1.4 Sub-Saharan Africa

• Aardrijkskunde
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 2

1.4 Sub-Saharan Africa

Learning objectives

After studying this section, you will be able to:

• Describe the most important cultural elements of Sub-Saharan Africa
  
• Explain how Sub-Saharan African cultures have been influenced by colonial history

Sub-Saharan Africa

• The term refers to all areas in the African continent south of the Sahara Desert. 
• Culturally, the African countries north of the Sahara are more related to the Islamic world than to the cultures that are described in this section.

Traditional religions

A traditional religion refers to an indigenous (inheems) religion. 

• These were already practised before any of the major religions like Islam or Christianity arrived in Africa.

Cultural elements of Sub-Saharan Africa

Living community = A social group consisting of numerous families with a common culture.

Traditional dance in Angola

Modern dance in Cameroon

Nomad = Someone who doesn’t have a permanent home and moves from place to place.

A short colonial history of Africa

Scramble for Africa = Period between 1880 and 1914, in which European powers rapidly colonised the African continent.

During colonial times, the Christian religion was spread across Africa. Nowadays, most Sub- Saharan African countries still have a mainly Christian population.

Berlin conference

Borders in Africa

Natural border = A boundary between two or more countries, formed by a natural feature like an ocean, river or mountain range.

Artificial border = A boundary between two or more countries, formed without taking natural and cultural features into account.

African culture outside of Africa

• African culture can also be found outside of Africa. This is especially a result of the African diaspora. 
• A diaspora is a group of people who are scattered, away from their ancestral homeland.
• Western and African culture merged into a new Afro-Atlantic culture.

Essence

The areas south of the Sahara Desert, Sub-Saharan Africa, have a shared history of cultures built-up through living communities and traditional religions. Therefore, similarities can be found in beliefs, rituals, arts, crafts, music and dance. At the same time, Sub-Saharan African cultures are extremely diverse. Colonial history has had a great influence on these cultures: living communities were split by artificial borders imposed on them by the colonisers, while language and religion especially, diffused from Europe to Africa.

Look for the assignments in the studyguide