2.  Africa has many different physical features.  Plateau – an area of land raised above the surrounding land, with a flat surface  Savanna – areas of dry grassland  Tropical rain forest & jungle – tall trees, wide variety of plants, usually gets about 100 inches of rain per year  Desert – extremely dry areas with less than 10 inches of rain per year

4.  Early Africans did not have a written language.  Much of what we know comes from stories, poems, and songs passed from one generation to another.  In recent years, archaeologists have excavated sites in Africa to learn more about the earliest Africans.

6.  Africa is a country with hundreds of different cultures and ethnic groups.  One of the most important groups are the Bantu.

7.  “Bantu” is a term used to refer to the more than 400 ethnic groups in Africa that have similar language and customs.  They were given the name “Bantu” because of the similarities between their languages.

8.  The Bantu people originally came from the Middle East.  They settle in West Africa, but later migrated over large parts of the African continent.  Migration – The systematic movement of a group of people.

9.  Reasons for migration:  Drying up of the Sahara grasslands hurt agriculture – needed new farmland.  Population increase – needed more space.  Disputes over who should take over when a king died – people would fight & some would leave to start their own group.  Tribal wars  Adventure  Expansion of territory

10.  The migration happened in 3 phases  1 st phase –  Around 400 B.C.  Passed through the Congo Forest  Settled in the area near the Congo River  Settled because of fertile land, good rainfall, and good land for animals to graze on.  Interacted with the Portuguese – were introduced to maize, sweet potatoes, and bananas.

11.  2 nd phase –  Around 1300 B.C.  Settled on the western side of Lake Malawi  Descendants include the Tumbuka, Kamanga, and Tonga of Malawi  Another group took a shortcut and settled near the Zambezi River

12.  3 rd phase –  Between 1000 B.C. and the late 1300s B.C.  Originally settled in Mashonland.  Were forced out by groups like the Rozwi, Shona, and Karanga.  Finally settled in South Africa near the Kalahari Desert.

14.  Many important societies started in West Africa.  Ghana  Mali  Songhai

15.  Ghana was the earliest West African kingdom.  Established by the Soninke people  Participated in the gold-for-salt trade  Extremely profitable  Used iron tools to farm & clear land for grazing animals.  Developed agriculture along the Niger River

16.  Kings ruled Ghana  Acted as war leaders and negotiated trade with foreign merchants.  Built large armies to conquer new territory.  Most important ruler – Tunka Manin.  Led a huge army & gained new territory.  Empire began to decline when the kingdom lost control of the salt trade.  In 1234 the Malinke people overthrew Ghana and established the empire of Mali.

17.  Began after the fall of Ghana  Took over the area where Ghana had been and spread to the north and west.  The greatest ruler was Mansa Musa.  Developed education, arts, and public building.  The city of Timbuktu became a center for education.  Had a large university that attracted scholars from Egypt and Arabia.

18.  Disputes over who would rule when Mansa Musa was gone weakened Mali.  In 1468 the rebel leader Sonni Ali captured Timbuktu and built the empire of Songhai.

19.  Started after the fall of the Mali empire.  The kingdom centered around the trading city of Gao.  Stretched from the Altantic Ocean to Lake Chad.

20.  Sonni Ali kept tight control over the kingdom and divided it into several provinces.  Each province had a governor and other government officials who reported directly to him.  Built warships to patrol the Niger River.  Mohammed Askia took control after Ali died.  Made Timbuktu and commercial center  Problems started when Askia died.  People fought among themselves and were eventually defeated by the Moroccan army.