Title: FIVE THINGS EVERY STUDENT SHOULD KNOW ABOUT AFRICA
1 FIVE THINGS EVERY STUDENT SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
AFRICA
2INFORMATION FROMLYNN M
THOMASASSISTANT PROFESSORHISTORY DEPARTMENT OF
U.WASHINGTONGLOBAL TEACH PRESENTATION27 MARCH
2000
31AFRICA IS A HUGE DIVERSE CONTINENT NOT A
COUNTRY
- 11.8 million square miles
- Environmentally diverse savannah, desert
rainforest - Over 1,100 languages
- 2/3 rural 1/3 urban
- Range of social classes and income levels
4(No Transcript)
5AFRICA - ECOREGIONS
6AFRICA CLIMATE
72AFRICA IS A CONTINENT OF ENORMOUS CULTURAL AND
HISTORICAL RICHNESS
- Religion and music
- Great civilizations and great people
- --ancient Egypt, Nubia, East African Coast,
Ghana, Songhay, Mali and Great Zimbabwe - Beautiful objects
8AFRICAN MASKS
93AFRICA IS NOT A DISTANT PLACE FROM THE US
- There is a long history of connections between
Africa and the Americas - Humans originated in the Rift valley (East
Africa) 2 million years ago - Trans Atlantic slave trade
- Liberia Americas colony
- US trade and strategic interests in Africa
104WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE PRESENT
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL PROBLEMS FACINGAFRICAN
COUNTRIES WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THE HISTORY OF
SLAVERY AND COLONIALISM
11HISTORY OF SLAVERY AND COLONIALISM
- Legacies of slave trade (c. 1500 1830)
- -Africa as exporter of resources
- - plantation slavery fueled development of
modern and unequal world economy - Legacies of European colonialism (c.1880 1960)-
- - creation of nations
- - African countries as food importers
-
125IN THE FACE OF PROFOUND ECONOMIC AND
POLITICAL CHALLENGES, PEOPLE ACROSS AFRICA ARE
STRUGGLING WITH DETERMINATION AND CREATIVITY TO
BUILD BETTER LIVESAFRICANS ARE NOT SIMPLY
VICTIMS IN NEED OF A HANDOUT
13RESOURCES
- African studies outreach program at Boston
University - www.bu.eud/afr/Outreach
- Stanford guide to internet resources on Africa
- http//www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/heal
th.html - APIC
- www.africapolicy.org
14 AFRICA - OVERVIEW
15AFRICA OVERVIEW Landscape/Geography
- REGIONS
- North Africa
- SubSaharan Africa West Africa
- Central Africa
- East Africa
- Southern Africa
16Landscape/Geography
- REGIONS
- desert
- grasslands
- tropical rain forests
- mountains
-
-
17Landscape/Geography
- SubSaharan Africa
- Escarpments near coastline levels to a hilly
plateau - Few harbors
- Rivers difficult to navigate
- Hinders communication and contact among African
peoples -
-
18Landscape/Geography
- SubSaharan Africa
- 1/3 of Africas land is deserts
- 2000 years ago the Sahara Desert was green
pastureland - Drought over farming and overgrazing turns
marginal land into barren wasteland - Example Sahel Region
-
-
19AGRICULTURE
- Most Africans are farmers
- North and South corn and potatoes
- Central coffee, bananas,
tobacco, cocoa - ¼ land is suitable for grazing
- Difficulty with disease and drought
- Only continent not self-sufficient for food
-
-
20OTHER ECONOMY
- Rain forests produce valuable hardwoods
- - logging limited due to undeveloped
transportation networks - Mineral reserves
- - oil (Nigeria, Libya, Algeria)
- - diamonds (South Africa, Namibia)
- - copper - (Zambia, Zaire)
21OTHER ECONOMY
- Wildlife
- Major threat poachers
- Only found in abundance in
- - Tanzinias Serengeti Plains
- - Botswanas Kalahari Desert
22HISTORY
- 8000 year history
- - pyramids in Egypt _at_ 3000 BCE
- - 1500s European exploration and colonization
- - After WW11 period of African Nationalism
- - 1946 1980 All African colonies receive
independence (Namibia in 1990)