Red Sea A sea that lies between Saudi Arabia and Africa. The Red Sea is part of the main shipping routes between Europe, the Persian Gulf and East Asia.

Red Sea A sea that lies between Saudi Arabia and Africa.

The Red Sea is part of the main shipping routes between Europe, the Persian Gulf

and East Asia.The Red Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world and cannot be used for

drinking or irrigation.

Congo River The deepest and most powerful river in Africa.

Used to generate hydro-electric power.Important for transportation and shipping goods in a land without railroads or good

roads

Nile River The longest river in the world.

Provides the primary water resource for 10 African countries.

Niger River and Delta The principal river of West Africa.

The Niger River is used for irrigation of crops and to generate hydro-electric

power.The river’s resources are under pressure,

because the water is used for so many things.

Lake VictoriaAfrica’s largest lake, located in Uganda,

Kenya and Tanzania

Pollution is a problem on this lake, due to the dumping of raw sewage and industrial

waste and the chemical run-off from fertilizers.

Sahara Desert The worlds hottest desert, located in North Africa.

The Sahara the largest desert in Africa and is almost as large as the United States or

China.

Kalahari Desert

A large semi-arid sandy savannah in Southern Africa that covers much of

Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa.

This desert supports many more plants and animals than a true desert, but the

summer temperatures are very high.

Drakensberg Mountains The highest mountains in southern Africa.

These mountains have the largest collection of bushman cave paintings in

the world.

Mount Kilimanjaro The highest free-standing mountain in the world.

Mount Kilimanjaro is located in Tanzania.This mountain is a dormant volcano.

Great Rift ValleyThe continuous geographic trench that

runs from northern Syria to central Mozambique in South East Africa

The trench or valley contains some active volcanoes and contains a series of lakes.

SahelThe zone of transition between the Sahara

desert in the North and the Sudan’s Savannas in the south.

The Sahel has a semi-arid climate.It was once home to large numbers of

grazing mammals, but over-farming and over-grazing has caused serious

desertification to this region.

Savanna A grassland ecosystem that has grasslands and widely spaced trees.

The African Savannas are home to a large number of animals and plants.

The Savannas are threatened by cattle grazing and poaching.

Plateau A high flat plain

The East African Plateau and the South African Plateau are the two primary

plateaus of Africa.Much of the continent is made up of raised

mostly level areas of land that drop off sharply near the sea.

Desertification

A type of land destruction in which a relatively dry land region becomes

increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as plants and animals

Desertification is caused by draught, over-farming or grazing and changes in the

climate.

Kenya A country in east Africa that lies on the equator.

Kenya is home to more than 40 wildlife parks and reserves.

Liberia Africa’s oldest republic which was founded by freed American and Haitian slaves.

Liberia had a long civil war in the 1990s which killed about 250,000 people.

The war left the country in ruins with almost no infrastructure.

Nigeria A west African nation that is rich with oil resources.

Nigeria is a democratic republic, although it is constantly threatened by corruption

and fighting.Nigeria has the highest population in

Africa.

Rwanda Rwanda is a small land-locked country in the center of Africa

Rwanda is known for its brutal civil war which killed over 800,000 people

Somalia A country on the eastern horn-shaped part of Africa.

A civil war and the collapse of the government has lead to a significant problem with piracy in the waters off

Somalia’s coastline.

South Africa A country located at the southern tip of Africa.

A policy of racial segregation called Apartheid, existed from the 1940s-1990s.

South Africa has more than 5.6 million people living with AIDS, more than any

other country in the world.Political oppression and human rights

violations (particularly towards women) are common.

Sudan A country in North Africa that borders the Red Sea

Two civil wars, ethnic conflicts in Darfur and a clash with the country of Chad have resulted in almost constant fighting since

1955.The government and militia have both

been accused of attacking civilians and aid workers.

South Sudan South Sudan became an independent nation in 2011 when it split from Sudan

The long history of war has led to many relocated people and severe problems

with the country’s infrastructure.Many human rights violations have been

committed by the government and censorship is common.

ImperialismImperialism means creating an empire, expanding into the neighboring regions

and expanding power.

Imperialism, on the other hand is described where a foreign government governs a territory

without significant settlement.

Colonialism

Building and maintaining colonies in one territory by the policy or practice of

acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.

When a country defeats and rules over other regions. It means using the

resources of the conquered country for the benefit of the conqueror

Tribalism A strong sense of identifying with and being loyal to one's tribe, group

Tribalism involves the possession of a strong cultural or ethnic identity that

separates one member of a group from the members of another group

Ethnicity Someone's cultural background or where they came from

Ethnic groups in Africa number in the hundreds each generally having its own language (or dialect of a language) and

culture

Diversity The condition of having many different elements; variety

Africa is home to many different nations, people, languages, religions and

environments.

Animist The belief that all things in nature have souls.

An ethnic religion, mostly practiced by tribes and small groups of people in rural

areas.

Nationalism

Nationalism is defined as being devoted to your country, or the feeling that nations

should act independently instead of working together

In the early 20th century, the Pan-Africanist movement tried to unite Africans and overcome ethnicity by stressing the

similarities and connections among all Africans

Nation BuildingThe process of building or forming a

national identity using the power of the state

The efforts of newly-independent nations, to reshape territories that had been carved

out by colonial powers without regard to ethnic, religious, or other boundaries.

Child SoldiersThe use of children to take direct part in

warfare.

An estimate in 2004 said that up to 100,000 children participated in combat

roles in Africa

Civil War A war where both sides are from the same nation.

Ethnic conflicts have led to civil war in many African countries.

GenocideThe killing or attempted killing of an entire

people belonging to the same race, religion or nation

One of the worst examples of genocide was the Rwandan conflict between the

Tutsi and Hutu. Over 800,000 were killed (mostly Tutsis)

Hutu and Tutsi The ethnic tribes involved in the Rwandan genocide.

the Hutu-Tutsi conflict originated from class warfare, with the Tutsis thought to

have greater wealth and social status, because they were treated more favorably

by the Dutch Colonists.

Military Dictatorship A government run by the military

Some African examples include: Nigeria, Chad, The Republic of Congo, Sudan and

Somolia.

DarfurAn area of Sudan where approximately

400,000 people have been killed by genocide.

The genocide is racial-based, because the Muslim Arab Sudanese are killing the Muslim Black Sudanese, by way of the

Arab militia (known as the Janjaweed) and the Sudanese Army.

Separatism A state of, or the support of political, religious, or racial separation

Black separatism is a movement to create separate a society for people of African

descent in societies historically dominated by whites

An example of the separatist movement is South Sudan.

ApartheidA political system where people are clearly

divided based on race, gender, class or other such factors

The National Party governments of South Africa, the ruling party from 1948 to 1994

limited the rights of the majority black inhabitants. White supremacy and

Afrikaner minority rule were maintained.

Nelson Mandelaa South African anti-apartheid activist,

revolutionary and politician who served as President of South Africa.

Received international recognition for his anti-colonial and anti-apartheid positions, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Extremism

Belief in and support for ideas that are very far from what most people consider

correct or reasonable

Violent terrorist groups operate in Mali, Nigeria and other African countries

Failed StateA state perceived as having failed at some of the basic conditions and responsibilities

of a ruling government

Following the outbreak of the civil war and the collapse of the central government,

Somalia became a failed state.

Blood DiamondsA diamond mined in a war zone and sold to finance a revolution, invading army's

war efforts, or a warlord’s activity.

Examples of conflicts financed by blood diamonds include: Angola, Liberia and

Sierra Leone, The Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe

Renewable and Non-renewable Natural Resources

Natural resources are materials found in a natural environment that can be used in

some way.Renewable resources can be replaced in a

relatively short time span, while non-renewable resources require many hundreds of years to regenerate.

Natural resources give a country geopolitical power.

Scarcity (Scarce) Not enough of something.

Africa has a scarcity of water to use for drinking and growing plants.

Abundance (Abundant) A lot of something.

Even when farmers grow abundant crops, sometimes they go to waste because it is

too hard to transport them.

Cash Crops Farm (agricultural) crops that are produced to sell to others.

Planting decisions may be based on the available markets or prices for the crops.Examples of cash crops in Africa include:

Coffee, tea, cotton, cocoa, fruit and rubber.

Subsistence Farming Farm crops that are grown solely to feed the farmers and their families.

Planting decisions are made based on what the family will need in the coming

year.Examples of subsistence crops include:

rice, wheat, millet, sorghum, cassava, and vegetables.

Infrastructure The structures needed to run a society or business.

Examples of infrastructure include: roads, railways, telephone and computer

networks, access to electricity and water.

Illegal TradingTrading ivory or other parts of African

wildlife is illegal, because it has endangered animal populations.

Some examples of illegal trade are:Elephant ivory, tiger skins and bones, and

rhinoceros horns

Population Growth The change in population over time

Africa’s population is growing rapidly. Half of all the persons born in the world

from now until 2050 will be Africans

Life Expectancy The average length of life for a particular country.

The life expectancy of Africans has dropped by 15 years within the past twenty years because

of the spread of Aids, and the effect of continuing wars and poverty.

HIV/AIDSA disease of the immune system which is spread by sexual contact or from mother

to child.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region of the world most effected by AIDS.

About 5% of the adult population is infected and it is believed to be the cause

of 10% of all deaths in children

Malaria A mosquito borne infectious disease.

A child in Africa dies about once every minute from malaria.

CholeraAn infection of the small intestine caused by drinking unclean water or eating food

that has been contaminated.

The risk of cholera is highest in areas where basic infrastructure is not available, as well as in camps for internally displaced population or refugees, where minimum

requirements of clean water and sanitation are not met.

AuthoritarianA government where decisions are made

by one person or a very small group of people.

The revolutions of the Arab Spring were prompted by reaction to extreme

authoritarian governments.Some examples of authoritarian

governments in the Middle East include:Iran (a theocracy)

Syria (a presidential republic)Yemen (a republic)

Democratic Government When the government representatives are elected by the people.

The U.S. is an example of a democratic government.

Political FreedomFreedom from oppression, or pressure.

The ability to take political action to vote, run for office or participate in government.

Many of the democratic gains have been erased by corrupt politicians who want to

hold on to power at any cost

Corruption Evil, decay and dishonesty, particularly in governments.

Corruption is destroying many African countries while keeping the majority of its

people poor

Ethnic Conflict A war between ethnic groups

An example would be the Rwandan war

OPEC

An international organization of oil exporting countries. Member nations include: Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq,

Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela

Controls 41% of the world’s crude oil and 15% of its natural gas

Cartel

A formal agreement among competing firms to control industry output, market

shares, price or other issues. The purpose is to increase individual members’ profits

by reducing competition.

OPEC is an example of a cartel, formed to control profits on oil and natural gas.

Choke PointA chokepoint is a strategic passage or canal

which could be closed or blocked to stop sea traffic.

Oil tankers face a number of risks at chokepoints, ranging from heavy traffic to

piracy.Any disruption can lead to instability in oil

prices.