1. Sub-Saharan Africa
Keys to understanding

2. Physical Setting
The continent of Africa is nearly three times the size of the United States and has about twice as many people (600 million).

3. Plateau Continent
2. Africa is a huge plateau fringed by narrow coastal plains.
Its coastline is short, leaving few good harbors.
The highlands of East Africa are cut by the 4,000-mile-long Great Rift Valley.

4. Dry Continent
3. Most of the climates of Africa south of the Sahara are tropical or subtropical.
Rain forests, savannas, steppes, and deserts cover large areas.
Overall, Africa is a dry continent with the disadvantage of low and unpredictable rainfall.

5. Living off the Land
4. Four of every five Africans are agriculturalists, shifting cultivators, settled farmers, or herders who live close to the land.

6. African Kingdoms and Empires
5. Kingdoms and empires have existed in the North Africa and Subsaharan Africa regions for thousands of years.

7. Stupid Boundaries
6. European Powers divided Africa into colonies and ruled the continent for seventy years ( )
Stupid Boundaries
Landlocked
Lumping enemy tribes together
Separating tribes
Caprivi’s Finger

8. Colonial Legacy
7. At independence, the new states of Africa south of the Sahara were burdened with colonial boundaries, poor transportation networks and dual economies.

9. Development?
8. Islands of development are found along the coasts of West Africa and South Africa and in mining and commercial farming areas in the interior. Migration into these areas is intense.

10. Future of Development
9. Most African countries export low-priced raw materials and commercial crops and import high-priced food, machinery and technology.

11. Countries in Crisis 10. Many Sub-Saharan countries are in crisis
Unstable governments
Internal strife
Imploding economies
AIDS and other diseases