Download Unit 3: Cultural Geography

Unit 6: Cultural Geography of
Africa
Population
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2012 Population – about 1,000,000,000
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Arabic
Yoruba
Oromo
Hausa
Berber
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Other ethnic groups make up the balance
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145 million
30 million
30 million
30 million
20 million
Accurate census figures are not available for
most African countries
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Africa’s population has quadrupled since
1955
A very small percentage of Africa’s
population lives in urban areas
Africa has few large metropolitan areas
African urban populations are growing at a
very fast rate; urban slums are expanding
rapidly
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Africa is home to about 14% of the
world’s population
Over 80% of the world’s HIV-positive
population lives in Africa; the vast majority
live in Sub-Saharan Africa
Language
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Africans speak a wide variety of languages
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Afro-Asiatic
Niger-Congo
Nilo-Saharan
Khoe-San
Austronesian
Indo-European
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Some African countries have an official
language, though they are not always the most
common
A few African languages and dialects include
whistling, drumming and clicking
Religion
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Muslim
Christian
Various indigenous
Hindu, Jewish,
no particular belief
45%
40%
less than 15%
~1%
Society
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Income
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Africa is the world’s poorest and most
underdeveloped continent
Spread of deadly diseases
 High levels of illiteracy
 Tribal and military conflicts
 Corrupt governments
 Little access to foreign capital
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~50% of Sub-Saharan Africa lives in poverty
Malnutrition is rampant
Global GDP
History
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World’s oldest human remains found in
South Africa
Some of our planet’s earliest civilizations
were along the Nile in present-day Egypt
Characteristics of early civilizations
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Religion
Trade
Agriculture
Social hierarchy
Government
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Early African kingdoms
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Egypt
Kush
Aksum
Mali
Ghana
Songhai
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Immigrants (colonists)
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Ancient Greece (c. 323 BC)
Arabia (7th Century AD)
Portugal (1400s)
Scramble for Africa (late 1800s)
Belgium
 Germany
 Great Britain
 Portugal
 Netherlands
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Decolonization-post WWII
European Colonial Holdings in Africa, c.1914
Folklife
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Africa is rich in folk arts and crafts
African culture was popularized in the Western
world during the 1960s
African musical traditions contributed greatly to
popular music of the US, world
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Africa is world’s leading cassava, yam producer
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Coffee and okra probably originated in Africa
Economy
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National economies vary from free market
to command economies
Based on average per capita GDP, Africa is
the poorest continent on Earth
Many Africans live subsistence lives
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African economic resources include
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Agriculture
Mining
Petroleum production
Manufacturing
Africa is the least developed continent
North Africa is much wealthier than SubSaharan Africa
Government
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Wide range of governments
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Democracy
Monarchy
Dictatorship
Theocracy
Military influence in government is
common
African Tidbits
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At 4,132 miles, the Nile is the world’s
longest river
Africa’s highest elevation is Mt. Kilimanjaro
at 19,340 ft.
The Sahara is the world’s largest desert
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Most African slaves who were sent to the
Americas came from the west coast of
Africa
Africa leads the world in the production of
diamonds, platinum, and manganese