What is Sub-Saharan Africa known for?

Sub-Saharan Africa has been the site of many empires and kingdoms, including Nubia, Axum, Wagadugu (Ghana), Mali, Nok, Songhai, Kanem-Bornu, Benin and Great Zimbabwe.

What is unique about the culture of Sub-Saharan Africa?

Sub-Saharan Africa is a large region, not only in size and population but also in its cultural heterogeneity. Many different native groups live there, and each nation has a different history, beliefs, and traditions. This is a land of contrast and enormous cultural richness.

How did Sub-Saharan Africa get its name?

Bilad as-Sudaan is Arabic for “Land of Black People.” Once referring to all of sub-Saharan Africa, the name latterly applied to the savannah belt running south of the Sahara from the Atlantic to the edge of the country that came in the British sphere of influence in 1899 as the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.

Is Sub-Saharan Africa rich or poor?

Half of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have poverty rates higher than 35%. These numbers become even more alarming when compared with the levels of extreme poverty in other regions. Of the top 20 economies with poverty rate estimates in PovcalNet, 18 are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Why is Sub-Saharan Africa underdeveloped?

The list of problems is familiar: obstacles to international trade; overvalued exchange rates; poor infrastructure; bad governance and corruption; and insufficient competition and monopolistic structures in many sectors, notably agriculture.

What was the most important product that came from Sub-Saharan Africa?

When Mossi raids destroyed the Mali empire, the rising Songhai empire relied on the same resources. Gold remained the principal product in the trans-Saharan trade, followed by kola nuts and slaves.

What identity was important to Sub-Saharan Africa at this time?

Social identity within and between societies Many sub-Saharan African societies emphasized kinship (membership in the family) as an important value and identity. This could mean that people who did not have families, or whose families had fallen apart, were vulnerable.

What language is spoken in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Two of the most common languages indigenous to Sub-Saharan Africa are Swahili, or Kiswahili, and Amharic. Amharic is indigenous to Ethiopia, while Swahili is one of the languages of the Bantu people, a general term for people who speak Bantu languages and who are indigenous to various countries in the region.

What is the second poorest continent in the world?

List by the International Monetary Fund (2021 estimate)

Rank Continent GDP (US$billion)
World 94,935
1 Asia 36,764
2 North America 26,803
3 Europe 23,499

Is Sub-Saharan Africa a developing country?

Since 1971 when the least developed countries (LDCs) category was created by the UN, sub-Saharan African countries have dominated the list. In recent years, two countries from the continent, Botswana and Cape Verde, have graduated out of the category.

How were most communities in Sub-Saharan Africa organized?

One common social structure among ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa is segmentary lineage organisation. Segmentary lineage societies are characterised by the foremost importance of kin relationships in determining individuals’ social and political allegiances, as well as their patterns of residence.

What problems does sub-Saharan Africa face?

Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from some serious environmental problems, including deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, wetland degradation, and insect infestation. Efforts to deal with these problems, however, have been handicapped by a real failure to understand their nature and possible remedies.

What countries are in Sub Saharan Africa?

Benin

  • Burkina-Faso
  • Burundi
  • Cameroon
  • Cape Verde
  • Central African Republic
  • Comoros
  • Congo
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Ivory Coast
  • What does sub Saharan Africa really mean?

    Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically and ethnoculturally, the area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara . According to the United Nations, it consists of all African countries and territories that are fully or partially south of the Sahara.

    What is the main religion of Sub Saharan Africa?

    Christianity is now one of the most widely practiced religions in Africa along with Islam and is the largest religion in Sub-Saharan Africa.