Africa Geography

There are many misconceptions that have been universally accepted mentioned in Curtis Keim’s book Mistaking Africa, many of which are based on biased and incorrect accounts and are extremely offensive. Three important myths are that Africa is a land of cannibals, it is backward and very uncivilized, and that it is one country where everyone and the climate are the same all over. These will be explained, refuted, and the detriment to the people of Africa will be discussed.

Africa, like many other continents, was a very tremendous and a very diverse civilization that is very complicated to introduce due to all its wonderful but also diverse features and beliefs. From the differences between its society and language to its religion and politics, Africa always had the reputation that its empires, cities, and kingdoms never progressed in the developments and achievements for their civilization. Many people believed that the Europeans were actually the cause of Africa’s achievements and advanced developments for their civilizations. However, this is further than the whole truth. Before the arrival of the Europeans between the 15th and 16th century, African kingdoms, empires, and cities had many achievements and accomplishments

Like many other continents in the world Africa has a lot of differences in itself for example there are differences in geography ,language, politics, religion and other things in life due to Africa’s lack of political government over an extended period of time.

In Basil Davidson’s video “Different but Equal,” he outlines the European perception of Africa upon their discovery of the continent. Claims that the Europeans were making about African culture, however, were far fetched and did not depict Africa in a positive manner. History according to pre-European Africa was rich and diverse, but once Europeans saw for themselves how different their continent was from Africa, they began to make up their own version of African history.

Geography plays a big part in the history of Africa because it has made the continent the cradle of human kind wherein the discovery of human kind and the origin of many civilizations and cultures happens here.

People of the early African kingdoms were able to create successful trade routes with Europe and Asia, become very wealthy from conquering and gaining land, and were able to have a strong central government. All of this was done before the Europeans had reached Africa. Trade flourished on the East African coast, especially when trading was established with India and Arabia. African kingdoms were prosperous, because of their success with not only trading but also with their ability to conquer land. A governmental structure is key to allowing any kingdom to thrive, and the African people were able to achieve this.

The cultural diversity and advancements portray the progression developed in African history. The growth of these two subcontinents prove that American and European historians were incorrect on how advanced and civilized Africa was.

Africa transcended before European arrival for many reasons such as their wealth, trade, and developed government.

The history of Africa is very complex. Europeans invaded Africa and stripped them of their culture and denied future generations their history. Despite the focus on the time of enslavement in modern history, African history expands far beyond that. African history has been consistently whitewashed and many historians have attempted to put our history in a box. In order to understand and study the African experience, one must realize that the history of Africa extends far beyond the times of enslavement and colonialism.

Africa is the second largest continent in the world that was shaped 550 million years ago. Houses 800 million people that speak more than one-thousand languages and regional dialects. I was amazed that the native people of this region could speak many different languages. Africa is known for its vegetation, rainfall, mineral resources, and topography. The vast majority of its geography is grassland and woodlands that support the migration of animals and livestock. There must be warm weather and rainfall, which is heavily relied upon for vegetation. The largest river that flows upward, but has a span that runs from the top of Africa to the bottom is called the Nile River. Africa is mostly recognized for its enormous enriched deposits of mineral resources. Learning about the importance of Africa is truly exceptional. Whenever someone thinks about Africa the first thought is, this is where blacks come from. People don’t talk about how wealthy Africa is nor do they shed positive light on this region. This continent is thought to be poor and a developing country, but this the ideal place for humankind to emerge. Although, I was unaware of the mitochondrial DNA tree study I was mind-blown. This study shows

Consider how Africa’s geography has changed over time. What positive and negative effects would these changes have had on human populations on the continent? As their new homes changed they were able to adapt due to their innovative mindset. This can be attributed to the new found organization thanks to language. Allowing Africans to grow and expand throughout the entire continent. Other factors that can be attributed are the change in geography for some parts such as the Sahara drying out and swamps and lakes disappeared.

Africa is a continent plagued by misinformed and false stereotypes, rarely being seen or portrayed as what it really is. Countless amounts of myths and ideas are formulated based off of single stories or one-sided stories from the region, often without a second thought. These stereotypes give Africa an overall negative image to the rest of the world and suppress the reality that is hidden behind the slew of stereotypes. The belief that all of Africa is poor and undeveloped is an uninformed statement that harms the reality and worsens the image of the continent by perpetuating an incomplete idea into the world.

This chapter in Africans and Their History by Joseph Harris presents some of the roots of the stereotypes and myths about Africa in the past and for the most part are still held today. Harris discusses how the “greats” of history, geography, and literature starting a path of devaluation of Africans that writers after their time followed. Harris also denounced the language that these “greats” used to describe and talk about Africans. He asserts that this language inherently painted Africans as inferior and subhuman.

Geographical location: Ancient Africa is nearly 5,000 miles from north to south, Africa that lies south of the Sahara desert is the second-largest continent and was the home of some of the earliest and most advanced cultures of the ancient world. Most of the rivers and streams in the Sahara are seasonal or intermittent, the chief exception being the Nile River, which from its origins in central Africa, crosses the desert underground before emptying into the Mediterranean.

     Out of all of the continents, Africa is the most central. It is told that the first man was found in Africa, so with this, many feel that Africa is the birthplace of human culture. Within this continent, there are many different lifestyles, which are lived. Many blame the variety of lifestyles on western influence, but the truth is that different lifestyles began thousands of years before the west had influence on Africa. African’s