The total area of Tropical Africa is more than 20 million km 2, the population is 600 million people. It is also called Black Africa, since the population of the subregion overwhelmingly belongs to the equatorial (Negroid) race. But in terms of ethnic composition, individual parts of Tropical Africa differ quite greatly. It is most complex in Western and Eastern Africa, where at the junction of different races and linguistic families the greatest “strip” of ethnic and political borders arose. The people of Central and Southern Africa speak numerous (with up to 600 dialects) but closely related languages of the Bantu family (the word means “people”). The Swahili language is especially widespread. And the population of Madagascar speaks languages of the Austronesian family. .
There is also much in common in the economy and settlement of the population of the countries of Tropical Africa. Tropical Africa is the most backward part of the developing world, within its borders there are 29 least developed countries. Nowadays this is the only large region a world where agriculture remains the main sphere of material production.
About half of rural residents live subsistence Agriculture, the rest are low-commercial. Hoe tillage predominates with the almost complete absence of a plow; It is no coincidence that the hoe, as a symbol of agricultural labor, is included in the image of the state emblems of a number of African countries. All main agricultural work is performed by women and children. They cultivate root and tuber crops (cassava or cassava, yams, sweet potatoes), from which they make flour, cereals, cereals, flatbreads, as well as soy, sorgo, rice, corn, bananas, and vegetables. Livestock farming is much less developed, including due to the tsetse fly, and if it plays a significant role (Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia), it is carried out extremely extensively. In the equatorial forests there are tribes and even nationalities that still live by hunting, fishing and gathering. In the savannah and tropical rainforest zones, the basis of consumer agriculture is the fallow-type slash-and-burn system.
Areas of commercial crop production with a predominance of perennial plantings - cocoa, coffee, peanuts, hevea, oil palm, tea, sisal, and spices - stand out sharply against the general background. Some of these crops are grown on plantations, and some on peasant farms. They primarily determine the monocultural specialization of a number of countries.
According to their main occupation, the majority of the population of Tropical Africa lives in rural areas. The savannahs are dominated by large villages near rivers, while the tropical forests are dominated by small villages.
The life of the villagers is closely connected with the subsistence farming they lead. Among them, local traditional beliefs are widespread: cult of ancestors, fetishism, belief in nature spirits, magic, witchcraft, various talismans. Africans believe. that the spirits of the dead remain on earth, that the spirits of ancestors strictly monitor the actions of the living and can harm them if any traditional commandment is violated. Christianity and Islam, introduced from Europe and Asia, also became quite widespread in Tropical Africa. .
Tropical Africa is the least industrialized region of the world (not counting Oceania). There is only one fairly large mining region, the Copper Belt, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia. This industry also forms several smaller areas that you already know.
Tropical Africa is the least urbanized region in the world(see Figure 18). Only eight of its countries have millionaire cities, which usually tower over numerous provincial towns like lonely giants. Examples of this kind include Dakar in Senegal, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nairobi in Kenya, Luanda in Angola.
Tropical Africa also lags behind in the development of its transport network. Its pattern is determined by “penetration lines” isolated from each other, leading from the ports to the hinterland. In many countries there are no railways at all. It is customary to carry small loads on the head, and over a distance of up to 30-40 km.
Finally, in T Environmental quality is rapidly deteriorating in tropical Africa. Desertification, deforestation, and depletion of flora and fauna have assumed the most alarming proportions here.
Example. The main area of drought and desertification is the Sahel zone, which stretches along the southern borders of the Sahara from Mauritania to Ethiopia across ten countries. In 1968-1974. Not a single rain fell here, and the Sahel turned into a scorched earth zone. In the first half and mid-80s. catastrophic droughts recurred. They claimed millions of human lives. The number of livestock has decreased significantly.
What happened in this area came to be called the “Sahel tragedy.” But it is not only nature that is to blame. The onset of the Sahara is facilitated by overgrazing of livestock and destruction of forests, primarily for firewood. .
In some countries of Tropical Africa, measures are being taken to protect flora and fauna and national parks are being created. This primarily applies to Kenya, where international tourism income is second only to coffee exports. . (Creative task 8.)
The total area of Tropical Africa is more than 20 million km2, the population is 650 million people. It is also called “black Africa”, since the population of the subregion overwhelmingly belongs to the equatorial (Negroid) race. But the ethnic composition of individual parts of Tropical Africa differs quite greatly. It is most complex in West and East Africa, where at the junction of different races and language families the greatest “strip” of ethnic and political borders has arisen. The people of Central and Southern Africa speak numerous (with up to 600 dialects) but closely related languages of the Bantu family (the word means "people"). The Swahili language is especially widespread. And the population of Madagascar speaks languages of the Austronesian family.
There is also much in common in the economy and population settlement of the countries of Tropical Africa. Tropical Africa is the most backward part of the entire developing world, with 29 least developed countries within its borders. Nowadays, this is the only large region of the world where agriculture remains the main sphere of material production.
About half of the rural residents practice subsistence agriculture, the rest engage in subsistence farming. Hoe tillage predominates with the almost complete absence of a plow; It is no coincidence that the hoe, as a symbol of agricultural labor, is included in the image of the state emblems of a number of African countries. All major agricultural work is performed by women and children. They cultivate root and tuber crops (cassava or cassava, yam, sweet potato), from which they make flour, cereals, cereals, flatbreads, as well as millet, sorghum, rice, corn, bananas, and vegetables. Livestock farming is much less developed, including due to the tsetse fly, and if it plays a significant role (Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia), it is carried out extremely extensively. In the equatorial forests there are tribes, and even nationalities, that still live by hunting, fishing and gathering. In the savannah and tropical rainforest zones, the basis of consumer agriculture is the fallow-type slash-and-burn system.
Areas of commercial crop production with a predominance of perennial plantings - cocoa, coffee, peanuts, hevea, oil palm, tea, sisal, and spices - stand out sharply against the general background. Some of these crops are cultivated on plantations, and some on peasant farms. They primarily determine the monocultural specialization of a number of countries.
According to their main occupation, the majority of the population of Tropical Africa lives in rural areas. Savannas are dominated by large villages near rivers, while tropical forests are dominated by small villages.
Tropical Africa is the least urbanized region of the world. Only eight of its countries have “millionaire” cities, which usually tower over numerous provincial towns like lonely giants. Examples of this kind include Dakar in Senegal, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nairobi in Kenya, Luanda in Angola.
Tropical Africa also lags behind in the development of its transport network. Its pattern is determined by “penetration lines” isolated from each other, leading from the ports to the hinterland. In many countries there are no railways at all. It is customary to carry small loads on the head, and over a distance of up to 30-40 km.
Finally, environmental quality is rapidly deteriorating in sub-Saharan Africa. It was here that desertification, deforestation, and depletion of flora and fauna assumed the most alarming proportions. Example. The main area of drought and desertification is the Sahel zone, which stretches along the southern borders of the Sahara from Mauritania to Ethiopia across ten countries.
24. Basic patterns of population distribution in Australia: historical and natural prerequisites.
The distribution of the population across the continent is determined by the history of its development by Europeans and natural conditions. Coastal areas in the east and southwest of the continent have population densities 10 times or more greater than the average population density. The interior of the mainland is almost deserted. The bulk of the population lives in cities. Moreover, 2/3 of the population lives in large cities. In Sydney and Melbourne alone there are more than 6 million people. The Commonwealth of Australia is the only state in the world that occupies the territory of the entire continent, as well as the island of Tasmania and a number of other small islands. The Commonwealth of Australia belongs to the group of developed capitalist countries. This is an economically highly developed state, the formation of whose economy was facilitated by both historical and favorable natural factors.
Before the start of European colonization, 300 thousand aborigines lived on the mainland, and now there are 150 thousand of them. The Aborigines belong to the Australo-Polynesian race and ethnically do not form a single whole. They are divided into numerous tribes speaking different languages (over 200 in total). Aboriginal people received civil rights in 1972.
The population is distributed extremely unevenly throughout the country, with its main centers concentrated in the east and southeast, northeast and south. Here the population density is 25-50 people. per 1 km2, and the rest of the territory is very sparsely populated, the density does not reach even one person per 1 km2. The deserts in the Australian outback are completely devoid of population. In the last decade, there have been shifts in the distribution of the country's population, thanks to the discoveries of new mineral deposits in the north and south. The Australian government encourages population movement to the center of the mainland, to poorly developed areas.
Australia occupies one of the first places in the world in terms of urbanization - 90% of the population. In Australia, cities are considered to be settlements with a population of over 1 thousand people, and sometimes less. The population lives in cities that are significantly distant from each other. Such settlement predetermined the uneven distribution of the manufacturing industry and the high cost of its products due to very significant transport costs.
The country's largest urban agglomerations are Sydney (3 million people), Melbourne (about 3 million people), Brisbane (about 1 million people), Adelaide (over 900 thousand people), Canberra (300 thousand people .), Hobart (200 thousand people), etc.
Australian cities are relatively young, the oldest are 200 years old, most of them were centers of colonies, and then became state capitals, performing several functions: administrative, commercial, industrial and cultural.
Historically, Africa is divided into two natural subregions: Tropical Africa and North Africa. But Tropical Africa also separately includes Central, Western, Eastern and Southern Africa.
North Africa: characteristics and features
This region neighbors South-West Asia and Southern Europe and covers an area of about 10 million km2. North Africa has access to sea routes from Europe to Asia, and part of this region forms the sparsely populated areas of the Sahara Desert.
In the past, this region formed the ancient Egyptian civilization, and now North Africa is called Arab. This is due to the fact that most of the population speak Arabic and the main religion of the region is Islam.
The cities of North Africa are divided into two parts: the old part of the city is located on a hill and is surrounded by protective walls, and the new part of the city is modern and stylish buildings.
North Africa is a manufacturing hub, especially its coastal region. Therefore, almost the entire population of this part of Africa lives here. North Africa is also a subtropical farming area.
Tropical Africa: characteristics of a backward region
This region is called “black Africa”, since the bulk of the population belongs to the Negroid race. The ethnic composition of Tropical Africa is diverse, the population of Southern and Central Africa speaks closely related languages, but they still differ from each other. The most widely spoken language is Swahili.
The population of Tropical Africa is 650 million people, and the area is 20 million km2. This region is recognized as the most backward in the developing world, as it contains 29 countries that are considered the least developed in the world. .
This is due to the fact that the main industry is agriculture, which does not contribute to the development of such a large region in terms of area and population. It is noteworthy that the soil is cultivated without a plow, and agricultural activities are carried out by women and children.
Livestock farming is not very developed, but there are regions where hunting and fishing are practiced, mainly in equatorial forests. Most of the population of Tropical Africa lives in rural areas, as people work either on plantations or on peasant farms.
The life of the population is connected with subsistence farming, which is the basis of their life. In addition to Christianity and Islam, traditional beliefs in tropical Africa include belief in nature spirits, fetishism and the cult of ancestors. This region of Africa is called the least industrialized and least urbanized.
Only eight countries have million-dollar cities: Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Luanda in Angola, Dakar in Senegal and Nairobi in Kenya. This region is characterized by environmental degradation, desertification, depletion of flora and fauna and deforestation.
In one of the desert regions of Tropical Africa, the “Sahel tragedy” occurred - due to the lack of rainfall for ten years, the Sahel became a scorched earth zone. Since 1974, droughts began to recur, subsequently killing millions of people and reducing livestock numbers.
O Area about 20 million km² O Population 650 million people. O The main field of activity is agriculture. O Tropical Africa is the most backward part of the entire developing world. O Country member of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) – Nigeria.
Problems of tropical Africa. O The most backward part of the entire developing world (29 countries) O Subsistence and low-income agriculture (droughts, tsetse fly). O Equatorial forests are dominated by hunting, fishing, and gathering. O Monocultural specialization of countries - cocoa, tea, coffee, peanuts, hevea, sisal, spices, oil palm (plantation or peasant farm). O Least industrialized region of the world (only one major mining region - the Copper Belt in DR Congo and Zambia). O Backward transport network. O The least urbanized region of Africa in the world (only 8 cities with millionaires, for example Kinshasa in DR Congo, Dakar in Senegal). O Deteriorating ecology (desertification, deforestation).
South Africa O Developed mining industry: gold, platinum, diamonds, uranium, iron ores, chrome ores, manganese ores, coal. O Developed manufacturing industry: ferrous metallurgy, mechanical engineering, chemical industry. O High level of agriculture: cereals, subtropical crops, fine-wool sheep breeding, cattle (European part - farms, African part - hoe farming).
South Africa A country with a dual economy: There are features of both developing and economically developed countries. Homework: prepare for the final test on the topic Africa - page of the textbook
Africa is a huge continent, the main inhabitants of which are people, which is why it is called “black”. Tropical Africa (about 20 million km 2) covers a vast territory of the continent, and divides it with North Africa into two parts unequal in area. Despite the significance and vastness of the territory of tropical Africa, there are the smallest of this continent, whose main occupation is agriculture. Some countries are so poor that they do not have railways, and movement along them is carried out only with the help of cars and trucks, while residents move on foot, carrying loads on their heads, sometimes covering considerable distances.
Tropical Africa is a collective image. It contains the most paradoxical ideas about this region. These include the humid and tropical deserts of Africa, and huge wide rivers, and wild tribes. For the latter, the main occupation is still fishing and gathering. All this is tropical, which would be incomplete without its unique flora and fauna.
Tropical forests occupy a large area, which, however, decreases every year due to the deforestation of this precious pearl of nature. The reasons are prosaic: the local population needs new areas for arable land, in addition, the forests contain valuable tree species, the wood of which brings good profits on the market in developed countries.
Covered with vines, with dense lush vegetation and unique endemic flora and fauna, they are shrinking under the pressure of Homo sapiens and turning into tropical deserts. The local population, mainly engaged in arable farming and livestock farming, does not even think about high technology - it is not for nothing that the coat of arms of many countries still contains the image of a hoe as the main tool of labor. All residents of large and small villages, except men, are engaged in farming.
The entire female population, children and old people, grow crops that serve as the main food (sorghum, corn, rice), as well as tubers (cassava, sweet potato), from which flour and cereals are then made, and cakes are baked. In more developed areas, more expensive crops are grown for export: coffee, cocoa, which is sold to developed countries as whole beans and pressed oil, oil palm, peanuts, as well as spices and sisal. The latter is used to weave carpets, make strong ropes, ropes and even clothes.
And if it is so difficult to breathe in the humid equatorial forests due to the constant evaporation of large-leaved plants and the mass of water and air moisture, the tropical deserts of Africa are practically devoid of water. The main area that turns into desert over time is the Sahel zone, which stretches across 10 countries. For several years, not a single rain fell there, and deforestation, as well as the natural death of vegetation, led to the fact that this territory turned into a barren wasteland almost scorched by the winds and covered with cracks. Residents of these places have lost their basic means of livelihood and are forced to move to other places, leaving these territories as zones of environmental disaster.
Tropical Africa is a unique part, comprising a vast territory, unique and original. It is completely different from North Africa. Tropical Africa still remains a territory full of secrets and mysteries; it is a place that, once seen, one cannot help but fall in love with.