GEOG 101 AMU Introduction to Geography American Military University Week 4 assistance is available at Domyclass.
Lesson Overview
The African continent occupies a special place in the world. Beneath its surface lie some of the oldest parts of the planet’s crust. Today Africa lies at the heart of the Earth’s landmasses, a relative location that may yet become one of its greatest assets. And current archeological research indicates that our species, Homo sapiens, emerged in Africa. We may have spread around the globe, but at the source we are all Africans. For millions of years, Africa was the stage for the great drama of human evolution. The first tools ever made were used by our Hominid ancestors in Africa. Language probably originated in Africa. The first sedentary human communities may well have formed in Africa. Our first artistic expression likely took place somewhere in Africa.More recently, North Africa’s Nile Valley was the scene of one of the earliest durable and creative civilizations, a culture hearth whose innovations radiated in all directions, Subsaharan Africa included. Ancient Egypt was to Africa what, thousands of years latter, ancient Greece was to Europe; a source of knowledge and ideas. When West Africa’s earliest states formed, their rulers modeled the political system on the Egyptian example.In those times, more than 2000 years ago, the African continent was a single geographic realm. The partition of Africa, through the Islamization and Arabization of the north, the European colonization, and the desiccation of the Sahara, came later. Today, Africa is a continent of two geographic realms: the north, a part of the greater Islamic realm that connects it to Southwest Asia and beyond; and the rest-Subsaharan Africa-an Africa defined by languages, modes of life, and cultural landscapes.
Students will be able to:
- Recognize the major geographic qualities of Sub-Saharan Africa. (CO-2, CO-3)
- Identify the major climate types associated with each region in the realm. (CO-3)
- Relate the roles of environment and health. (CO-3, CO-7, CO-8)
- Contrast the colonial activities in Sub-Saharan Africa and the impact of the Atlantic slave trade. (CO-1, CO-4, CO-7)
- Recognize the cultural patterns as reflected in the languages and religions of Africa. (CO-1, CO-2, CO-6)
- Relate the broad economic prospects of the realm. (CO-6, CO-7, CO-8)
In this lesson, we will discuss:
- Geographic qualities
- Environment and health
- Economic prospects
The following activities and assessments need to be completed this week:
- Reading:
- World Regional Geography: People, Places, Globalization – Chapter 7
- World Regional Geography: People, Places, Globalization – Chapter 7
- Quiz 4
- Forum #4
Sub-Saharan Africa comprises 40 countries across five defined regions: West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, and Madagascar. This region is separated from North Africa by the African Transition Zone, which borders the Saharan Desert to the south and rather cleanly divides the Islamic, Arab-influenced North Africa and the tribal, multiethnic southern part of the continent.
Topics covered will include:
- The Sub-Saharan Realm
- Sub-Saharan African Regions
- Physical Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa
- Human Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa
- The Realm’s Colonial History
- Problems and Solutions
GEOG101 | Lesson 4
Sub-Saharan Africa
Topics covered will include:
- The Sub-Saharan Realm
- Sub-Saharan African Regions
- Physical Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa
- Human Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa
- The Realm’s Colonial History
- Problems and Solutions
Introduction
The African continent occupies a special place in the world. Beneath its surface lie some of the oldest parts of the planet’s crust. Today Africa lies at the heart of the Earth’s landmasses, a relative location that may yet become one of its greatest assets.
Current archaeological research indicates that our species, Homo sapiens, has its origins in Africa. Since our beginnings we have spread around the globe, but we are all Africans at the source. For millions of years, Africa was the stage for the great drama of human evolution.
Our Hominid ancestors in Africa used the first tools ever made. The first languages spoken by humans were probably spoken in Africa, and the first sedentary human communities might possibly have formed in Africa. Africa was probably the location where man first expressed himself artistically.
The Sub-Saharan Realm
In recent millennia, North Africa’s Nile Valley was the scene of one of the earliest durable and creative civilizations. The innovations of this culture hearth radiated in all directions, including southward to Sub-Saharan Africa. Ancient Egypt was to Africa what ancient Greece was to Europe thousands of years later: a source of knowledge, ideas, art, and culture. As West Africa’s earliest states formed, their rulers modeled the political system on the Egyptian example. In that age, over two thousand years ago, the African continent was a single geographic realm.
The partition of Africa through the Islamization and Arabization of the north, the European colonization, and the desiccation of the Sahara came later. Today, Africa is a continent of two geographic realms: North Africa, a part of the greater Islamic realm that connects it to Southwest Asia and beyond, and Sub-Saharan Africa, an Africa defined by languages, modes of life, and cultural landscapes.
Sub-Saharan African Regions
At first glance, Africa seems to be so massive, compact, and continuous that any attempt to justify a contemporary regional breakdown is doomed to fail. No deeply penetrating bays or seas create peninsular fragments as they do in Europe. No major islands (other than Madagascar) provide the broad regional contrasts we see in Middle America. Nor does Africa really taper southward to the peninsular proportions of South America. No Andean or a Himalayan mountain barrier divides Africa. Given Africa’s colonial fragmentation and cultural mosaic, is regionalization possible? Indeed it is.
Sub-Saharan Africa comprises 40 countries across five defined regions: West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, and Madagascar. This region is separated from North Africa by the African Transition Zone, which borders the Saharan Desert to the south and rather cleanly divides the Islamic, Arab-influenced North Africa and the tribal, multiethnic southern part of the continent.
West Africa
The region of West Africa is divided east to west by the African Transition Zone. Its northern half is dry desert, while its southern, coastal half has a much different climate and geography. This region includes the southern portion of the continent’s bulge into the Atlantic Ocean and the nations of Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, and parts of Niger, Mali, and Mauritania.
The Niger River, the main geographic feature of this region, is Africa’s third-longest river, extending more than 2,600 miles through the states of Mali, Niger, and Nigeria before reaching the Atlantic Ocean in the Gulf of Guinea. The Cameroon Highlands are located on the eastern edge of the region, where Nigeria borders neighboring Cameroon.
West Africa’s largest state in both area and population, Nigeria, is also considered to be its cornerstone. Home to over one hundred ethnic groups alone, it provides a geographic example of how boundaries can unite rival groups. With vast oil reserves, rich forests, and a strategic location on the Niger River, Nigeria possesses an excellent economic foundation but also a fragmented society ravaged by civil war that has had difficulty maintaining a permanent democratic government.