World Cultures Mr.
P.
Africa: Explore the Regions Group Exercise
Your group’s mission, since you HAVE chosen to accept it, is to
prepare to present your region to the class after you have completed the
following:
1. Read the section underneath the
name of your region.
2. Click on the title of your section
to begin exploring the region.
3. Be prepared to tell us about your
region by presenting the following to the class:
a. Name the countries that your region
includes and show them to us on Google Earth.
b. Describe the climate of your
region.
c. Give us one interesting fact about
the people of your region and show us a picture.
d. What kind of
animals live in your region? What
king of vegetation?
e. Give us 3 more “interesting facts”
about your region that we can and should remember.
Rainforest Overview
Home
to half of the continent's animal species, Africa's
vast rainforests are falling silent. Deforestation, road construction and
slash-and-burn farming have already wiped out roughly 90 percent of the West Africa's rainforests. Now, the rainforests of
Central Africa's Congo
Basin, the second largest
in the world after the Amazon, have come under the axe, too.
For centuries, only scattered groups of native hunter-gatherers and
Bantu-speaking subsistence farmers disturbed the forest realm. Then, in the
19th century, European loggers and plantation owners moved in. One of the worst
cases of rainforest exploitation took place in the Belgian colony of Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo)
where thousands of forced laborers died in the scramble to harvest wild rubber.
Today, the governments of rainforest countries are now torn between the need to
protect their endangered rainforests and the need for the money, roads and jobs
that foreign logging companies bring in. Growing populations, swollen by war
refugees, are razing rainforest to make way for farm land; poachers are picking
off chimpanzees and gorillas to sell to the profitable bushmeat
trade.
Will the Congo Basin
follow the fate of West Africa? Maybe not. In 1999, the six countries of the Congo Basin
-- Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Gabon,
Equatorial
Guinea -- pledged to harmonize forestry laws
and form a joint watchdog system to track the effects of logging and poaching.
One year later, they took the first step toward putting that pledge into action:
the creation of the tri-national Sangha
Park, a reserve that will cover more
than one million hectares of rainforest in Cameroon,
the Central African Republic
and the Republic
of Congo.
Ethiopian Highlands
Overview
Hailed
as the "cradle of humanity," Ethiopia boasts a human history
that dates back millions of years. At its heart lie the Ethiopian Highlands.
Home to 80 percent of Africa's tallest mountains, the highlands have helped
shelter Ethiopia
from foreign conquest and preserve one of the world's most distinct cultures. Ethiopia
is the only African country never to have been colonized. It is also the second
country after Armenia
to have adopted Christianity as its official religion. The setting for this
pivotal event was the northeastern highland city of Aksum,
a leading civilization of the ancient world and, reportedly, the resting place
for the Ark
of theCovenant. To the east, Lalibela,
a former capital, contains one of Christianity's most important sites -- a
series of 13th century churches carved out of rock with the help of angels,
according to legend.
Few spiritual heritages can lay claim to a more awe-inspiring setting. The Blue
Nile courses through this region, the Great Rift Valley sprawls in its center,
and the Simien and Bale Mountains
enclose it on either side.
But the Ethiopian Highlands are a place of problems, as well as mystery. After
7,000 years of agriculture, the land is tiring out. Plagued by recurring
drought, the area saw the worst of Ethiopia's 1985 famine. Soil
erosion from clearing lands for the cultivation of coffee, Ethiopia's main export, and teff, an endemic grain, remains unchecked. Famine, long the
scourge of Ethiopia,
is an ever-present threat.
Still, the optimism of highlanders shines through. One Ethiopian proverb
declares that when a spider's web forms, it can trap a lion. The people of the
Ethiopian Highlands have managed to trap one of the world's richest cultural
treasure chests.
Great Lakes
Overview
The
Great Lakes of Africa include some of the largest and most ecologically diverse
freshwater systems on the planet. Twisting down the two arms of the Great Rift
Valley like a chain of sapphires, the lakes are located in nine countries in
east and central Africa. Eight of the 15 lakes
in this region are considered to rank as "great lakes," a testimony
to their size and depth. Lake Victoria, located between Uganda to the west and Tanzania and Kenya
to the east, ranks as the second-largest freshwater lake in the world after the
U.S.'s Lake
Superior. Lake Taganayika, located on the
border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, ranks as one of the
deepest. Each lake has its own eco-system, dependent on rainfall, proximity to
the equator and land elevation. Rich soils provide a powerful lure for humans.
Several million Bantu-speaking people live within 50 miles of Lake Victoria,
making it one of the most heavily populated areas in Africa.
Population densities are similarly high along the shores of Lake
Tanganyika. Fishing -- primarily of tilapia species, but also of
Nile perch -- provides the main livelihood for the Great
Lakes' inhabitants. With four Great Lakes on its borders, Uganda
ranks as one of the world's largest producers of freshwater fish. But,
pollution, introduction of non-native fish and over-fishing have
all wreaked havoc. The Great Lakes are now one
of the world's most endangered water systems.
Savanna Overview
When
most non-Africans think of Africa, this is the
region they picture.
Africa's great savannas are a place dominated
by sky and rolling grassland. Their wildlife has long been the focus of
filmmakers, photographers and writers. Of Africa's
great plains regions, the Serengeti is the most
famous. Straddling Kenya and
Tanzania, it is the only
part of Africa where vast, annual migrations
of animals -- wildebeest and zebras -- still occur. Early man first appeared in
the Serengeti region's Olduvai Gorge some 2
million years ago. Today, the plains boast a wide range of cultures, from Maasai nomads to Kikuyu farmers and Dorobo
hunter-gatherers.
For thousands of years, the region's rhythm of life remained unchanged. But
now, sporadic droughts, soil erosion and overgrazing are tiring the land out,
while demands on it from impoverished human populations continue to grow.
Can the Serengeti survive? Like other African savannas, the Serengeti is the
location of several state-run wildlife preserves. But despite this effort, and
its recent declaration as a World Heritage site, each year poachers in the Serengeti National Park bag about 40,000
wildebeest, zebras, buffalo, giraffe and impala. Those working in the region
place the burden for preserving this eco-system squarely on human shoulders. As
the Serengeti National Park notes on its Web site,
"the land does not go on forever."
Sahara Overview
The
Sahara has mesmerized outsiders for centuries.
The world's largest desert, its size defies imagination: 3.3 million square
miles or around 25 percent of Africa. Sahara, in Arabic, means simply "desert."
Camel caravans looking for gold, ivory, grain, salt and slaves made the Sahara
the world's first gateway to Africa. These
endless trains, run by Tuaregs, Arabs and others,
gave rise to the legendary era of trans-Saharan trade, a phenomenon that still
defines the Sahara to many outsiders.
Today, the Sahara still serves as a border
between the continent's black African south and Arab-influenced north. Its
scorching heat and size still influence the cycle of drought and rainfall in
sub-Saharan Africa. With one of the planet's
lowest population densities, its people -- Tuareg,
Arab, Tubu, Moor - can seem
afloat in vast seas of sand. Blue-robed Tuaregs still
run salt caravans and herd goat, sheep and camels. Moors farm date palms.
But much has changed. The Arabs have retreated to Saharan cities like Cairo; at roughly 10 million people, Africa's
largest. Trucks are replacing camels in the salt trade. Tuaregs
are acting as guides to Western adventure tourists and oil and gas operations
promise far greater riches than gold and ivory ever could. Political unrest has
gripped the region: In the late 1990s, armed Tuareg
insurgencies blazed across the desert. Nor has the Sahara
escaped the Internet revolution. Rissani, Morocco,
a tiny desert oasis, offers several Internet cafés, primarily for tourists
about to embark on their own exploration of the most famous of deserts.
Sahel Overview
Timbuktu. Djenné. Koumbi
Saleh. For centuries, the Sahel boasted some of Africa's most influential civilizations. Anarrow band of semi-arid land south of the Sahara, the
Sahel attracted both Arabs looking for gold from Sudan
and Europeans looking for slaves from West Africa.
The two influences merged with native ones, creating a culturally complex area.
The Sahel is widely French-speaking, Islamic
and takes its name ("shore") from Arabic.
But the region, one of the poorest and most environmentally damaged places on
earth, has deep troubles. In the 1970s, the Sahel
captured international attention when drought and famine killed nearly 200,000
people. Though conditions have since improved, it has yet to shake a vicious
cycle of soil erosion, insufficient irrigation, deforestation, overpopulation,
desertification and drought. Parts of the region -- like Mali's legendary Timbuktu
-- are now more Sahara than Sahel.
As the environment has suffered, the scramble for income has intensified. Ethnic
lines that divided many traditional occupations -- herders and farmers -- have
blurred, often sparking bloodshed. Instead of sticking to the land, rural
workers are now heading for the cities. Dakar (Senegal), Ougadougou
(Burkina Faso), Niamey (Niger) and Bamako (Mali) now hold about 25 percent of
the Sahel's population and each year grow by another five percent. Open sewers
are common, and electricity, running water and trash collection all too
infrequent.
To ease the strain, the Sahel's land must be
restored, international development agencies believe. Ambitious tree-planting
and irrigation projects dot the Sahel, fueling
hopes. Will they succeed? For now, the answer remains in doubt.
Southern Africa
Overview
At
the bottom of the continent, under the soil of Southern
Africa, lies a very old and huge rock. Called the Kaapval craton, this massive
geologic formation is over 2.6 billion years old, and is one of the most stable
continental formations on the planet.
But this is no ordinary rock. The Kaapval craton contains some of the world's richest mineral
deposits, ranging from gold and diamonds to platinum and asbestos.
Their presence has shaped the modern history of Southern
Africa.
In 1870, a gigantic deposit of diamonds was found near the South African town
of Kimberley.
Just 16 years later, the world's largest deposits of gold were found at
Witwatersrand in South Africa's
central Transvaal region. The region boomed.
But so did conflict between black and white. Competition for land grew. Germany seized Namibia. Cecil Rhodes, owner of De
Beers, grabbed the Zimbabwe
plateau to form the colony of Rhodesia.
In South Africa,
white landowners and mine owners' demands for special privileges escalated.
Beginning in 1910, a series of laws were introduced that restricted black
ownership of the land and limited skilled, high-paying mining jobs to whites.
The framework for the policy of apartheid was laid.
Nearly a century later, with apartheid disbanded, the
struggle to overcome the past lives on. Dominated by South Africa, the region is dogged
by the legacy of racial and economic disparity, the ravages of mining and wars.
And now, an even more vicious threat lurks: AIDS. Southern
Africa has among the world's highest rates of HIV infection. Though much has been done to overcome the epidemic, much still
remains to be done, burnishing still further Southern
Africa's reputation for courage amidst adversity.
Swahili Coast
Overview
Perched
on the edge of the Indian Ocean against a sun-drenched backdrop, the Swahili Coast
is among Africa's most distinct regions. For
centuries, Arabs, Indians, Portuguese and more came to these shores looking for
slaves, ivory, spices, gold and more. Their influence has proved lasting,
reflected in the region's architecture, cuisine, music, language
and dhow sailboats.
The Indian Ocean's monsoon winds lay the foundation for what would be one of Africa's oldest and richest trading histories. Between
November and March Omani and Indian ships sailed south to the Swahili Coast,
and returned home again on northern winds in July and September. Between monsoon
periods, the traders lived among the coast's Bantu-speaking people. Swahili,
the area's dominant language, reflects this mix, combining African languages
with some Omani and Indian words. Today, most people who call themselves
Swahili are also Muslim and trace their roots back to Arab traders.
Rich from trade with countries as far afield as China,
the Swahili Coast boasted a string of powerful
sultanates, full of coral palaces. When Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama sailed along the Swahili Coast
in the late 15th century, these glistening cities caught his eye. The
Portuguese returned, laying siege to such legendary city-states as Zanzibar, Kilwa and Mombasa. Though other
European powers eventually replaced Portugal on the Swahili Coast,
Mozambique remained a Portuguese colony until 1975.
Today, large commercial fishing ships outnumber the Swahili
Coast's traditional dhow sailboats and
the sultanate of Mombasa
has become a grimy industrial port. Tourists regularly comb through Zanzibar's Stone Town and the ruins of Kenya's Gedi.
But the vibrancy of the Swahili Coast lives on - both in its language, spoken by more
than 130 million people in East Africa, and in
its conviction that Swahili culture is truly unique.
