have left the economy in shambles � Uneducated population � Poor infrastructure (800 miles of roads)

Central Africa

Bantu Migrations and Colonial Exploitation �Bantu Migrations � 2000 B. C. Bantu people moved southward throughout Africa. On the way they spread their languages and cultures. � Key event in Africa’s history � Great diversity of cultures � 120 million Africans speak one of the hundreds of Bantu languages

Slave Trade � 15 th century, Portuguese established the island of Sao Tome off the coast of what is now Gabon as the initial base for trade in African captives �Slave trade ended in 1870 s

State of Colonialism � 1800 s – Central Africa consisted of hundreds of different ethnic groups � King Leopold II of Belgium – controlled area by 1884 � Wanted to open the African interior to European trade along the Congo River � This paved the way for the Berlin Conference � Berlin Conference – 14 European nations divided Africa between 18841885 � No African ruler invited to attend � Only Liberia and Ethiopia remained free

Effects of Colonialism �Belgians and French colonized Central Africa �Most gained independence in the 1960 s, but borders imposed during colonialism posed problems �Ethnic regions and traditional enemies were not considered

Economic Legacy of Colonialism � Countries suffer from a lack of infrastructure � Rely on export of raw materials � Congo: � Huge amounts of natural resources (gold, copper, diamonds) � Mobutu Sese Seko – leader of Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1967 to 1997 � Brought country’s business under national control � Began taking kickbacks in order to profit from reorganization

Southern Africa Zulus Fight the British Shaka – Zulu chief – creates centralized state around 1816 British defeat Zulus and gain control of Zulu nation in 1887 Boers and British Settle in the Cape Boers, or Dutch farmers, Afrikaners, take Africans’ land, establish large farms Boers clash with British over land, slaves Great Trek (1835 -37) moved north to escape British

Three Groups Clash over South Africa The Boer War between British, Boers begins in 1899 British win; Boer republics united in Union of South Africa (1910)

The Policy of Apartheid in South Africa � 1948 – policy of apartheid – complete separation of the races � Banned social contact between blacks and whites and established segregated schools, hospitals, and neighborhoods � Blacks 75% � Whites 15% � Whites received the best land � 1912 – African National Congress (ANC) Nelson Mandela emerged as one of the leader of the ANC

Nelson Mandela �http: //www. biography. com/people/nelson-mandela- 9397017? page=2

Today’s Issues - Africa Chapter 20

On the Road to Development �Building Industries � Economy of many African nations is based on the export of raw materials � “One-commodity” countries �Commodity – an agricultural or mining product that can be sold �Example: Diamonds �“One-Commodity” nations are unstable

Health Care �Serious Diseases � Cholera – inadequate sanitation and lack of a clean water supply � Malaria – infectious disease carried by mosquitos � AIDS – often accompanied by tuberculosis (respiratory infection spread between humans � 70% of the world’s adult AIDS cases � 80% of the world’s children AIDS cases

Success Stories �Uganda and Senegal have had success in reducing the spread of HIV