South Africa

The Land

• South Africa’s mainland: Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Angola, Malawi.

• South Africa’s islands: Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius

• Varied terrain. Forests, Kalahari and Namib deserts, grasslands on large plateau

• Platinum, uranium, gold, iron, diamonds

The Kimberley Diamond MineThe Kimberley Diamond Mine

• Zambezi (Victoria Falls) main river

• Prevailing winds blow off shore. Keep Namibia coast dry.

• Moist air from Indian Ocean blows west. Gives eastern South Africa humid subtropical climate

• Drakensburg Mts. create rain shadow for Kalahari

The Land 2

Cultures• Long history of migration creates diversity• 75% of South Africans are black• Whites are Dutch (Afrikaners), German,

British, French• Blacks are Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Ndebele,

Temba, Pondo• Mostly Christians. Some Islam, Hindu,

animism• Most widely spoken language of whites is

Afrikaans.

Economy• Most are subsistence farmers• Raise sorghum, cassava,

corn• Manufacturing 2nd largest

employer• South Africa richest country,

most industrial• Produce cars, buses for

Africa• Ecotourism creates jobs

Cassava

Sorghum

Early History

• Khoisan first inhabitants, then Bantu farmers from West Africa 2,000 years ago with iron tools

• Shona built Great Zimbabwe, stone-walled capital, in late 1,000s. Traded gold.

• 1400s Europeans looked for route to Asia• Portuguese found Cape of Good Hope• 1652 Dutch built Cape Town, started slavery.• British, French, German also settled.

Descendants known as Boers• Afrikaans language combined European,

Khoisan, Bantu tongues

Later History

• 1800s Great Britain took over. Forced Boers inland

• Zulu dominated inland but British won battle

• British empire outlawed slavery so traded ivory tusks, gold, diamonds

Apartheid

• Early 1900s South Africa government made apartheid the law. (Next image click video)

• Blacks, Coloreds, Asians lived in poor homelands, travel restricted.

• Those working in city formed township slums

• Opposed by African National Congress 1912

• Apartheid outlawed 1992. Nelson Mandela president. (Next image click video)

Culture• Hundreds of ethnic

groups• Many languages. Most

related to Khoisan (clicking sounds) or Bantu

• English official language in Namibia, Zimbabwe. Portuguese in Mozambique

• Religion is Christian, traditional beliefs Tswana of Botswana

Today’s Issues

• Many infected with HIV/AIDS. 1 million Zambians. Life expectancy is 40 (Next image click video)

• Poverty, unemployment due to droughts• South Africa’s $3,000 GDP highest in

region, but still black-white gap• Zimbabwe in economic collapse. Dictator

Robert Mugabe took land from whites• Wildlife tourism growing

Madagascar Physical Geography•4th largest island in the world•Separated from mainland Africa millions of years ago•12,000 plant species. 80 percent of wildlife native only to Madagascar, such as the lemur. (Click next image video)•Coastal plain rises to interior mountains•Only 5 percent of land is farmed – sugar cane, vanilla, cassava, beans, bananas, cloves, coffee•Logging is deforesting the country

Madagascar Political Geography• Indonesians came on outriggers around

700 A.D. and mixed with Bantus from East Africa.

• French controlled it 1890-1960. Now have republic with power-sharing government

• Once called Malagasy Republic• Malagasy Mythology and Christianity main

religions• Not wealthy country. Coffee exports and

tourism have dropped.

South Africa Physical Geography• 3 times the size of Texas

• Vast plateau in center. Drakensburg Mountains east, Kalahari north, Namib to west, Great Escarpment (cliffs) south.

• Highveld (coarse grassland) occupies most of plateau. Mining, wheat, corn

• Top gold and diamond exporter in world. Has 80% world’s platinum.

South Africa Political Geography• Iron-working tribes from Central Africa moved here

in 1500s. (Khoi, San)• 1652 Dutch established trading post at Cape of

Good Hope.• British invaded 1815 and drove Dutch inland

where they fought with British and native Zulus. Black South Africans lost all land and independence by late 1800s.

• 1910 Union of South African states and apartheid became law

• 1991 end of apartheid. 1994 Nelson Mandela first black president.

Zimbabwe Physical Geography

• Lies on high plateau, tropical with mild climate

• Landlocked

• Slightly larger than Japan or Montana

• Victoria Falls straddles the border with Zambia. Borders South Africa.

Zimbabwe Political Geography• Walled city of Great Zimbabwe settled around 1000 A.D.• 1888 natives gave mining rights to English• English crushed Shona and Ndebele and became British

colony of South Rhodesia in 1923• Independence as Rhodesia 1965 but world sanctioned

because blacks had no power• Free elections 1979 brought president (dictator) Robert

Mugabe to power. Land redistribution to blacks ruined the economy. Now one of poorest nations on earth with lowest life expectancy

• (Picture with chickens to follow will automatically begin a video)