Human Geography Sub-Saharan Africa

Population Family size Preference for large families Guarantee lineage and status Rural life makes children an asset Population density is similar to that of the U.S. Life expectancy short (<50 years),

Demographics are typical of a developing nation low per capita GDP low life expectancy High population growth rates High infant mortality large percentage of the population under the age of 15 low literacy rates

10 PROBLEMS AFFECTING DEVELOPMENT Poverty Disease Internal ethnic problems Illiteracy Government instability – dictatorships, military rule Lack of infrastructure Environmental problems Single-product economies “Brain drain”- Smart people leaving Peripheral relative location (How the world sees Africa)

Getting Poorer Half of its 700 M people subsist on 65c or less a day!

Tribalism problem Political parties based on tribes Problem of creating nationalism artificially. Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff

Economics (Agriculture) Large percentage of the population is engaged in agriculture (primary activity. Mainly subsistence agriculture and nomadic herding They use slash and burn agriculture Single commodity country

Economic and Social Development: The Struggle to Rebuild (cont.) Women and Development Account for 75% of the labor that produces more than 50% of the food consumed Status of Women Considerable political and economic power Polygamy prevalent, female circumcision, denial of property inheritance Building from Within Women’s market associations Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff

Trans-African Highway Activity Your Job- Create a highway that runs through Africa. It needs to: -Begin in Tunis, Tunisia and End in Cape town, South Africa Pass through a capital city on the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean Cross a minimum of 15 countries and a maximum of 24 Be in Budget (18 points) Pass through areas of high population density