Geography and Economy/Impact Southern Africa Geography and Economy/Impact

Geography

Coastal Plains Sloping, flat, rolling plains near the oceans Fertile land Coastal plains range in depth Hundreds of kilometers in Mozambique Just a few kilometers in South Africa

Namib & Kalahari Deserts

High Veldt (Plateaus) Most dominant physical feature in Southern Africa 3/4 of region’s area Huge mountain range that has been worn by millions of years of erosion

Rivers and Lakes Zambezi River basin + watershed Limpopo River Longest river in region Covers as much land as the U.S. east of the Mississippi River Limpopo River forms the border btwn. Botswana and S. Africa Also the border btwn. Zimbabwe and S. Africa Orange River Forms border btwn. Namibia and S. Africa

Victoria Falls (Zambezi River)

Economy/Impact

Farming Many people of European descent practice sedentary farming What is sedentary farming? Agriculture conducted at permanent settlements Some plantations in S. Africa & Zimbabwe Mostly foreign-owned Zimbabwe: land distribution problems Less than 1% of the population held 70% of the land Arguments  violence  collapse of agricultural econ.

Problems Overgrazing Overworked soils Lack of technology Food production has decreased

Mineral Wealth S. Africa is the world’s largest producer of gold

Controversial Sales 1970s – poachers illegally killed nearly 80,000 elephants a year 1997 - Ivory Sales Botswana, Namibia, & Zimbabwe gained approval to sell stockpiles of ivory to Japan Why might this be controversial?

Section 2 of Input 20: Culture on pg. 545 Human Impact on pg. 567