World Geography / Unit 8: Africa
8.6 People and Economy
Notes
- Africa is culturally diverse, with well over 1,000 languages. Arabic, Swahili, Hausa, Amharic, English, French and Portuguese are widely used. Swahili is a lingua franca in East Africa.
- Major religions: Islam, Christianity and traditional African religions.
- Many countries still depend on subsistence agriculture and on exports of primary products: cocoa (Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana), coffee (Ethiopia, Kenya), oil (Nigeria, Angola), gold, diamonds and copper.
- Challenges: poverty, disease, conflict in some areas, limited infrastructure and uneven access to clean water. Many countries are improving education and health and growing quickly.
- Cities like Lagos, Cairo and Kinshasa are among Africa's largest. The African Union promotes cooperation.
Practice
Which is a lingua franca in much of East Africa?
Swahili is widely used across Kenya, Tanzania and neighbors.
A country earns most export income from one crop, cocoa. What risk does this create?
Dependence on one product makes an economy vulnerable.
Which minerals are important exports of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
Copper is a major export from the Copperbelt region.
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