Physical Geography
What is the desert that covers most of North Africa?
The Sahara Desert
What is the process when usable land becomes increasingly dry and desert-like?
Desertification
What term describes the average number of people living within a certain area?
Population density
Colonialism
What is a tax on imported products called?
Tariff
What major river flows through northeastern Africa into the Mediterranean Sea and provides water and fertile soil?
What is the large-scale clearing of forests called?
Deforestation
Water, fertile soil, and transportation
Name one reason European countries wanted African colonies.
Natural resources, new markets, land, power, or national competition
What type of government does one person or one political party have all the power?
Autocracy
What is the semi-arid region that is below the Sahara Desert?
The Sahel
What natural resource provides most of Nigeria's export earnings?
Oil
What is the movement of people to cities?
Urbanization
Many African countries gained this around the year 1990.
Independence from European colonial rule
What is a deliberate attempt to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group?
Genocide
What is the name of the tropical grasslands located throughout Africa?
Savannas
What is one human activity that contributes to desertification in the Sahel?
Overgrazing or cutting down trees
What religion is most widespread across North Africa and parts of the Sahel and East African coast?
Islam
What movement encouraged African unity, pride, and independence from colonial rule?
Pan-Africanism
Give one way political conflict can harm a country's economy.
It can destroy homes, businesses, roads, or farms; interrupt trade; discourage investment, or force people to leave their homes.
Explain how Africa's rivers can help settlements.
Rivers provided water, fertile soil, and transportation.
Profits may not be distributed equally, resources may be controlled by a small group/company, and corruption, conflict, or limited development may prevent the money from benefiting most citizens.
Explain one reason colonial borders contributed to cultural or ethnic conflict.
The borders divided some ethnic groups while placing groups with different languages, religions, or traditions within the same country.
What South African system legally separated people by race and gave the white minority political and economic control?
Apartheid
Explain how education can improve a country's economy and standard of living.
Education develops workers' knowledge and skills, helping them obtain better jobs, increase productivity, create businesses, and earn higher incomes.