WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA

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WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA

• Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Gambia,
  Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia,
  Cote dIvoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin,
  Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Central African
  Republic, Gabon, Republic of Congo and Democratic
  Republic of Congo

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NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS

• Congo River
• 2,718 miles long, carries 2nd largest amount of
  water in world, major transportation route
• Niger River
• 2,600 miles long, focal point of civilization and
  transportation

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NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS, etc

• Congo Rainforest
• Crossed by many rivers and source of many natural
  resources
• Southern Sahara
• West Africa typically divided between northern
  area (steppe) and equatorial Africa

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CLIMATES

• Entire region in tropics so warm year round
• Semi-arid in Sahel, 4-8 inches of rain a year
• Tropical wet/dry south of Sahel
• Grassland area
• Tropical humid in rain forest

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NATURAL RESOURCES

• Timber, soil, farming and some mining
• Nigeria largest reserves of oil
• Democratic Republic of Congo has diamonds
• Cocoa beans in Cote d Ivoire
• Coffee, peanuts and coconuts also exported

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HISTORY

• 3 ancient empires
• Ghana to 1050 AD, traders in salt and slaves
• Mali replaced Ghana around 1200 and developed
  Timbuktu as trading center
• Songhai after 1500, existed during colonial rule
• Colonial Era
• Slave trade
• Europeans wanted control of region
• Fairly short amount of time, but impact huge

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POST-COLONIAL

• Berlin Conference
• 1884
• Divided Africa into European territories
• Draws boundaries with no regard to tribal lands
  or heritage
• Impact still felt today!
• Gaining independence
• Ghana first in 1957
• By 1976 all countries independent
• Today, Nigeria is dominant country in region

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CULTURE

• 3 major influences African tribal culture, Islam
  and Europeans
• Most speak tribal language but French and English
  are lingua franca
• Capitals are mostly ports
• In Sahel most people are Islamic but other areas
  either tribal, animist or Christian
• Culture and food differ greatly between tribes
  and country, but family usually focal point

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CURRENT ISSUES

• Most people live short, poor lives
• In Nigeria 70 of population live on under 1.00
  a day
• Agriculture
• Varies depending on climate but with colonialism
  pastoralists and nomads are forced to stay in one
  place creating soil depletion and greater chance
  of famine
• Economics
• Export raw materials NOT INDUSTRIALIZED
• Economies based on one or two goods creating
  economic instability
• Lack of development huge problem

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CURRENT ISSUES

• City growth
• Lagos Nigeria grew from 760,000 in 1960 to 4.5
  million people in 1980
• Creates housing shortage and urbanization
  problems
• Population growth
• Population is increasing but food production
  decreasing
• U.S. population growth .92 per year compared to
  Mauritania at 2.9 and Nigeria at 2.45

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CURRENT ISSUES

• Civil Wars
• Existed in Democratic Republic of Congo (former
  Zaire), Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone
• In DRC, started over Hutu/Tutsi problem on
  Rwandas border and ended with military take over
  of Zaire. Massacres alleged and 3.3 million
  killed over course of Civil War
• Environment
• Desertification and destruction of rainforest

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HIV and AIDS

• Becoming largest health problem in Africa
• Newest problem is impact of AIDS Orphans
• Infection Rates
• CAR 13.5
• Gabon 8.1
• Cote dIvoire 7
• Congo 4.9

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THATS ALL!!

• HAVE A GOOD DAY!