Geography and the Early History of Africa

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Geography and the Early History of Africa
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Creation Story of the Kikuyu

• People from the land of Kenya
• Called the Kikuyu
• Used to explain how they are connected to the
  land
• This land I hand over to you. O man and woman
  its yours to rule and farm in peace, sacrificing
  only to me, your God, under my sacred tree.
• ?? Why do cultures have creation stories ??

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Vast Continent

• Africa is the worlds second (2nd) largest
  continent
• Location on the Earth
• Africa is located on the Equator (1/2 of the
  country is above and ½ below)
• Between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean
• Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea border it as well

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Explain the importance of being surrounded by
oceans and seas.
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Regions of Africa

• Main Regions of Africa are
• North Africa- from Morocco to Egypt.
• West Africa- south of the Sahara Desert.
• East Africa- Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, etc
• Central Africa- Democratic Republic of the Congo
  (On the Equator).
• Southern Africa- from the Atlantic Ocean to the
  Indian Ocean.
• Look at page 62 in your textbook (Map of Africa)

Geography helps to determine lifestyle and
culture
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Landforms of Africa

• Most of Africa is plateau region
• Plateau- large area of high flat, or gently
  rolling land
• These plateaus are at different elevations
  throughout Africa
• Escarpments- steep cliffs that divide the plateau
  from the coastal plain
• Cataracts- large waterfalls and rapids
• Changes in elevation cause the rivers to change
  course and direction
• Explain how these cataracts would have made
  passage on the rivers problematic.

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What do you see?
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Great Rift Valley

• Goes through the Eastern part of Africa
• See page 61 in your textbook
• It is a giant fault (break in the Earths crust)
• From the Red Sea to the Zambezi River
• High cliffs surround the valley and deposit rich
  soil into the valley
• Many minerals and metals are also here
• Costly and dangerous to mine these areas

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Rivers

• Rivers provide
• Fish, Irrigation, and transportation
• Hydroelectric Power- energy produced from moving
  water

This is how the power of water is used to make
electricity
What is important about this method ??
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Rivers

• The Nile- flows for 4,160 miles (largest in the
  world)
• Played a major role in human development
• Deposits rich soil onto the land for farming
• Aswan Dam created in 1970 for hydroelectric power
• Begins in the highlands of East Africa and flows
  northward across Africa

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Rivers

• Congo River- drains the area of Central Africa
• Major source of hydroelectric power
• Large parts are unable to be navigated
• Niger River- starts in Sierra Leone and Guinea
• Forms a large swamp by the Sahara
• Major transportation route for ships and barges
• Zambezi River- flows in Southern Africa
• Flows over Victoria Falls

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Natural Resources

• Africas rivers provide many precious metals and
  minerals
• Gold and Diamonds
• Vast resources of precious minerals were the
  reason that European powers carved up Africa
• Examples
• Oil, diamonds, gold, cobalt, copper
• Resources are distributed unevenly through the
  country

What problems would this have caused?