Subsaharan Africa MidtermsMidterms Geography in the NewsGeography in the News –Due in 44 days –15 sources? Subsaharan AfricaSubsaharan Africa –Development colonial legacy –Medical geography & disease –Cultural patterns

Colonial Legacy Boundaries & intertribal antagonism (e.g., Rwanda) Transportation network Interior to coastal ports Dual economy 70% of labour force in agriculture Cash crops for export: cocoa, coffee, tea, cotton Subsistence agriculture (maize, millet, sorghum, tubers, plantain) Land tenure issues, need for land reform Colonial institutions Government and legal framework

Medical Geography Epidemiology Africa is uniquely vulnerable –High disease incidence and diffusion –Widespread nutritional deficiencies –Vectors and hosts Spread of disease –Endemic –Epidemic –Pandemic

Medical Geography Endemic disease Infects large numbers without rapid death Equilibrium & persistent ill-health Typically endemic to a region –Hepatitis –STDs or STIs (formerly venereal diseases) –Parasites e.g. hookworm – chronic anemia –Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia) snail borne blood fluke –River Blindness (Onchocerciasis) parasitic worm vectored by black fly

Medical Geography Epidemic Local or regional dimensions, Often acute onset Distribution often depends on vector –Sleeping Sickness Vectored by tsetse fly Endemic in wildlife but kills Bos indicus/Bos taurus No ‘domestic’ cattle breeds on African savannah

Medical Geography Pandemic Spread is “worldwide” –Mosquito borne: Yellow Fever Malaria –DDT

Medical Geography Imminent Pandemic? – Spanish influenza H1N1: million deaths worldwide – Avian influenza? H5N1

AIDS –Pandemic since 1990s –ARV drugs in developed countries e.g. AZT –80% of 37 million infected are in Africa –Shifted from equatorial belt to southern Africa Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe 25% of population infected Life expectancy is declining Impact on labour force and economic development Population declines of 10-20% –Bubonic plague in Europe –Small pox among indigenous people of Americas MEDICAL GEOGRAPHY

AIDS Transmission in the U.S.

SOURCE: UNAIDS, 2000

Growing Incidence of AIDS in Africa

CULTURAL PATTERNS Population distribution African languages –Colonial lingua franca Swahili Hausa –Multilingualism Religions –Christianity –Islam –Tribal religions

POPULATION DISTRIBUTION Traumatized children after massacre of 1,000 in Congo

Reprise

Generalized Language Regions of Africa

REGIONS OF SUBSAHARAN AFRICA