AFRICA

Chapter 3 Section 1 & Chapter 3 Section 2
1. What’s unusual about Mt. Kilimanjaro?
• Mt. Kilimanjaro towers 19,340 feet over northeastern Tanzania yet because of the mountains great height, its summit is covered with snow all year round.
2. How many countries are there in Africa?
• 54 countries
3. Define escarpments.
• steep cliffs
4. Define cataracts.
• large waterfalls and rapids
5. What are Africa’s rivers used for?
• The rivers in africa provide fish, water for irrigation and a means of transportation.
• A source of hydroelectric power, energy produced by moving water.
6. What natural forces helped create the Great Rift Valley?
• The plates that made up the Earth’s crust have moved apart over millions of years, creating the deep gap.
• Erosion has deposited rich soil in the base of the alley.
• Volcanic activity has created mountains such as Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya.
7. Describe the topography of the Great Rift Valley.
• Volcanic soil provides fertile farmland.
• Lakes are sources of salt and soda ash.
8. What determines Africa’s climates?
• The tropics determine Africa’s climates.
• Rainfall, Climate zones, Climate region etc
9. What are the tropics?
• The area between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn
10. How much of Africa is rainforest?
• 8%
11. Leaching - constant heavy rains dissolve and wash away nutrients from soil
12. Drought - prolonged periods of little or no rain
13. Sahel - Separates Savanna from the Sahara to the north
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AFRICA

14. Desertification - turning of semidesert land into desert
15. What percentage is desert in Africa?
• 40%
16. What are three common tropical diseases and what are their effects?
• Malaria: spread by mosquitoes, kills up to 1 million children each year. Those who survive the disease suffer from its weakening effects all their lives
• Sleeping Sickness: carried by the tsetse fly, infects both people and their live stock.
Kills cattle, little meat in peoples’ diet. Without the protein of the meat, more likely to develop other diseases.
• Bilharzia: Caused by the snails that carry parasitic worms. People become infected when they wash or swim in streams where the snails live.
17. What is Africa’s population?
• 763 million
18. What are four most densely populated areas of Africa?
• Southern part of west africa, the nations of Morocco and Algeria, the Nile Valley, the region around Lake Victoria
19. How many languages are spoken in Africa?
• 1,000 different languages
20. How might the many languages of Africa be a problem in building unified nations?
• When people try to communicate they will have a hard time because they would be speaking different languages. (Hard time communicating)

Early Civilizations of Africa (Chapter 3 Section 3)
1. When did Nile Valley Civilization begin?
• About 7,000 years ago
2. Define: Pharaohs
• The rulers of ancient Egypt
3. What was found in King Tut’s tomb?
• Furniture, weapons, clothing and a chariot
4. Describe the ancient Egypt religion.
• The Egyptians were polytheistic. They believe that different gods controlled the forces of nature. The chief god was Amon-Re, the sun god. A belief in life after death was central to the Egyptian Religion.
• To the Egyptians, the pharaoh was a god descended from Amon-Re. The pharaoh had total power over the lives of the people.
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5. Egypt was called the gift of the Nile. Why?
• Each year, the river flooded and spread rich Nile mud over nearby farmlands. Farmers like Heti and Senen welcomed the Season of the Flood.
6. What were the three seasons in ancient Egypt?
• Season of the Flood
• Season of Going Out
• Season of the Harvest
7. List four achievements of the ancient Egyptians.
• Huge temples
• Pyramid tombs
• Form of writing called, hieroglyphics
• Calendar with 365-day year
8. What was the ancient kingdom of Kush?
• In 750 BC, Egyptian power had weakened. King Kastha of Kush led his forces