Chapter 20
a body of water that was once a major source of freshwater but is now depleted by drought and over-demand
Lake Chad
the most commonly understood language used among people who speak several different languages
lingua franca
a traditional oral historian, storyteller, singer, and musician of West Africa
griot
to be suitable for drinking
potable
a group of ~500 languages and the peoples who speak them
Bantu
a plan that calls for a wall of trees to divide the semi-arid Sahel from the Sahara
Great Green Wall
people who are originally from a place; native population
indigenous
gems mined in war-torn areas and used to finance wars
conflict diamonds
the homeless street children who survive as pickpockets & thieves
sheggehs
a section of the Highveld that has produced about one-third of the gold ever mined in the world
The Witwatersrand
the practice of passing down stories from generation to generation by word of mouth
oral tradition
Why are there so many different types of climates and biomes within the East African subregion?
It covers a wide area of latitudes, and has many different elevations.
a shallow body of water that is separated from the ocean by islands, which lie parallel to the shoreline
lagoon
descendants of Portuguese settlers and people freed from slavery
forros
an Afrikaans word meaning “separateness”
apartheid
to be headed by a male family member
patriarchal
a steep cliff between a higher and lower land surface
escarpment
the most populous city in Africa
Lagos
those who have been forced from their home but remain in their own country
internally displaced persons
steep U-shaped cliffs that run from South Africa’s west coast northeast to the South Africa-Mozambique border
The Great Escarpment
What is the topography of the Sahel?
mainly flat with a series of plateaus
a break in the Earth’s crust caused by the shifting of tectonic plates
rift valley
The primary aim of the Global Water Initiative is to
improve access to clean water and sanitation
The year 1960 was called the “Year of Independence" in Equatorial Africa because during that year
Colonial rule ended
While some of Southern Africa’s rivers are useful for generating electricity, they are not suitable for
Transportation
A decade-olds conflict in Sudan that ended in 2005 was based on a dispute over
a Muslim government versus a secular government.
Which factor plays the most important role in determining population patterns of East Africa?
access to freshwater
Which of the following is an important cash crop—native to Central America and South America—that was introduced to West Africa during the colonial period?
cacao
The largest, poorest, and perhaps most ethnically diverse and environmentally challenged country in Equatorial Africa is
the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Much of Southern Africa’s coastal plain along the Atlantic coast is a ____________________ biome.
Desert
One of the legacies of the Transition Zone’s colonial past is...
its countries’ political boundaries.
What has prevented the proper management of East Africa's natural resources?
overwhelming social problems, including poverty and substandard public health
The _________________ River is the main river of West Africa and an important commercial shipping route.
Niger
In exchange for slaves, European traders gave Africans
manufactured goods
South Africa is one of only a few countries in the world that have ____________________ built into their constitutions.
environmental rights
Which action would produce the best results toward combating desertification?
adopting agricultural methods that put less stress on the land
What was the main impact of European colonial powers in East Africa?
They exploited, or unfairly took advantage of, the peoples and natural resources of the subregion
In general, literacy rates in West Africa are
low compared to most other countries
About 3,500 square miles of __________ are lost each year.
Congo Basin rain forest
Since most people in the countryside in Southern Africa do not live near a major river, the increased use of ____________________ is reducing the amount of water available in the region.
groundwater