Group Project /Sub Saharan Africa

Major Colonial Contestants

&

Impact On Africa

Group 1

Denise Uriarte

Taylor Franssen

Christopher Christensen

Kennedy Meisch

Brian Berkky

Colonization in Africa created many changes. Portugal, Germany, France, Belgium and Britain’s colonies in Africa have left a great impact on Africa.

     The Portuguese was looking to expand its country’s wealth and power by colonizing.  Portugal claim to Africa began in 1488. Portuguese established themselves in Cape of Good Hope and in parts of western Africa. Portugal rule over Africa was a harsh and direct dictatorship. The Portuguese exported slaves for the New World. Today in Africa, the Portuguese influence can be seen by Roman Catholicism beliefs left behind.

     Germany gained colonies in Africa. The first German to establish in Africa was Adolf Luderitz, a merchant, at Angra Pequena in 1883. In 1904, the German government took control and began expanding in Africa. Germany’s colonies were mostly in Southwest Africa (known today as Namibia) and East Africa.  Germany lost the colonies in 1919 to Britain due to WWI.

 France was one of the many countries to rule Africa. The French ruled their colonized land of Africa democratically and strived to create their part of Africa culturally assimilated elite. France wanted to mirror their own culture and bring it into Africa where they have colonized.  At beginning of the colonization of Africa in 1885, France only had small bits and pieces of northern Africa and all of Madagascar. By 1910, France had accomplished to colonize most of the northwest portion of Africa. From 1910-1958 France was only able to gain small amounts of land to colonize. A vast impact by the French on Africa can be seen in the language. The places colonies by France still speak French today and some of the countries have French as the official language.

King Leopold II of Belgium sought to claim Congo Free State as his own personal empire and in doing so embarked on a campaign of ruthless exploitation and murder. He hired the famous explorer Henry Morton Stanley to establish the colony in the Congo region and mobilized almost the entire Congolese population to gather rubber for the growing automobile industry, kill elephants for their ivory, and build public works to improve export routes. If these people failed to meet Leopold’s quotas, entire communities would be slaughtered. After the impact of the slave trade, King Leopold’s reign of terror was Africa’s most severe demographic disaster. Over 10 million Congolese has been ruthlessly murdered by the time it ended. In 1908 the Belgian government took over and began to mirror their own internal divisions: corporations, government administrators, and the Roman Catholic Church. Until the Belgian Congo achieved independence in 1960, it was called Leopoldville as an awful reminder to the people who resided there.

Britain was one out of five countries to colonize Africa during the 19th century. At their peak Britain colonized 19 countries of Africa. Britain ran their colonies as democracies. Britain colonized Africa for its raw materials and profitable slave trade. Some of the raw materials were gold, diamonds, and rubber. Britain used Africa also as a trade route to India. Between 1945-1965, Britain’s rule of colonization of Africa began to downfall.
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Central Africa

Group 2
Danica Chan
Maria Quintero
Brandi Berkowitz
Kendra Conboy
Christina Macelveny

Countries:

Angola

Cameroon

Central African Republic

Chad

Congo

Congo, Democratic Republic

Equatorial Guinea

Gabon

Sao Tome principle                                                                                                   

Economy:

Gabon combination has produces equatorial Africa’s only upper-middle income economy

It’s very oil based and some minerals

Only Cameroon has the strongest agricultural

Politics:

Most common types of governments

Presidential Republic

Semi/Unitary presidential Republic

Republic

Religion:

Most common is Christianity and Islamic

Some traditional beliefs

Language:

Most common is French

Portuguese

Most developed:

Congo

Most population-58.7 million

Most mineral resources = copper cobalt

Richest country in tropical Africa

Has all minerals to develop the continent of Africa

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Western Africa

Group 3

Pamela Villegas,
Marc Lopez,
Ricky Brown, 

Julian,
Ariel Piotrowski,
Jasmine Navarro

Countries of Western Africa

Mauritania, Cape Verde, Mali, Niger, Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Burking Faso, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Benin, Togo

Economic Structure

Ecowas- the western Africa region is compromised of 16 countries, which fall under the economic jurisdiction of Ecowas (Economic Community of Western Africa). Ecowas is responsible for the stability of this African union through conflict resolution and peace keeping. The commissioner, political affairs, peace and security head Ecowas.

Politics

Most countries in West Africa operate a multiparty democracy.

Major West African Political Parties

Benin- National Regulations only

Burking Faso- Alliance for democracy and federation-African, Congress for Democracy and progress, National union for Democracy and Development, Party for Democracy and Progress/Socialist Party, Union for Rebirth/ Sankarist Movement

Cape Verde- National regulations only

Cote d’Ivoire- National Regulations only

The Gambia- Peoples Progressive Party, United Democratic Party, National Convention Party, National Reconciliation Party, Alliance of Patriotic Reconciliation and construction, Peoples Democratic

The Gambia has the most political parties in western Africa containing six parties

Cultural Factors

Religion- Islam, Christianity, and African traditional religion

Language- Portuguese, English, French are the common languages in western Africa due to colonization.

Anglophone Countries- Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia

Most influential Country

Nigeria is a major regional power in West Africa.

Nigeria by far has the largest population in Western Africa reaching a population over 150 million.

Abundant Natural resources

Ability to keep peace in the region

Rapid growing economy
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Sahel Region

Group 4

Mazarlegos, Alvaro

Campbell, Sieda

Brian, Berkley

Haney, Cody

Tith, Patrick

Countries in the Region:

Senegal

Gambia

Guinea-Bissau

Sierra Leone

Eritrea

Cameroon

Maruritania

Liberia

Northern part of Ivory Cost

Northern part of Ghana

Majority of Burkina Faso

Southern part of Mali

Togo

Northern part of Benin

Northern part of Nigeria

Southern part of Chad

Sudan

Southern part of Niger

Somalia

Ethiopia

Characteristics of region

Land

Flat

Semi Tropical

Semi Savanna

Primary agricultural

Religion (Majority)

Christian

Muslim

Languages

Francophone

Senegal

Guinea-Bissau

Mauritania

Ivory Coast

Burkina Faso

Mali

Djibouti

Niger

Togo

Benin

Chad

Somalia

Ethiopia

Anglophone

Sudan

Ghana

Liberia

Sierra Leone

Eritrea

Gambia

Economy

Nomadic Herding

Most Influential Country

Nigeria

Has highest population

Oil Rich Nation

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Eastern Africa

Group 5

Elizabeth Yani,
Jaizel Lemi,

Annie Nak

Oscar Cano,

Alex Bonilla

Andrew Gomez

                                               

Countries in this region:

Ethiopia

Kenya

Uganda

Rwanda

Burundi

Tanzania

Economy

Kenya- An expanding economy allowed Kenya during 1964-72 to lead most African countries in its growth rate due to tourism and exports. Agriculture makes up 30% of the country’s GDP. It has the largest economy in Eastern Africa.

Tanzania- Most Tanzanians are farmers living in rural areas. Wood and charcoal supply more than 90% of its energy. One of its most important minerals includes Diamond, Gold, Tin and Coal.

Uganda- Gained their livelihood in difficult years of 1970s & 80s by working in the informal agriculture sector. Agriculture takes up 82% of the labor force. Their resources include Copper, Cobalt, Hydropower, Limestone and Gold.

Politics

A political Federation is expected to be established in 2017.

Ethiopians- This East African country has a Federal Republic government. In May of 1991, a 30 year civil war between the government and Eritrean nationalist rebels ended with the collapse of Ethiopian’s military dictatorship.

Burundi- A Republic government that gained independence from Belgium in 1962. A fragile peace exists since a 12-year civil war between ethnic Hutus and Tutsi, which ended in 2006.

Kenya- A republic government. Both free enterprise and a measure of political debate helped make Kenya one of Africa’s most stable nations after it achieved independence from Britain in 1963.

Cultural Factors

Religion

Ethiopia- Consists mainly of Christian (Orthodox Christian) and traditional Muslim.

Kenya- Practices protestant, Roman Catholic, Muslim and Indigenous beliefs.

Rwanda- Roman Catholic, Adventist and Muslim.

Language

East Africa consists of many diverse languages; More than 30 different languages exist in Uganda alone.

Uganda- English, Gunda, other local languages, Swahili and Arabic.

Tanzania- Swahili, Kiunguja, English, Arabic & local languages.

Burundi- Kirundi, French and Swahili

Most Influential Country in this Region

Sustained high economic growth over the last decade.

Structural reforms and levels of exports are steadily increasing.

Growth in mining, construction, communications and agriculture

Tanzania is the most developed country in Eastern Africa; it is also among the most politically stable nations of sub-Saharan Africa.

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Equatorial Africa

     Group 6

Alexandra

Melanie

Denise

Sokhim

Edwin

Countries include:

Cameroon,

Central African Republic,

Congo,

Democratic Republic of the Congo,

Gabon,

Equatorial Guinea.

Economy

50% of Africa is rural with no access to electricity

The radio is the first major source of information

Central African Republic is the world's poorest economy

Sub-Saharan Africa has more variety of grains than anywhere in the world, relies heavily on cash crops

Politics

It is as a region is a consolidation of the Addis Ababa order. It refers to the formation of a system of states based on non-interference in the internal affairs of member states, peaceful coexistence, and respect for each other’s territorial integrity.

The French, Portuguese and English influence this region after colonialization.

There are 25 different political regimes in the area.

The African Union (AU) is a 54-member federation consisting of all of Africa's states except Morocco.

The African Union has a parliamentary government, known as the African Union Government, consisting of legislative, judicial, and executive organs.

Cultural factors

Religion

Africans practice a wide variety of religious beliefs and statistics are difficult to come by

Islam is the largest religion in Africa followed by Christianity and the rest of the religions are indigenous beliefs

Language

The nation is divided into over 80 ethnic groups, each having its own language

Several African languages are whistled or drummed to communicate over long distances.

There is a high linguistic diversity (Nigeria alone has over 500 languages, one of the greatest concentrations of linguistic diversity in the world.)

4)The most influential country is the Democratic Republic of the Congo which is the richest country in the world regarding natural resources, its untapped deposits of raw minerals are more than $24 trillion.

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Southern Africa

Group 7

Beth,
Evelyn,
Briana,
Stephani,
Chris,
Zachary.

Countries of Southern Africa

-Angola

-Zambia

-Malawi

-Zimbabwe

-Mocambique

-Namibia

-Botswana

-Swaziland

-Lesotho

-South Africa

-Madagascar

Economy of Southern Africa

Main exports of this realm are

-Platinum

-Uranium

-Gold

-Diamonds

-Copper

-Iron

South Africa is the most productive country in this region

-Geographic location of high latitudes and ranging altitudes offers ideal climates for farming

-South Africa contributes to 45% of Southern Africa’s GDP

Politics of Southern Africa

-Angola and Mozambique chose to be communist states during the Cold War which caused conflict with neighboring countries like Zambia, which was not communist

-Swaziland has the last monarchy in Africa

Culture

-Apartheid, or the separation of races, has divided people in countries like South Africa

-The majority of the population is Christians, Muslims or Hindus

-There are many Southern Africans who practice Christianity with traditional indigenous religions

-HIV/AIDS affects many populations in this realm

The Most Influential Country in Southern Africa

South Africa is the most influential country due to its economic power. This country produces many goods for export and has the highest GDP per capita out of any country in the Southern African region.

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Horn of Africa

Group 8

Kennedy Meisch

Taylor Franssen

Colleen San

Anthony Prasanchum

Melanie Colvin

Rae Pielaat

Horn of Africa:

Countries found in region include:
Eritrea,
Djibouti,
Ethiopia,

Somalia

Economy:
Total GDP of Horn of Africa is $106.224 billion with a nominal of $35.819 billion
-Trade brings $250-300 million annually

Politics: All 4 countries have large political strife--from local to national grievances, identity politics, and regional inter-state rivalries
-Djibouti is semi-presidential republic; executive power in central government, legislative power in government and parliament. People's Rally for Progress (RPP) in power
-Eritrea run by People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), other political groups not allowed to organize. Declared "Country of Particular Concern" for record of religious persecution by US State

Department

Ethiopia is a federal parliamentary republic; executive power exercised by government
-Somalia has a Transitional Federal Government comprised of executive and legislative braches

Culture:
3 major faiths which include Christianity, Islam, and Judaism 


Languages include:
Amharic,
Tigrigna,
Guarge (Semitic); concentrated in Ethiopia and Eritrea
-Oromo= most widely spoken native language, almost exclusive to Ethiopia
-Somali; majority in Somalia and Djibouti
-Afar; Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea
-Dozens of other smaller language families exist: Nilo-Saharan, Kunama, and Nara spoken by ethnic minorities
-Djibouti: the Afar (Danakil) and the Somali (Gadabursi and Issa)
-Eritrea: the Afar, Bilen, Hedareb (Beni-Amer/Beja), Kunama and Nara (Nilotic), the Rashaida, Saho, Tigre and Biher-Tigrinya.
-Ethiopia: Afar, Agaw groups, Amhara, Gurage, Harar (also Hadere or Adere), the Irob, Sidama, Somali, Oromo, Tigrayans, as well as many other small groups
-Somalia: the Somali, Benadiri, Bantu and Bajuni, among other

Most influential country:
Ethiopia 
Capital, Addis Ababa, known as "political capital of Africa"
Most populous landlocked country in world
Second most populous nation on African continent (over 84,320,000 inhabitants)
One of oldest sites of human existence known to scientists
During "Scramble for Africa" only other country besides Liberia that retained sovereignty
Founding member of the UN
Major source of Nile River
Has biggest economy by GDP in East and Central Africa

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Western Africa

Group 9

Mario Sanchez

-Darrell Brown

-Martina Skram

-Kristian Diaz

-Jimmy Luong

-Jennifer Medina

Established treaty of Lagos-may 28, 1975

Population: 211,253,780=most populated

Location= top left area of the continent

Contains 16 countries: Benin, Burkina-Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d' Ivory, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Togo

Area= 5,000,000 km big

Climate:
From rain forest to barren desert to modern cities and tropical islands; very dry and tropical

Main economic activity based on oil, blood diamonds, cocoa, palm oil, cotton, and peanuts

Economy is mixed; they have stock exchange; naira is used for money; there are 8 different types of currency (ex?)

People vary from farmers, fisherman, nomadic, herders, and merchants

Jobs include miners, lumber, food process, and cement

Religious beliefs circle Christianity, Muslim, and Islam

Politics in Nigeria=democracy composed of three leaders: chairman, president of commission, and speaker of parliament

most influential=Nigeria for political and population reasons

Language: English, French, Portuguese because of colonization

GPD: 2011 estimate of $703,279 US billion per capital $2,500

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