Geography & African Civilizations - Coach Baker's World ...mrbakerwh.weebly.com/.../geography_and_african_civilization_notes.pdf · a. 2nd largest continent in the world ... African

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Geography & African Civilizations

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Africa’s Size

# Second largest continent 11,700,000 sq. mi.

# 10% of the world’s population.

# 2 ½ times the size of the U. S.

5000

MILES

4 6 0 0 M I L E S

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1. Geography of Africaa. 2nd largest continent in the world

b. 4,600 miles from east to west; 5,000 miles from north to south

c. Narrow coastlines lie on either side of a central plateau

d. Waterfalls or rapids form as rivers drop to the coast from the plateau making navigation impossible to or from the coast

e. Coastline has few harbors, ports, or inlets

f. Large deserts: the Sahara in the north and the Kalahari in the south

g. Large rainforests with mahogany and teak trees that reach 150feet tall

h. Most people live on the savannas or grassy plains which include mountainous highlands and swampy tropical stretches

i. The Nile River flows north in northeast Africa

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Bodies

Of

Water

Nile River

Zambezi River

Orange River

Limpopo River

Mediterranean Sea

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Indian Ocean

L. Victoria

L. Albert-->

L. Chad-->

L. Tanganyika->

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The Mighty Nile River:“Longest River in the World”

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The Niger River Basin

# Covers 7.5% of the continent.

# Extends over 10 countries.

# 2,600 miles long.

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The African Plateau

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The African Savannah:13 million sq. mi.

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The Sahara Desert

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African Rain Forest

# Annual rainfall of up to 17 ft.

# Rapid decomposition (very humid).

# Covers 37 countries.

# 15% of the land surface of Africa.

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2. Customs of Early Peoplesa. Early peoples were nomadic

b. Experts believe agriculture started in Africa roughly by 6,000 B.C.

c. The family was important and African people organized into family groups

d. Many early cultures’ religions included elements of animism

e. Animism: a religion in which spirits play an important role in dailylife

f. History was kept orally, not written down

g. Bantu-speaking people migrated south and east leading to:

i. Spread of farming techniques

ii. Territorial wars

iii. Intermarriages

iv. Spread of technology such as copper, bronze, and iron work

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Website

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Natural Resources

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3. Early Civilizations of West Africaa. Empire of Ghana 800 A.D.

i. Became a rich kingdom by taxing traders who traveled through their lands

ii. Gold and salt were important & desirable trade items

iii. By 800, Ghana was an empire

iv. Only the king could own gold; acted as religious leader, chief judge and military commander

v. Eventually Ghana’s rulers converted to Islam and had to learn Arabic; much of the population never converted

vi. 1076 Muslim Almoravids conquered Ghana and disrupted the gold-salt trade

vii. Ghana never regained its power

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Berbers

GOLD

SALT

Gold-Salt Trade

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Website

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b. Empire of Mali

i. Emerged by 1235 south of Ghana; Mali’s wealth was also build on gold

ii. Sundiata militarily took over Ghana; peace and prosperity followed

iii.Some of Mali’s next rulers became Muslims and built mosques

iv. Mansa Musa (Muslim) divided Mali into provinces and appointed governors

v. Within 50 years of Mansa Musa, Mali’s gold trade shifted east and his successors were unable to govern the empire effectively

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Sundiata [1210-1260]

“Lion Prince”

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Mansa Musa [r. 1312-1337]

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Website

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c. Empire of Songhai 1400s

i. Capital was Gao; extended their territory to the large bend in the Niger River

ii. Two great Muslim leaders: Sunni Ali & AskiaMuhammad

iii.Created an empire through military conquest and efficient tax collecting

iv. Unfortunately, Songhai lacked modern weapons

v. Defeated by Moroccan invaders and ended 1,000 years of W. African power

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Sunni Ali [r.1464-1492]

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Askia Mohammed [r.1493-1529]

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4. Early Civilizations of East Africaa. Aksum Empire

i. Located on the horn of Africa on a plateau on the Red Sea

ii. Conquered the Kush people who had been pushed south by the Assyrians

iii. Traders from Egypt, Arabia, Persia, India, and the Roman Empire travelled though Adulis, Aksum’s chief seaport

iv. They traded salt, rhinoceros horns, ivory, & gold

v. Height of empire was 325-360 under strong military leader Ezana

vi. Monotheistic: worshiped Mahrem and believed king was his descendent

vii. Aksum later becomes Christian

viii.Depletion of soil and forests as well as Islamic invaders caused decline

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AXUM’S

ACHIEVEMENTSControlled NE African

Trade

WrittenLanguage

Spread Christianityin No. & E.

Africa

TerraceFarming

BuiltStelae

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5. Early Civilizations of Southern Africaa. Great Zimbabwe 1000 A.D.

i. City built by Shona people that turned into an empire built on gold trade

ii. Leaders taxed traders and travelers who ventured through

iii.Great Zimbabwe was abandoned by 1450; no clear reason why

iv. Much of what is known about Great Zimbabwe comes from impressive ruins

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Great Zimbabwe Street

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b. Mutapa

i. According to Shona legend, a man left Great Zimbabwe and settled a new site with fertile soil

ii. A leader named Mutota dominated northern Shonapeople and were dubbed mwene mutapa meaning conqueror; thus the name Mutapa

iii.Conquered all of modern day Zimbabwe

iv. Gold was a cornerstone of their economy

v. By the 1500s the Portuguese unsuccessfully attempted to conquer Mutapa

vi. This signaled increasing European interference in Africa for many centuries