Download chapter 22: west africa

CHAPTER 22: WEST
AFRICA
RESOURCES
BLOOD DIAMONDS
•
Diamonds are a major resource of W.
Africa
•
CONFLICT DIAMONDS: aka blood
diamonds; diamonds mined in wartorn areas and are used to finance
wars
•
1990s: forced labor used to mine
diamonds to fund civil war in Sierra
Leone
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
EMPIRES
• 1st was Ghana Empire (c. 300 A.D.);
lasts until 13th century (1200s)
•
Became wealthy from gold and salt
•
Mali Empire next
•
Then Songhai
•
Hausa city-states: formed a loose
alliance c. 1000 A.D.
•
Kingdom of Benin rose to power in
13th century and declined in 19th
century
COLONIZATION
•
Europeans, imperialism (‘nuff said)
•
Liberia: colonized by freed slaves
from America; given land by the
American Colonization Society
•
The former slaves relocated to
Liberia but soon came in conflict
w/indigenous ppl
•
1847: Liberia declared independence
and wrote a constitution
DECOLONIZATION
•
African countries begin gaining
independence in mid-1900s
•
Euro boundaries led to conflict in
Nigeria btwn Muslims and Christians
•
2009: Boko Haram---militant Islamist
group who want to est an Islamic
state in Nigeria---linked to ISIS
•
Corruption is also a problem---billions
have been stolen from oil contracts