In the northeast corner of Africa, the Neolithic people of ancient Egypt had begun to move toward civilization by about 3800 B.C. Other great civilizations also thrived on
the African continent. Written records, still-standing monuments, and ruins are evidence of early North African civilizations. They arose on the narrow slice of land between the Mediterranean Sea and the great Sahara. Equally important cultures developed south of the desert. This vast portion of the continent is called Sub- Saharan Africa. The physical geography of Sub-Saharan Africa strongly influenced the growth of human societies there.
The plateau. Much of Sub-Saharan Africa is a plateau. This highland is dimpled by river basins and valleys. Like a great upside-down bowl, it drops sharply to a coastal plain. The steep shoreline has few natural harbors. Most rivers—like the Congo, Niger, and Zambezi—are blocked by rapids. Therefore boats could not go far upstream from the ocean. This protected the interior from invasion, but it also made trade and com- munication among Africans harder.
The enormous Sahara Desert covers about one-fourth of the African continent. Thousands of years ago, the Sahara was fertile and well watered. Over the course of centuries, however, changing wind and weather patterns have caused the area to become increasingly dry and barren. The southern edge of the desert is a region known as the Sahel, from the Arabic word for “shore.” Rainfall in the Sahel is both sparse and uncertain, and the area is often the scene of harsh droughts that may last for years. For this reason farming is difficult throughout the region. South of the Sahel are vast stretches of dry grasslands called savannas.The savannas are dotted with a few trees and thorny bushes. Farming techniques began to spread in Africa by about 3000 B.C. Savanna farmers began to grow grains such as sorghum, millet, and rice.
Where the savannas met the deserts, people herded cattle.
Rainfall is much greater farther south. So too is the amount of vegetation. Some areas in central and western Africa receive more than 100 inches of rain a year. There, vast forests called tropical rain forests thrive. The tropical rain forests include areas of jungle. In jungleareas, dense tangles of plants grow wherever sunlight reaches through the tall trees to the forest floor. Early farmers in the forested regions grew root crops such as yams.
The Main Idea
Although the geogra- phy of Africa varies, many early societies there shared common cultural traits.
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What geographic features of Africa affected human cultures?
How did historians learn about the migrations of early peoples?
What were the predominant patterns of life in many early African societies?
savannas
tropical rain forests jungle
linguists oral traditions matrilineal
Bantu
Many African Americans look to Sub-Saharan Africa as the homeland of their ancestors. Use or other current event sources to find out how African Americans view and cele- brate their ancestry. Record your findings in your journal.
183 AFRICA The hot, wet climate of the rain forests provides breeding grounds for insects. Some
of them carry deadly diseases. Among the diseases are malaria and yellow fever, carried by mosquitoes, and sleeping sickness, carried by tsetse flies. Although modern medicine can treat these diseases, many Africans perished from them in earlier centuries.
Farther south of the rain forests are more dry grasslands. These are broken in the south by yet more stretches of harsh desert. The Kalahari Desert and the Namib Desert range from the center of southern Africa westward to the Atlantic coast and, like the Sahara to the north, are largely barren and desolate.
Africa
Interpreting Maps The major natural regions of Africa have climates that affect how people can live and what they can grow.
■ Skills Assessment: 1.The World in Spatial Terms Where does Africa lie in relation to the equator? 2. Drawing Conclusions
Other natural features. The African plateau has six large depressions. These vast drainage basins formed around Lake Chad and along the continent’s five major rivers. Lake Victoria, in east central Africa, is one of the world’s largest lakes.
Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the plateau is the Great Rift Valley. It was formed millions of years ago when the earth’s crust parted. The rift runs north-south near the plateau’s eastern edge. Many long, narrow lakes lie in this steep-sided crack. Among them are Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi.
Isolated mountain peaks also dot the eastern part of the African plateau. Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro jut thousands of feet above the surrounding countryside. A main highland region is the Ethiopian Plateau in the northeast. It is a source of the Nile River. The Drakensberg Mountains lie in the southeast. Some African mountain ranges have active volcanoes.
READING CHECK: Categorizing What different kinds of landforms, climates, and features are in Sub-Saharan Africa?