Africa

• Welcome to Africa!
• Africa is a land of vast deserts, rolling savannas, rainforest, and even a Great Rift Valley.
• This is the land of the glorious Egyptian civilization, of diamond mines, and where mankind first made their home. 

Physical Features of Africa

Sahara Desert- largest desert in the world, covers almost all of North Africa

Great Rift Valley - a deep crack in the earth's surface extending throughout southwest Asia and eastern Africa.  The region is marked by a series of faults caused by volcanic action.

Transporation barrier

Physical features that make it difficult to travel or transport goods from one region to another.

Plateau

A large, mostly flat area that rises above the surrounding land; at least one side has a steep slope.

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Colonization

The act or process of establishing a colony or colonies

European Colonization of Africa

• Europeans began trading gold and salt with Africans

• In the early 1500s, Europeans began transporting Africans across the Atlantic to work on plantations.

• In 1884, 14 countries met in Berlin to divide up Africa for themselves.

• Most parts of Africa were colonized by 1900.

• Independence movements began in the early 1900s.

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Natural Resource of Africa

Diamonds          Coal          Uranium

Copper               Gold                Iron 

Oil           Silver    

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Cultures of South Africa

The cultrure of South Africa has developed around two issues, the conflict over basic rights between black South Africans and white South Africans, and the influence of the organized mine workers who also seek equal rights.

Nelson Mandela

A civil rights leader who was a member of the African National Congress that was jailed for 27 years as a political prisoner.  He became President of the Republic of South Africa in 1994.

Apartheid

The South African system in which racial groups were separated and racial discrimination was legal.

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Cultures of East Africa

East Africa is a region of great cultural diversity where the migration of people from other continents has influenced cultural development and the current society.

Countries

Rwanda and Burundi - These countries have experienced civil war between two major ethnic groups.

Kenya - There are more than 40 different ethnic groups within the country.  They are all loyal to their homeland and work together to preserve their values and families.

Democratic Republic of the Congo - A mineral-rich country with a long history of unrest.