AFST 701 Flashcards
midterm
Africa in the Western Media
Little is reported on Africa’s strategic importance to the industrialized world; the relevance to world’s development is ignored.
Why is Africa portrayed this way in the Western media?
Negative stories of Africa historically began and developed as weapons to beat African diaspora into submission during slavery and after to remind them of the primitivity of their ancestral home they were “Saved from”
The Size of Africa
- Africa is over 3 times the size of the U.S
- second largest continent
- More than 1B people live in Africa
Continents Adrift
- Pangea: The landmasses were once together
- ## there was northern: Laurasia (North America, Asia and Europe) + southern landmasses:gondwana (South America, Africa, Australia, and Antartica)
continental drift
plate tectonics
Africas locations
*The southern most tip of Africa, called the Cape of Good Hope is the place where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean meet.
* There are 16 landlocked (i.e., no sea access) countries in Africa.
* Coastal countries generally have geographical advantage over landlocked ones (e.g., transport costs are low)
results of the continental drift
the rift valley (suggests that this continental
separation is not yet complete; Africa may be
further fractured and split along the rift zone), the great escarpment
ITCZ
Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)- one of
the most powerful environmental mechanism
affecting life and survival in Africa.
ITCZ
- rainmaking mechanism
- June-January
Cause of ITCZ
shift is caused by changing earth-sun position across the year and by the inclination of the earth’s axis
importance of ITCZ
- ITCZ misbehaves and does not shift when its normally expected to or move it usually should
- animals and people depend on the pattern of ITCZ
Natural Regions: Climate and
Vegetation
- Mediterranean (mild wet and dry)
- Deserts and arid plains
- Savanna (largest area of Africa’s surface)
- Humid and forested lands (Tropical rain
forest) - Highlands (divided by steep mountains: Cameroon + Ethiopia/Kenya)
hydroelectric potential
Africa has the greatest hydroelectric potential in the world because of its falls and rapids.
resource base
-1/4 gold
-about 1/2 of global diamond output
-1/2 of the worlds Cobalt
-6% of worlds copper (Zambia & DRC)
-1/2 of the chromite (S.A + Zimbabwe)
-Petroleum and crude oil (Nigeria)
start of bantu migration
*3,000 years ago near Benue River in
west African savannas, quite large settlements headed by councils of lineage elders (i.e. the Bantu) evolved
cause of bantu migration
growth of population with slow shift to
agriculture, and later, the use of iron
bantu meaning
ntu- a person; ba (denotes plural)
bantu- people
bantu
- Bantu were able to survive drought and
misfortune compared to their neighbors who
were hunters and gatherers.
Why the Bantu Migrated From Their Homeland
- population increase
- drying up of the Sahara grasslands
effects of the bantu migration
- introduction of new crops
- introduction of iron working
- introduced centralized leadership
-introduction of new languages
-cultural absorption/loss
Forms of decentralized political systems and economies
- band organization: extended family
- classical segmented system: clan
- universalistic segmented system: age grade system
- ritually stratified segment system: spiritual leader
- autonomous village system: city states, no centralized authority
centralized political system
- pyramidal monarchy: federal. king, royal council
- centralized
- associational: transcended individual clan/ethnic attachments (like pyramidal)
bridwealth
price groom pays for bride
polygamy, polyandry, polygyny
*polygamy- overall having of multiple spouses
*Polyandry- wife having multiple husbands
*Polygyny- husband having multiple wives (more common)
dowry
form of payment from brides family to groom
women’s political role
Queen role, leaders of warriors/military, politics, and trade
women’s economic role
Handled trade and agriculture
Africa’s contribution to European capitalist development
-profits were huge, led to political growth
-exploitation of Africa’s resources + free labor
- africa’s gold was used as currency
-africa sped up W. Europe’s technological development
-cotton
- growth of shipbuilding industry
-strengthened military
African achievements
- Math
- Astronomy (calendar)
- Architecture and Engineering
- Medicine (discovered medicinal plants to cure and treat many diseases)
- Navigation
why were profits to Europe large?
- taxation
-african workers paid low wages
-forced and free labor
-Europe paid low prices for African resources
