Southern Africa
GEOGRAPHY Landscape- Southern Africa is a blend of forests, grasslands, and deserts. Climate- Savanna, Steppe, and desert, with a touch of Mediterranean at the southern tip
Victoria Falls Beautiful waterfall located along the Zambezi River between Zambia & Zimbabwe. Discovered by missionary/explorer David Livingstone and named after the queen of England. Considered by many to be one of the 7 Wonders of the Natural World
Kalahari Desert 4th largest desert on earth. It is one of the most treacherous deserts in the world. During the short rainy season it is full of vegetation and life. However, the moment the rains are gone the Kalahari becomes dry and barren.
Cape of Good Hope The southern tip of Africa So-named because it represented exciting trade opportunities for Portugal when they became the first Europeans to sail around it under the leadership of Bartholomew Diaz. The Portuguese would go on to dominate trade in the Indian Ocean & Arabian Sea.
Other Geographic Features of Southern Africa Main Rivers- Zambezi, Limpopo, Orange Drakensberg Mts. Namib Desert
CULTURE Religion- Mostly Christian Ethnic groups- Lots of tribes, including the Xhosa, Swazi, Ndebele, Tswana, Sotho, and Shona people
Ethnic Groups Zulus A strong warrior tribe known for their beadwork, basketry, and stomping dances. The Zulus stood up to the British when they were taking over S. Africa, and actually defeated the British in some early battles (despite the British having guns and them having bows and spears)
Ethnic Groups Bushmen The original inhabitants of Southern Africa are commonly known as Bushmen or San. They have always lived as hunter-gatherers; hunting with bows and arrows and eating edible roots and berries. They are famous for speaking in a unique clicking language http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c246fZ-7z1w
Products/industries S. Africa is the world’s #1 producer of platinum Other valuable resources in the area include diamonds, gold, and uranium
South Africa Early on, Bantu-speaking tribes like the Zulu lived here In the 1600’s, the Dutch settled Cape Town. The Dutch farmers who settled there were called the Boers Along with other European settlers they created a new language called Afrikaans. When the British came after diamonds were discovered, they tried to push the Boers off the land that had the nice resources, resulting in the Boer War. Dutch farmers were no match for British soldiers, however.
The Brits and Dutch united to form the Union of South Africa in 1910, ruled by whites Apartheid- Whites and blacks were legally segregated in 1948 by an all white govt. Whites got top positions, good jobs, nice homes Non-Whites got 2nd rate treatment (could not vote; often packed into cruddy reserves)
Nelson Mandela and African National Congress protested Nelson Mandela and African National Congress protested. Mandela went to jail for 27 years. Many protests led to his release. In 1994 Mandela became South Africa’s first black president As a result, equal rights and equal opportunity are improving. Many non-whites still in poverty, but things are improving
Zambia Lake Kariba-The largest man-made lake in the world; popular tourist site Victoria Falls is here (shared with Zimbabwe) Major Product- Copper (80% of nation’s income)
Zimbabwe Main tribe= Shona Zimbabwe means “Big House of Stone” and contains ruins of a great ancient civilization of builders called Great Zimbabwe Main Products- Gold & Tobacco Poor farmers often pan for gold illegally
Madagascar Home to all kinds of cool wildlife that like to “move it, move it” (like lemurs) World’s #1 producer of vanilla beans
BONUS COUNTRIES!
Botswana Kalahari Desert & Bushmen (San) are here Frequent drought Lots of mineral resources and game reserves One of Africa’s strongest democracies Mrs. Renkas loves this place!
Namibia Home of Namib Desert People like to go “sand-boarding” down the dunes Very sparsely populated (Namib means “land without people”) Economy comes from mineral mining and fishing/tourist resorts on the coast Most live in poverty, however