Africa & Southwest Asia

1. Africa & Southwest Asia Whatley

2. Patterns of Settlement • Tigris and Euphrates Rivers • Persian Gulf • Strait of Hormuz • Nile River • Red Sea • Sub-Sahara

3. Patterns of Settlement • Tigris and Euphrates • Flow through Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. • Supported several ancient river valley civilizations in an area called the fertile crescent. • Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians…. • Valleys are fertile, well watered, and good for agriculture.

5. Patterns of Settlement • Persian Gulf • East of the Arabian Peninsula

6. Patterns of Settlement • Strait of Hormuz • In between the Arabian Sea and the Persian gulf. • Only waterway to the huge oilfields of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. • Choke point - Critical!!!

8. Patterns of Settlement • Nile River • Ancient Egyptians built canals and small dams. • Cycles of floods and droughts, so… • Aswan Dam was built by the Egyptians in 1902. In 1970, Aswan High Dam was completed. • Lake Nasser is the lake created by the dam. • Dam has increased farmable land by 50% but… • Decreased fertility because it stopped the spread of silt.

11. Patterns of Settlement • Red Sea • Covers a rift valley created by the movement of the Arabian plate. • Suez Canal connects this to the Mediterranean Sea - another choke point!

12. Modification of the Environment • Desertification • Drilling for oil • Suez Canal • Aswan High Dam

13. Modification of the Environment • Desertification • Expansion of dry conditions into moist areas that are next to deserts. • Natural, but human activities increase the pace. • Ex: overgrazing by livestock exposes soil, animals trample it, and it is more vulnerable to erosion. • Ex: farming clear land, expose soil to wind, which can cause erosion.

14. Modification of the Environment • Sudan was once surrounded by large forests, but desertification has destroyed them.

15. Modification of the Environment • Drilling for oil • Nigeria 1956 • Sixth leading oil exporter in the world • 4,000 + oil spills • Fires often resulted, causing acid rain and deposits of soot -> • People contracted respiratory disease.

16. Culture • North Africa • Souks - marketplaces. Tents, storytellers, musicians, fortunetellers. • Located in a medina (old section of a North African town or city). Medinas have long winding streets. Morocco has some of the best Souks.

17. Culture • North Africa • Rai - kind of music developed in the 1920s by poor urban children. Used as protest music against Islamic fundamentalists. Banned by the government. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoEy6WgydNc • Women - traditionally, families centered around male.. Some changes. • Tunisia has outlawed polygamy.

19. Culture • East Africa - • Masai - one of the major ethnic groups (out of more than 160). Live on grasslands of rift valleys in Kenya and Tanzania. Most herd livestock and farm the land. • Dress includes clothes made from calfskin or buffalo hide. Women wear long skirt-like robes, men wear a shorter version. ***Grease clothes with cow fat*** What is this an example of?! • Kikuyu - largest ethnic group. Herders. Under British rule, formed the Mau Mau, which rebelled. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOqx3ES3gbA

20. Masai • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR_yCxIxDDc

21. Culture • East Africa • AIDS - pandemic (uncontrollable outbreak of a disease affecting a large pop over a large geo area). • Caused by HIV. Statistics can be misleading bc people can carry HIV for many years without knowing it. • AIDS education is increasing. Predictions that 20% of population in countries with high incidence could die.

23. Culture • West Africa • Ashanti - live in Ghana. Weaving. • Create colorful Asasia (kente cloth). Geometric figures with specific meanings. Only royalty were allowed to wear kente cloth. • Ashanti stools symbolize unity between ancestral spirits and living members of the family. Fathers often give sons stools for their first gifts. • Benin Art - Nigeria. Metal and terra cotta. • West African Music - blend of traditional and American forms of jazz, blues, and reggae.

25. Culture • Central Africa • Bantu migration - spread the bantu languages and culture. Began around 2000B.C. • Began journey due to land shortages. • Created huge cultural diversities but also linked the continent together. • 120 million Africans speak one of the Bantu languages.

26. Culture • Central Africa • Art reflects attitudes toward colonialism. After the 1960s, western influences were banned. • Fang sculpture - influenced Picasso.

27. Culture • Southern Africa • Apartheid - racial segregation • Nelson Mandela • Modern v Traditional lifestyles

28. Culture • Southwest Asia • Taliban - fundamentalist muslim group that imposes strict rules. • Mesopotamia - “land between rivers.” cultural hearth. • Islam - • Shi’ite and Sunnis. 83% are sunni (turkey, iraq, and afghanistan). Most iranians are shi’ite. • Split after Muhammad’s death.

29. Economics • AFRICA’s minerals: • Gold, platinum, chromium, cobalt, copper, diamonds and others. • South Africa is world’s top producer of chromium. Used to manufacture steel. • Mineral wealth does NOT = economic wealth. Colonial rulers exported resources to Europe to manufacture. • SO… african nations have been slow to develop infrastructure and industries.

30. Economics • Libya, Nigeria, and Algeria are among leading petroleum producers. • US companies pay Angola for oil drilling, but the Angolian government uses money for ongoing civil wars.

31. Economics • After oil, coffee is the most profitable commodity in Africa. • Grow 20% but most Africans don’t drink coffee.

32. Economics • Lumber • Nigeria leads lumber exports. • Logging is depleting Africa’s forests. • Every year, loggers clear an area of land in Africa about twice the size of New Jersey

33. Economics • Agriculture is the single most important economic activity in Africa. • 66% of Africans earn their living from farming. • PRIMARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

34. Economics • Tourism • East Africa’s main economic activity. • Wildlife parks in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania are world famous. • 1938 - europeans created game reserves because they were killing animals for sport at a high rate. • Wildlife parks are no longer used for hunting, just tourism. • In some places, like Kenya, people want to eliminate the parks to clear land for farming.

35. Economics • Sierra Leone • Diamonds *** • Civil unrest and political instability • Uneducated population leads to a shortage of skilled workers. • Few highways and only 800 miles of roads

36. Economics • Congo • Problems still from colonization. Loss of resources, disruption of political systems, and oppression of the people and cultures. • Europeans only put infrastructure in that allowed them to remove resources. No investment in the people.

37. Economics • One commodity countries • What is a commodity? • An agricultural or mining product that can be sold. • Countries must diversify to achieve growth and stability.

38. Economics • Improving economies… • Regional cooperation. • Economics community of west african states • Southern African development community • Both increase trade

39. Economics • 1 page - how would you fix the African economies? • Consider why African countries are struggling and any possible solutions.

40. Reform