vocabulary

Question 1

Savanna

Answer 1

a plain characterized by coarse grasses and scattered tree growth, especially on the margins of the tropics where the rainfall is seasonal, as in eastern Africa.

Question 2

plateau

Answer 2

a land area having a relatively level surface considerably raised above adjoining land on at least one side, and often cut by deep canyons.

Question 3

sahara desert

Answer 3

The Sahara Desert is located in the northern portion of Africa and covers over 3,500,000 square miles (9,000,000 sq km) or roughly 10% of the continent (image). It is bounded in the east by the Red Sea and it stretches west to the Atlantic Ocean. To the north, the Sahara Desert’s northern boundary is the Mediterranean Sea, while in the south it ends at the Sahel, an area where the desert landscape transforms into a semi-arid tropical savanna.

Question 4

Bantu

Answer 4

a member of any of several peoples forming a linguistically and in some respects culturally interrelated family in central and southern Africa.

Question 5

Swahili

Answer 5

Also, Kiswahili, ki-Swahili. the Bantu language of the Swahili people, used also as a lingua franca in Tanzania, Kenya, and parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Question 6

subsistence farming

Answer 6

farming whose products are intended to provide for the basic needs of the farmer, with little surplus for marketing.

Question 7

mansa musa

Answer 7

The 14th century emperor from West Africa was worth a staggering $400 billion, after adjusting for inflation, as calculated by Celebrity Net Worth. To put that number into perspective — if that’s even possible — Net Worth’s calculations mean Musa’s fortune far outstrips that of the current world’s richest man Carlos Slim Helu and family.

Question 8

Ghana

Answer 8

a republic in West Africa comprising the former colonies of the Gold Coast and Ashanti, the protectorate of the Northern Territories, and the U.N. trusteeship of British Togoland: member of the Commonwealth of Nations since 1957. 91,843 sq. mi. (237,873 sq. km).
Capital: Accra.

Question 9

mali

Answer 9

Republic of, a republic in W Africa: formerly a territory of France; gained independence 1960. 463,500 sq. mi. (120,000 sq. km).
Capital: Bamako.

Question 10

zimbabwe

Answer 10

Formerly Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia. a republic in S Africa: a former British colony and part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland; gained independence 1980. 150,330 sq. mi. (389,362 sq. km).
Capital: Harare.

Question 11

timbuktu

Answer 11

a town in central Mali, W Africa, near the Niger River.

French Tombouctou

Question 12

mohammed

Answer 12

(“the Conqueror”) 1430–81, sultan of Turkey 1451–81: conqueror of Constantinople 1453.

Question 13

askia

Answer 13

Askia Muhammad I (ca. 1443 – 1538), born Muhammad Ture or Mohamed Toure in Futa Tooro, later called Askia, also known as Askia the Great, was an emperor, military commander, and political reformer of the Songhai Empire[1] in the late 15th century, the successor of Sunni Ali Ber. Askia Muhammad strengthened his empire and made it the largest empire in West Africa’s history. At its peak under his reign, the Songhai Empire encompassed the Hausa states as far as Kano (in present-day Nigeria) and much of the territory that had belonged to the Songhai empire in the west. His policies resulted in a rapid expansion of trade with Europe and Asia, the creation of many schools, and the establishment of Islam as an integral part of the empire.

Question 14

sonni Ali

Answer 14

Sunni Ali, also known as Sunni Ali Ber, was born Ali Kolon.[1][2] He reigned from about 1464 to 1492. Sunni Ali was the first king of the Songhai Empire, located in Africa and the 15th ruler of the Sonni dynasty. Under Sunni Ali’s infantry and cavalry many cities were captured and then fortified, such as Timbuktu (captured in 1468) and Djenné (captured in 1475). Sonni conducted a repressive policy against the scholars of Timbuktu, especially those of the Sankore region who were associated with the Tuareg whom Ali expelled to gain control of the town.

Question 15

matrilineal

Answer 15

inheriting or determining descent through the female line.

Question 16

oral

Answer 16

uttered by the mouth; spoken:

Question 17

tradictions

Answer 17

A tradition is a belief or behavior passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past.

Question 18

gold and salt trade

Answer 18

There were many kingdoms along the west coast of Africa. One of the most famous was the ancient kingdom of Ghana. This is because Ghana handled the trade between traders to the north and traders to the south. The north had salt mines. The south had gold. Ghana was the the middle, and had a very strong army.

Question 19

sub-saharan

Answer 19

is, geographically, the area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara desert. According to the UN, it consists of all African countries that are fully or partially located south of the Sahara.[2] It contrasts with North Africa, whose Arab states are part of the Arab world. Somalia, Djibouti, Comoros and Mauritania are geographically part of Sub-Saharan Africa, but are Arab states and a part of the Arab world.[3]

Question 20

songhai

Answer 20

a member of a group of peoples living along the Niger River in the area of Timbuktu and Gao in Mali and in adjacent areas of Niger and Burkina Faso.

Question 21

Griot

Answer 21

a member of a hereditary caste among the peoples of western Africa whose function is to keep an oral history of the tribe or village and to entertain with stories, poems, songs, dances, etc.

Question 22

Diviner

Answer 22

a person who divines; soothsayer; prophet.

Question 23

lineage

Answer 23

lineal descent from an ancestor; ancestry or extraction:
She could trace her lineage to the early Pilgrims.
2.
the line of descendants of a particular ancestor; family.
Origin of lineage1

Question 24

Ibn Batuta

Answer 24

He is known for his extensive travels, accounts of which were published in the Rihla (lit. “Journey”). Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of the known Islamic world as well as many non-Muslim lands. His journeys included trips to North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa, Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China.

Question 25

Indian ocean

Answer 25

an ocean S of Asia, E of Africa, and W of Australia. 28,357,000 sq. mi. (73,444,630 sq. km).

Question 26

sahel

Answer 26

the arid area on the S flank of the Sahara desert that stretches across six countries from Senegal to Chad.