WORLD GEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER 23
“EAST AFRICA”

I. NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS
A. Landforms and Water
1. Tectonic processes have played an important role in shaping
physical landscape of region which resulted in the formation of two
rift valleys, and mountains and plateaus that lie along these rifts
2. Major river is the Nile which has two sources
a. Blue Nile begins the highlands of northern Ethiopia
b. White Nile begins in Lake Victoria
c. Two rivers join in northern Sudan
B. Climate, Biomes, and Natural Resources
1. Primary influences on climate are latitude and variations in
elevation
a. Along the equator, distinct wet and dry seasons alternate
(tropical wet-and-dry)
b. Farther from the equator, north and south, seasonal droughts are more common (semiarid and arid)
c. High Ethiopian plateau is mild and moist (highland)
2. Natural Resources
a. Region is not rich in energy or mineral resources
b. Soils are also not productive
II. HISTORY AND CULTURE
A. Early History
1. First Civilization
a. Little evidence remains because most African families kept
oral histories which were stories of events and families that
people mentioned and passed from one generation to the
next
2. Arab Connections
a. Arab traders began sailing along Africa’s Indian Ocean
coast about 1500 years ago
b. Established ports for trading gold and ivory that Africans
brought from the interior
B. European Influence
1. 1500s: Portuguese built the first European forts on the coast of
East Africa
2. Mid-1800s: European and American explorers began to move
inland
3. Late 1800s: European powers scrambled to claim territory in
Africa
a. Drew colonial powers without giving thought to Africa’s
human or physical geography
1. Divided ethnic groups
2. Grouped traditional enemies
3. Some limited access to water
b. Quickly established colonies
c. Products from African mines and plantations supplied
European economies
C. Culture
1. Region includes several hundred ethnic groups
2. People who follow Arab traditions live mostly along the Indian
Ocean coast
3. Traditional religions include animist but there are also Christians
and Muslims
III. THE REGION TODAY
A. Economic Development
1. Agriculture
a. Farming and herding form the basis of East Africa’s
economies
b. Important food crops are beans, corn, rice, sorghum, and
wheat
c. Farmers grow an increasing number of cash crops such as
coffee, cotton, sugarcane, and tea
d. Few large commercial farms and plantations
2. Industry and Economic Change
a. All countries in region have developing economies
b. Raw materials make up most of the exports
c. Region imports many manufactured goods
d. Progress is slow because of government’s mismanagement
and rapid population growth
e. Tourism has great potential for economic growth
B. Urban Environments
1. Nairobi, Kenya, has a national park within its city limits
2. Cities are rapidly growing with superhighways and glittering
skyscrapers
a. Run-down buildings and slums often surround the cities
b. More people move to the cities that there are jobs
C. Issues and Challenges
1. Overpopulation contributes to widespread poverty
2. Not enough food
3. Health services and educational opportunities are spread thin
4. Ethnic conflicts present problems
a. Sudan: torn by war between the Islamic government and
the animist and Christian peoples of the south as the
government has tried to force Islam and Arabic ways of life
on the peoples of southern Sudan
b. Have even led to genocide (intentional destruction of a
people) such as Rwanda in 1994 where the more numerous Hutu tried to wipe out the Tutsi