Vocabulary

Question 1

Savannah

Answer 1

a grassy plain in tropical and subtropical regions, with few trees.

Question 2

Plateau

Answer 2

an area of relatively level high ground.

Question 3

Sahara desert

Answer 3

A desert in Africa, extending from the Atlantic to the Nile valley. About 3,500,000 sq. mi. (9,065,000 sq. km).

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

a member of a Bantu people of Zanzibar and the neighboring coast of Africa

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

was an emperor of the Mali Empire during the 14th century. He became emperor in 1307. He was the first African ruler to be widely known throughout Europe and the Middle East.

Question 8

Ghana

Answer 8

A country of West Africa, with its southern coastline bordering on the Atlantic Ocean

Question 9

Mali

Answer 9

a republic in westAfrica: formerly a territory of France; gained independence 1960.

Question 10

Zimbabwe

Answer 10

a republic in south Africa: a former British colony and part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland; gained independence 1980.

Question 11

Timbuktu

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Mohammed

Answer 12

The Arab founder of Islam, Muhammad is held by Muslims to be the chief prophet of God.

Question 13

Askia

Answer 13

born Muhammad Ture or Mohamed Toure in Futa Tooro, later called Askia, also known as Askia the Great, was an emperor

Question 14

Sonni Ali

Answer 14

Sunni Ali Ber, was born Ali Kolon. 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.

Question 15

Matrilineal

Answer 15

of or based on kinship with the mother or the female line.

Question 16

Oral traditions

Answer 16

information passed down through the generations by word of mouth that is not written down.

Question 17

Gold and salt trade

Answer 17

Camel caravans from North Africa carried bars of salt as well as cloth, tobacco, and metal tools across the Sahara to trading centers like Djenne and Timbuktu on the Niger River. Some items for which the salt was traded include gold, ivory, slaves, skins, kola nuts, pepper, and sugar.

Question 18

Trans-Saharan

Answer 18

Trade requires travel across the Sahara (north and south) to reach sub-Saharan Africa from the North African coast, Europe, to the Levant. While existing from prehistoric times, the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the early 17th century.

Question 19

Sub-Saharan

Answer 19

from or forming part of the African regions south of the Sahara desert.

Question 20

Songhai

Answer 20

a member of a people living mainly in Niger and Mali.

Question 21

Griot

Answer 21

a member of a class of traveling poets, musicians, and storytellers who maintain a tradition of oral history in parts of West Africa.

Question 22

Diviner

Answer 22

of, from, or like God or a god.

Question 23

Lineage

Answer 23

lineal descent from an ancestor; ancestry or pedigree.

Question 24

Ibn Batuta

Answer 24

a Moroccan Muslim scholar and traveler. He is known for his traveling and going on excursions called the Rihla. His journeys lasted for a period of almost thirty years.

Question 25

Indian Ocean

Answer 25

A body of water extending from southern Asia to Antarctica and from eastern Africa to southeast Australia.

Question 26

Sahel

Answer 26

the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition in Africa between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian Savanna (historically known as the Sudan region) to the south.