Difference between revisions of "Sub-Saharan Africa" - New World Encyclopedia

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A political map showing national divisions in relation to the ecological break (Sub-Saharan Africa in green)

A geographical map of Africa, showing the ecological break that defines the sub-Saharan area

Sub-Saharan Africa is the term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara Desert. Geographically, the demarcation line is the southern edge of the Sahara Desert.

Since the end of the last ice age, the north and sub-Saharan regions of Africa have been separated by the extremely harsh climate of the sparsely populated Sahara, forming an effective barrier interrupted by only the Nile River. The regions are distinct culturally as well as geographically; the dark-skinned peoples south of the Sahara developed in relative isolation from the rest of the world compared to those living north of the Sahara, who were more influenced by Arab culture and Islam.

The modern term sub-Saharan corresponds with the standard representation of north as above and south as below. Tropical Africa and Equatorial Africa are alternative modern labels, used for the distinctive ecology of the region. If strictly applied, however, these terms would exclude South Africa, most of which lies outside the Tropics.

Geography

Africa is Earth's oldest and most stable landmass, with most of the continent having been where it is now for more than 550 million years. Most of it is a vast plateau, with only 10 percent of its land area below an altitude of 500 feet. Near the equator are humid rainforests, but north and south of that band, most of sub-Saharan Africa is savanna, grasslands with scattered trees. In the south, the Kalahari Desert stretches along the Atlantic coast.

Climate is influenced largely by distance from the equator and altitude. In the highlands, it can be temperate, even close to the equator. Rainy and dry seasons alternate, although precipitation is more consistent in the humid forests.

Geology

Rocks that solidified during the early cycles of eruptions on Earth are the greatest source of economically important metals, particularly gold and diamonds. The great age of sub-Saharan Africa's rocks has made the region well endowed with these these and other metals, including copper and chromium.

Resources

Revenues from extractive industries are central to the political economy of many African countries and the region as a whole. In 2001, oil production generated 20 percent of the combined GDP of sub-Saharan Africa. In 2002, mining constituted about 8 percent of the GDP of the Southern Africa Development Community and 43 percent of the region’s exports. Globally, Africa is becoming increasing important to world energy supplies. It is expected to contribute a fifth of the global increase in petroleum production between 2004 and 2010. Proven reserves have doubled in the last decade. The Atlantic Ocean off the coast of west and southern Africa continues to be one of the world’s most active areas for oil exploration. However, in many countries, the extractive industries have had a devastating impact, fueling conflict, corruption, and economic decline.

History

Sub-Saharan Africa, especially East Africa, is regarded by some geneticists as being the birthplace of the human race (the genus Homo). Stone tools are first attested around 2.6 million years ago, when H. habilis in Eastern Africa used so-called pebble tools: choppers made out of round pebbles that had been split by simple strikes. This marks the beginning of the Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age; its end is argued to be the end of the last ice age, around 10,000 years ago.

The early inhabitants of Africa lived in small groups and obtained food by foraging and fishing. About twenty thousand years ago, some peoples began a more settled existence and developed agriculture.

The region has been the site of many empires and kingdoms, including the Axum, Wagadu (Ghana), Mali, Nok, Songhai, Kanem-Bornu, Benin, and Great Zimbabwe.

Migration of Peoples

The Bantu migration

It is generally accepted that the Bantu-speaking peoples originated from West Africa around four thousand years ago. In several major waves of migration and dispersal they moved east (at first north of the tropical rainforest to the northern region of East Africa) and then south, coming to occupy the central highlands of Africa in the third wave. From there a final southwards migration took place into the southern regions of Africa, which is measurable from around two thousand years ago. The final movement into the southern regions resulted in the displacement of the aboriginal Khoikoi and Khoisan peoples, resulting in some ethnic and linguistic mixing. They utilized relatively advanced technologies for working with iron compared to the people they displaced.

The Zulu expansion

During the 1700s, the slave and ivory trades were expanding in southern Africa. To resist these pressures, King Shaka formed the Zulu chiefdom. As a result, conquered tribes began to move north, into present-day Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, in the process setting off reactions in these areas that had lasting ramifications.

In Botswana, for example, tribes began to exchange ivory and skins for guns with European traders, who had begun to reach the interior. Missionaries sent from Europe also spread to the interior, often at the invitation of chiefs who wanted guns and knew that the presence of missionaries encouraged traders. In Zimbabwe, the Shona were conquered by the Ndebele, an offshoot of the Zulus who had split from Shaka and migrated north in response to the Zulu mfecane. Tensions between the Shona and Ndebele persist to this day. The government of Robert Mugabe systematically killed between twenty and thirty thousand Ndebele people between 1982 and 1987 (according to Amnesty International estimates).

Slavery

In Africa, slaves taken by African owners were often captured, either through raids or as a result of warfare, and frequently employed in manual labor by the captors. Some slaves were traded for goods or services to other African kingdoms.

The Arab slave trade from East Africa is one of the oldest slave trades, predating the European transatlantic slave trade by hundreds of years. Male slaves were employed as servants, soldiers, or laborers by their owners, while female slaves, mostly from Africa, were traded to Middle Eastern countries and kingdoms by Arab and Oriental traders, some as female servants, others as sexual slaves. Arab, African, and Oriental traders were involved in the capture and transport of slaves northward across the Sahara Desert and the Indian Ocean region into the Middle East, Persia, and the Indian subcontinent. From approximately 650 C.E. until around 1900 C.E., as many African slaves may have crossed the Sahara Desert, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean as crossed the Atlantic, and perhaps more. The Arab slave trade continued in one form or another into the early 1900s.

The transatlantic slave trade originated as a shortage of labor in South and North America and later the United States. Massive amounts of labor were needed, initially for mining, and soon even more for the plantations in the labor-intensive growing, harvesting, and semi-processing of sugar (as well as rum and molasses), cotton, and other prized tropical crops. To meet this demand for labor, European traders turned to Western Africa, part of which became known as "the slave coast," and later Central Africa as major sources of fresh slaves.

North America imported 500,000 African slaves, the Caribbean four million. South America, with Brazil taking most of the slaves, imported 4.5 million before the end of the slave trade. Millions more died as a result of the inhumane conditions under which the slaves were transported.

The Berlin Conference

The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 regulated European colonization and trade in Africa and is often seen as the formalization of the Scramble for Africa.

In the 1880s, European interest in Africa increased dramatically. Sub-Saharan Africa was attractive to Europe's ruling elites for both economic and racial reasons. During a time when Britain's balance of trade showed a growing deficit, with shrinking and increasingly protectionist continental markets due to the Depression from 1873-1896, Africa offered Britain, Germany, France, and other countries an open market that would garner a trade surplus.

At the Berlin Conference, Africa was divided between the main powers of Europe. One part of the agreement stated that powers could only hold colonies if they actually possessed them, in other words if they had treaties with local chiefs, flew their flag there, and established an administration in the territory. The colonial power also had to make use of the colony economically. If the colonial power did not do these things, another power could do so and take over the territory. It became important to get chiefs to sign a protectorate treaty and to have a presence sufficient to police the area.

Independence Movements

Transition to Democracy

Politics

Economies

File:GreaterMiddleEast2.png

The G8's Greater Middle East includes Sub-Saharan African countries

Generally, sub-Saharan Africa is the poorest region in the world, still suffering from the legacies of colonialism, slavery, native corruption, and inter-ethnic conflict. The region contains many of the least developed countries in the world.

Many governments face difficulties in implementing policies aimed at mitigating the effects of the AIDS-pandemic, such as the explosion in the number of orphans.

Demographics

Health care

In 1988, Bamako was the location of a WHO conference known as the Bamako Initiative that helped reshape the health policy of sub-Saharan Africa. The new strategy dramatically increased accessibility through community-based health care reform, resulting in more efficient and equitable provision of services.

A comprehensive approach strategy was extended to all areas of health care, with subsequent improvement in the health care indicators and improvement in health care efficiency and cost.

Nations of sub-Saharan Africa

There are 42 countries located on the sub-Saharan African mainland, in addition to six island nations (Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe. Mauritius is generally not considered to be a sub-Saharan African island because the ethnic makeup of the country is predominantly East Indian, Chinese, and French. According to this classification scheme, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa are:

Central Africa

East Africa

Sudan
Kenya
Tanzania
Uganda
Djibouti
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Somalia (including Somaliland)

Southern Africa

West Africa

African island nations

Cape Verde (West Africa)
Comoros (Southern Africa)
Madagascar (Southern Africa)
Mauritius (Southern Africa)
São Tomé and Príncipe (West Africa)
Seychelles (East Africa)

Territories, possessions, départements

Mayotte (France)
Réunion (France)

Cultures

Most of the people living in sub-Saharan Africa speak one of about six hundred Bantu languages.

Concerns

Sources and further reading

Bohannan, Paul and Philip Curtin. 1988. Africa and Africans. 3rd ed. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press. ISBN 0881333476
Curtin, Philip et al. 1995. African History: From Earliest Times to Independence. 2nd ed. New York: Addison Wesley Longman. ISBN 0582050707
Newman, James L. 1995. The Peopling of Africa: A Geographic Interpretation. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300060033
Reader, John. 1998. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0679409793

External links

Overviews

[[1]] "Natural Resources and Conflict in Africa". Crimes of War Project. Retrieved October 28, 2007. [[2]]

Political maps of Sub-Saharan Africa

Credits

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@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 ==History==
+Sub-Saharan Africa, especially [[East Africa]], is regarded by some geneticists as being the birthplace of the human race (the genus ''Homo''). Stone tools are first attested around 2.6 million years ago, when ''H. habilis'' in Eastern Africa used so-called pebble tools: choppers made out of round pebbles that had been split by simple strikes. This marks the beginning of the Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age; its end is argued to be the end of the last [[ice age]], around 10,000 years ago.
 The early inhabitants of Africa lived in small groups and obtained food by [[foraging]] and [[fishing]]. About twenty thousand years ago, some peoples began a more settled existence and developed [[agriculture]].
+The region has been the site of many empires and kingdoms, including the Axum, Wagadu (Ghana), Mali, Nok, Songhai, Kanem-Bornu, Benin, and Great Zimbabwe.
 ===Migration of Peoples===
@@ Line 38: / Line 42: @@
 The [[Arab]] [[slave trade]] from [[East Africa]] is one of the oldest slave trades, predating the [[Europe]]an transatlantic slave trade by hundreds of years. Male slaves were employed as servants, soldiers, or laborers by their owners, while female slaves, mostly from Africa, were traded to Middle Eastern countries and kingdoms by Arab and Oriental traders, some as female servants, others as sexual slaves. Arab, African, and Oriental traders were involved in the capture and transport of slaves northward across the [[Sahara Desert]] and the [[Indian Ocean]] region into the Middle East, Persia, and the Indian subcontinent. From approximately 650 C.E. until around 1900 C.E., as many African slaves may have crossed the Sahara Desert, the [[Red Sea]], and the Indian Ocean as crossed the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]], and perhaps more. The Arab slave trade continued in one form or another into the early 1900s.
-The transatlantic slave trade originated as a shortage of labor in the American colonies and later the United States. The first slaves used by European colonizers were indigenous peoples of the Americas, "Indian" peoples, but they were not numerous enough and were quickly decimated by European diseases, agricultural breakdown, and harsh regime. It was also difficult to get Europeans to immigrate to the colonies, despite incentives such as indentured servitude or even distribution of free land (mainly in the English colonies that became the United States). Massive amounts of labor were needed, initially for mining, and soon even more for the plantations in the labor-intensive growing, harvesting and semi-processing of sugar (also for rum and molasses), cotton and other prized tropical crops which could not be grown profitably—in some cases, could not be grown at all—in the colder climate of Europe. It was also cheaper to import these goods from American colonies than from regions within the Ottoman Empire. To meet this demand for labor, European traders thus turned to Western Africa, part of which became known as "the slave coast," and later Central Africa into a major source of fresh slaves.
+The transatlantic slave trade originated as a shortage of labor in [[South America|South]] and [[North America]] and later the [[United States]]. Massive amounts of labor were needed, initially for [[mining]], and soon even more for the plantations in the labor-intensive growing, harvesting, and semi-processing of [[sugar]] (as well as rum and molasses), [[cotton]], and other prized tropical crops. To meet this demand for labor, European traders turned to [[Western Africa]], part of which became known as "the slave coast," and later [[Central Africa]] as major sources of fresh slaves.
-The first Europeans to use African slaves in the New World were the Spaniards who sought auxiliaries for their conquest expeditions and laborers on islands such as Cuba and Hispaniola (now Haiti-Dominican Republic) where the alarming decline in the native population had spurred the first royal laws protecting the native population, the Laws of Burgos (1512-1513).
-After Portugal had succeeded in establishing sugar plantations in northern Brazil in the mid-sixteenth century, Portuguese merchants on the West African coast began to supply enslaved Africans to the sugar planters there. While at first these planters relied almost exclusively on the native Tupani for slave labor, a titanic shift toward Africans took place after 1570 following a series of epidemics which decimated the already destabilized Tupani communities. By 1630, Africans had replaced the Tupani as the largest contingent of labor on Brazilian sugar plantations, heralding equally the final collapse of the European medieval household tradition of slavery, the rise of Brazil as the largest single destination for enslaved Africans, and sugar as the reason that roughly 84 percent of these Africans were shipped to the New World.
-As Great Britain rose in naval power and controlled more of the Americas, they became the leading slave traders, mostly operating out of Liverpool and Bristol. Other British cities also profited from the slave trade. Birmingham was the largest gun-producing city in Britain at the time, and guns were traded for slaves. Seventy-five percent of all sugar produced in the plantations came to London to supply the highly lucrative coffee houses there.
-New World destinations
-African slaves were brought to Europe and the Americas to supply cheap labor. Central America only imported around 200,000. Europe topped this number at 300,000, North America, however, imported 500,000. The Caribbean was the second largest consumer of slave labor at four million. South America, with Brazil taking most of the slaves, imported 4.5 million before the end of the slave trade.
-Slave trade routes
-Slave trade routes
-The slave trade was part of the triangular Atlantic trade, then probably the most important and profitable trading route in the world. Ships from Europe would carry a cargo of manufactured trade goods to Africa. They exchanged the trade goods for slaves whom they would transport to the Americas, where they sold the slaves and picked up a cargo of agricultural products, often produced with slave labor, for Europe. The value of this trade route was that a ship could make a substantial profit on each leg of the voyage. The route was also designed to take full advantage of prevailing winds and currents: the trip from the West Indies or the southern U.S. to Europe would be assisted by the Gulf Stream; the outward bound trip from Europe to Africa would not be impeded by the same current.
-Even though since the Renaissance some ecclesiastics actively pleaded slavery to be against Christian teachings, others supported the economically opportune slave trade by church teachings and the introduction of the concept of the black man's and white man's separate roles: black men were expected to labor in exchange for the blessings of European civilization, including Christianity.
-Economics of slavery
-Reproduction of a handbill advertising a slave auction in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1769
-Reproduction of a handbill advertising a slave auction in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1769
-Slavery was involved in some of the most profitable industries of the time: 70 percent of the slaves brought to the new world were used to produce sugar, the most labor intensive crop. The rest were employed harvesting coffee, cotton, and tobacco, and in some cases in mining. The West Indian colonies of the European powers were some of their most important possessions, so they went to extremes to protect and retain them. For example, at the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, France agreed to cede the vast territory of New France to the victors in exchange for keeping the minute Antillian island of Guadeloupe (still a French overseas département).
-Slave trade profits have been the object of many fantasies. Returns for the investors were not actually absurdly high (around six percent in France in the eighteenth century), but they were higher than domestic alternatives (in the same century, around five percent). Risks—maritime and commercial—were important for individual voyages. Investors mitigated it by buying small shares of many ships at the same time. In that way, they were able to diversify a large part of the risk away. Between voyages, ship shares could be freely sold and bought. All these made slave trade a very interesting investment (Daudin 2004).
-End of the Atlantic slave trade
-In Britain and in other parts of Europe, opposition developed against the slave trade. Led by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and establishment Evangelicals such as William Wilberforce, the movement was joined by many and began to protest against the trade, but they were opposed by the owners of the colonial holdings. Denmark, which had been very active in the slave trade, was the first country to ban the trade through legislation in 1792, which took effect in 1803. Britain banned the slave trade in 1807, imposing stiff fines for any slave found aboard a British ship. That same year the United States banned the importation of slaves. The British Royal Navy, which then controlled the world's seas, moved to stop other nations from filling Britain's place in the slave trade and declared that slaving was equal to piracy and was punishable by death.
-For the British to end the slave trade, significant obstacles had to be overcome. In the eighteenth century, the slave trade was an integral part of the Atlantic economy: the economies of the European colonies in the Caribbean, the American colonies, and Brazil required vast amounts of man power to harvest the bountiful agricultural goods. In 1790, the British West Indies islands such as Jamaica and Barbados had a slave population of 524,000 while the French had 643,000 in their West Indian possessions. Other powers such as Spain, the Netherlands, and Denmark had large numbers of slaves in their colonies as well. Despite these high populations more slaves were always required.
-Harsh conditions and demographic imbalances left the slave population with well below replacement fertility levels. Between 1600 and 1800, the English imported around 1.7 million slaves to their West Indian possessions. The fact that there were well over a million fewer slaves in the British colonies than had been imported to them illustrates the conditions in which they lived.
-British influence
-After the British ended their own slave trade, they felt forced by economics to induce other nations to do the same; otherwise, the British colonies would become uncompetitive with those of other nations. The British campaign against the slave trade by other nations was an unprecedented foreign policy effort. Denmark, a small player in the international slave trade, and the United States banned the trade during the same period as Great Britain. Other small trading nations that did not have a great deal to give up, such as Sweden, quickly followed suit, as did the Dutch, who were also by then a minor player.
-Four nations objected strongly to surrendering their rights to trade slaves: Spain, Portugal, Brazil (after its independence), and France. Britain used every tool at its disposal to try to induce these nations to follow its lead. Portugal and Spain, which were indebted to Britain after the Napoleonic Wars, slowly agreed to accept large cash payments to first reduce and then eliminate the slave trade. By 1853, the British government had paid Portugal over three million pounds and Spain over one million pounds in order to end the slave trade. Brazil, however, did not agree to stop trading in slaves until Britain took military action against its coastal areas and threatened a permanent blockade of the nation's ports in 1852.
-For France, the British first tried to impose a solution during the negotiations at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, but Russia and Austria did not agree. The French people and government had deep misgivings about conceding to Britain's demands. Britain demanded that other nations ban the slave trade and that they had the right to police the ban. The Royal Navy had to be granted permission to search any suspicious ships and seize any found to be carrying slaves, or equipped for doing so. It is especially these conditions that kept France involved in the slave trade for so long. While France formally agreed to ban the trading of slaves in 1815, they did not allow Britain to police the ban, nor did they do much to enforce it themselves. Thus a large black market in slaves continued for many years. While the French people had originally been as opposed to the slave trade as the British, it became a matter of national pride that they not allow their policies to be dictated to them by Britain. Also such a reformist movement was viewed as tainted by the conservative backlash after the French Revolution. The French slave trade thus did not end until 1848.
+North America imported 500,000 African slaves, the Caribbean four million. South America, with Brazil taking most of the slaves, imported 4.5 million before the end of the slave trade. Millions more died as a result of the inhumane conditions under which the slaves were transported.
 ===The Berlin Conference===
@@ Line 92: / Line 62: @@
 Generally, sub-Saharan Africa is the poorest region in the world, still suffering from the legacies of  [[colonialism]], [[slavery]], native corruption, and inter-ethnic conflict.  The region contains many of the least developed countries in the world.
-Sub-Saharan Africa, especially [[East Africa]], is regarded by some geneticists as being the birthplace of the human race (the genus ''Homo''). Mitochondrial Eve, from whom all humans alive are descended, is thought to have lived in present-day [[Ethiopia]] or [[Tanzania]].
+Many governments face difficulties in implementing policies aimed at mitigating the effects of the [[AIDS]]-pandemic, such as the explosion in the number of orphans.
-The region has been the site of many empires and kingdoms, including the Axum, Wagadu (Ghana), Mali, Nok, Songhai, Kanem-Bornu, Benin, and Great Zimbabwe.
-Up to and including October 2006 many governments face difficulties in implementing policies aimed at mitigating the effects of the [[AIDS]]-pandemic due to lack of technical support despite a number of mitigating measures.
-The population of sub-Saharan Africa was 622 million in 1997. [http://www.populationaction.org/resources/publications/africa_challenge/index.htm]
 ==Demographics==