Cheat sheet: General economic and geographical characteristics of African countries. Socio-geographical and economic-geographical characteristics of Africa
North Africa
1) Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan.
2) Access to the Mediterranean, the Red Sea.
3) The population is concentrated in the cities: Algeria, Tripoli, Rabat, Casablanca. (approximately 1 to 5 million people.). Mostly Arab peoples.
4) This sub-region is located in the tropical zone. In the zone of semi-deserts and deserts, occasionally rigid-leaved evergreen forests and shrubs. Iron ores, oil, phosphorites, natural gas, polymetallic ores, gold.
5) Pastures with centers of cultivated land, in the far north - cultivated land and oases. Manufacture of machinery, instruments, equipment, timber and timber, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, petroleum products.
6) a large area of \u200b\u200bunderutilized lands, the development of gas and oil fields.
West Africa
1) Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Ghana.
2) access to the Atlantic Ocean
3) The population is concentrated in cities and rural settlements: Dakar, Conakry, Monrovia, Abidjan, Ouagadougou. Mainly peoples: Akan, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulbe and Arab.
4) This region is located in the tropical, subequatorial and equatorial zones. In the zone of deserts, savannas and woodlands, variable-humid forests. Iron ore, phosphorite, gold, aluminum ore, manganese ore, diamonds.
5) Pastures with hots of cultivated land, forests with hots of cultivated land, cultivated land and oases. Production of wood and timber products, meat products, area of \u200b\u200bdistribution of cocoa and bananas.
6) a large area of \u200b\u200bunderutilized lands, the absence of any large-scale production, the potential for the development of the timber industry.
Central:
1) Nigeria, Niger, Chal, Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea.
2) access to the Atlantic Ocean.
3) The population is concentrated in cities and rural settlements: Malabo, Yaounde, Brazzaville, Kinshasa and others. Mainly peoples: Tubu, Azande, Hausa.
4) This region is located in the subequatorial and equatorial zones. In the zone of savannas and woodlands, variable-wet forests, areas of altitudinal zonation, constantly wet forests. Oil, Manganese ores, Aluminum ores, Uranium ores.
5) Forests with centers of cultivated land, pastures. Production of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, oil products, timber and timber. Distribution area of \u200b\u200brubber plants, cotton and bananas.
6) the potential for the development of uranium ores and oil production, problems: soil erosion, poaching, unsuitable water for drinking.
East Africa
1) Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia.
2) access to the Indian Ocean.
3) The population is evenly concentrated in cities and settlements, there is no urbanization. Mainly peoples: Amhara, Somalis.
4) This region is located in the subequatorial belt, the equatorial belt. In the zone of savannas and woodlands, altitudinal zoning, semi-deserts. Gold, Phosphorites, Diamonds, Titanium ores.
5) Pastures with outbreaks of cultivated land. Leather production. Distribution area of \u200b\u200bbananas, coffee, date palm. Camel and cattle breeding.
6) Problems: overgrazing, desertification, widespread poaching. Potential for the breeding of camels, cattle and the production of ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
South
1) South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Zambia.
2) access to the Atlantic, Indian Ocean.
3) The population is concentrated in the cities: Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban, Lusaka, Harare. Mainly peoples: Bantu, Bushmen, Afrikaners, Hottentots.
4) This region is located in the subequatorial, tropical, subtropical zone. In the zone of savannas and woodlands, high-altitude zones, semi-deserts and deserts. Manganese ores, Diamonds, Polymatic ores, Gold, Copper ores, Cobalt ores, Chromium ores, Asbestos, Coal, Iron ores.
5) Pastbisha with pockets of cultivated land, cultivated land and oases. Manufacture of machinery, equipment, devices, ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Distribution area: cotton. Breeding: sheep, cattle.
6) Problems: limited supplies of drinking water, deforestation, soil erosion, water pollution, excessive use of pastures. Potential for the production of meat products, the development of hydroelectric and nuclear power plants (there are uranium deposits).
EGP Assessment of Africa. Conclusion: the economic and geographical position and its change over time (position aside and then at the intersection of transport routes) generally contributes to the development of the region's economy. No. Features of EGP. Assessment for economic development. 1. Connection with Eurasia Isthmus of Suez. Proximity to raw materials and product markets. 2. The coastal position of the continent. The possibility of trade with the countries of the world through two oceans and the Mediterranean Sea, the development of maritime transport. 3. Position at the intersection of the main sea transport routes from Europe to Asia and America (Suez Canal). Positive impact on the development of trade and economic relations. 4. The inland position of 15 countries (including at a distance of more than 1.5 thousand km). Negatively affects the socio-economic development of these countries.
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"Test Africa" \u200b\u200b- The largest island off the coast of Africa: Monetary unit in Morocco: Egypt. Cape Agulhas Almadi Cape Ben Sekka. Metical naira dirhal. Mali. Addis - Ababa Kinshasa Luanda. South Africa Ethiopia Nigeria. South Africa. What race are the Algerians, Moroccans, Egyptians? Malagasy are residents. Capital of Ethiopia: Rovenala Lekanor Ceiba.
"Travel to Africa" \u200b\u200b- When traveling, you must use two maps on which the route is laid. Fill in the table: Natural areas of Africa. In the "Step by Step" section, we get acquainted with the rules of travel across the mainland (p. 106 of the textbook). Lagos. The second map shows the countries and occupations of the population. The trunk of a palm tree is an excellent building material (very valuable in the desert).
"Characteristics of Africa" \u200b\u200b- Morocco. Population problems. Africa today. African countries have the highest fertility and natural increase rates. Political system. Natural resource potential. The significant predominance of young people is associated with a high birth rate. The region ranks first in terms of reserves of most types of mineral raw materials.
"African countries" - On the whole, there are imbalances in industrial development: A. between extractive and manufacturing and B. between light / food and heavy. Africa is experiencing a dairy shortage. 90% of imports of livestock products are dairy products. GDP structure of Tropical Africa (Sub-Saharan Africa) (in%). Climate.
"Africa in the Middle Ages" - Monomotapa "Sovereign of the Conquered Lands". Cairo Ibn Tulun Mosque. West crossroads of caravan roads. Monomotapa. Ghana, Mali, Songhai - medieval kingdoms along the southern edge of the Sahara. North Africa. Church of St. George in Lalibela. Timbuktu is the largest city in Mali. Mamluks are warriors of the Egyptian sultanate from mercenaries and freed slaves.
"Continent Africa" \u200b\u200b- Africa is the hottest continent in the world. The flora and fauna of Tropical and South Africa is extremely rich and diverse, many waters are endemic. Africa is usually divided into three parts: North, or Arab, Tropical (sub-Saharan, located south of the Sahara desert) and South. Each region has its own unique natural and climatic characteristics, cultural and national characteristics, different from the other level of economic development.
Population of Africa
3 presentations on the population of Africa
\u003e\u003e Geography: We provide a general overview of Africa
We give a general description of Africa
Africa covers an area of \u200b\u200b30.3 million km 2 with a population of 905 million people (2005). There is no other continent in the world that would have suffered as much from colonial oppression and the slave trade as Africa... By the beginning of the twentieth century. all of Africa turned into a colonial mother, and this largely predetermined its backwardness.
After World War II, the colonial system was eliminated step by step, and now on political map continent 54 sovereign states (with island). Almost all of them are developing. South Africa belongs to the type of economically developed countries.
In terms of basic indicators of economic and social development, Africa lags far behind other large regions, and in some countries this lag is even growing.
1. Territory, borders, position: great internal differences, state system.
The territory of Africa stretches from north to south for 8 thousand km, and from west to east for a maximum of 7.5 thousand km. African countries are mostly larger than European countries.
Example. The largest country in Africa is Cydan (2.5 million km 2). It is 4.5 times larger than France, the largest European country. Algeria, DR Kongo, Libya, Angola, Ethiopia, South Africa also surpass France in area two to three times.
Various criteria can be used to assess the EGP of African countries. One of the most important is the presence or absence of access to the sea. No other continent has so many countries - 15 located far from the seas (sometimes at a distance of 1.5 thousand km), as in Africa. Most of the landlocked countries are among the most backward.
In terms of state structure, African countries differ much less: only three of them (see Table 2 in the Appendices) retain a monarchical form of government, the rest are republics, and almost all of them are presidential. However, under the republican form of government, military, dictatorial political regimes are often hidden here.
Coups d'etats are also very frequent here. ...
Africa is another region of widespread territorial disputes and border conflicts. In most cases they arose in connection with the borders inherited by the countries of this continent from their colonial past. Acute conflicts of this kind exist between Ethiopia and Somalia, Morocco and Western Sahara, Chad and Libya, etc. Along with this, internal political conflicts are also characteristic of Africa, which have repeatedly led to long-term civil wars.
Example. The civil war in Angola continued for several decades, where the opposition group (UNITA) opposed the government political group. Hundreds of thousands of people died in this war.
To help strengthen the unity and cooperation of the states of the continent, preserve their integrity and independence, counter neo-colonialism, the Organization of African Unity 1 was created, which was transformed in 2002 into the African Union ... (Exercise 1.)
2. Natural conditions andresources : the most important factor in the development of African countries.
Africa is exceptionally rich in a variety of minerals. Among other continents, it ranks first in terms of reserves of manganese, chromite, bauxite, gold, platinoids, cobalt, diamonds, and phosphorites. In addition, the mineral raw materials are of high quality, and they are often mined in an open way.
Example... The richest country in minerals in Africa is South Africa. Its subsoil contains almost the entire known set of fossil resources, with the exception of oil, natural gas, and bauxite. The reserves of gold, platinum and diamonds are especially large. ...
But there are countries in Africa that are poor mineralsand this makes it difficult for them to develop. (Task 2.)
Land resources of Africa are significant. There is more arable land per inhabitant than in Southeast Asia or Latin America. In addition, so far only about 1/5 of the land suitable for agricultural production is cultivated on the continent. However, land degradation in Africa has also become particularly severe. Back in the 30s, the Belgian geographer Jean-Paul Gappya wrote a book about land degradation in Africa called "Africa is a dying land." Since then, the situation has deteriorated significantly. Africa accounts for 1/3 of the world's drylands. Almost 2/5 of its territory is at risk of desertification.
1 The Organization of African Unity (OAU) was created in 1963 and included 51 African countries. The headquarters of the OAU was located in Addis Ababa. In 2001-2002. The OAU, following the pattern of the European Union, was transformed into the African Union (AU), within the framework of which it was planned to create a pan-African parliament, a single bank, a monetary fund and other supranational structures.
The agro-climatic resources of Africa cannot be assessed unequivocally. You know that Africa is the hottest matrix on Earth, so it is fully provided with heat peptides. But water resources are distributed over its territory extremely unevenly. This negatively affects agriculture, and indeed the whole life of people. So the catch phrase "Water is life!" refers to Africa, probably in the first place. For its arid parts, artificial irrigation is of great importance (so far only 3% of the land is irrigated). And in the equatorial belt, on the contrary, the main difficulties for life and economic activity are created by excessive moisture. The Kongo basin also accounts for about 1/2 of Africa's hydropower potential. ...
In terms of total forest area, Africa is second only to Latin America and Russia. But its average forest cover is much lower. In addition, as a result of deforestation exceeding natural growth, deforestation has become alarming. (Task 3.)
3. Population: features of reproduction, composition and distribution.
As you already know, Africa stands out in the world with the highest rates of population reproduction. This is largely due to the long tradition of having many children. In Africa they say: “Not having money is a disaster. But not having children is doubly poor. " In addition, most countries on the continent do not pursue an active demographic policy, and fertility rates here remain extremely high.
Example. In Niger, Chad, Angola, Somalia, Mali, the birth rate reaches 4,550 babies per 1,000 inhabitants, that is, it is four to five times higher than in Europe, and more than 2 times higher than the world average. In Ethiopia, Mali, Uganda, Benin there are 7 and more children per woman.
Accordingly, African countries are also leading in terms of natural population growth (see Table 13 in the Appendices).
That is why, despite the fact that Africa remains the region of the highest mortality rate, its population is growing very rapidly. Consequently, Africa is still in the second stage of the demographic transition. This means the preservation of a very high proportion of childhood ages, further exacerbation of the problems of employment, education, and healthcare. In addition, the quality of the population in Africa is the lowest: more than 1/3 of adults are illiterate, more and more people are falling ill with AIDS. ... The average life expectancy for men is 51 years, for women - 52 years.
A lot of problems are connected with the ethnic composition of the nation of Africa, which is very diverse. Scientists ethnographers distinguish 300-500 ethnic groups and more on the continent.
Some of them, especially in North Africa, have already developed into large nations, but most are still at the national level; survivals of the tribal system are also preserved.
Like foreign Asia, Africa is a region of proliferation of numerous ethnic, more precisely, ethnopolitical conflicts, which flare up with the greatest severity from time to time in Sudan, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Kongo, Nigeria, Chad, Angola, Rwanda, Liberia. They often take on the character of the present. genocide 1 .
Example 1. As a result of the civil war In Liberia, which began in the late 80s, 150 thousand people died in a country with a population of 2.7 million people, more than 500 thousand people were forced to leave their habitats and another 800 thousand people were forced to flee to the neighboring countries.
Example 2. In 1994, an acute conflict arose between the Tutsi and Hutu tribes in rural Rwanda. As a result, 1 million people died, the number of refugees inside the country ranged from 500 thousand to 2 million people, and another 2 million people were forced to flee to neighboring countries.
Overall, Africa accounts for about half of all refugees and displaced persons in the world, the overwhelming majority of whom are “ethnic refugees”. Such forced migrations always lead to outbreaks of hunger, epidemics, and increase infant and general mortality.
The legacy of the past is the fact that the state (official) languages \u200b\u200bof most African countries are still the languages \u200b\u200bof the former metropolises - English, French, Portuguese. ...
The cultural heritage of Africa is very large. This is oral folk art - folklore, this is monumental architecture that originated in Ancient Egypt, this is decorative and applied art that preserves the traditions of ancient rock painting. Almost every African nation has its own musical culture, retains the peculiarities of singing and dancing, musical instruments. Since ancient times, there have been theatrical ceremonies, and rituals, ritual masks, etc. In Africa, 109 World Heritage Sites have been identified (see Table 10 in the Appendices). Among them are dominated by objects of cultural heritage, but many of them are natural objects. ...
The average population density in Africa (30 people per 1 km 2) is several times less than in foreign Europe and Asia. As in Asia, it is characterized by very sharp contrasts of settlement. The Sahara is home to the world's largest uninhabited areas at all. A rare population and in the zone of tropical rainforests. But there are also quite significant clumps of population, especially on the coasts. Even sharper contrasts are characteristic of individual countries.
1 Genocide (from Greek glIos - clan, tribe and Latin cado - I kill) the extermination of entire population groups on racial, national, ethnic or religious grounds.
Example. Egypt is, one might say, a classic example of this kind. In fact, almost all of its population (about 80 million people) lives on the territory of the Nile delta and valley, which is only 4% of its total area (1 million km 2). This means that there are about 2,000 people per 1 km2, and less than 1 person in the desert.
In terms of urbanization, Africa still lags far behind other regions. This applies both to the share of the urban population and to the number of large cities and millionaire cities. In Africa, the formation of urban agglomerations is just beginning. However, the rates of urbanization here are the highest in the world: the population of some cities doubles every 10 years.
This can be seen in the growth of millionaire cities. The first such city back in the late 1920s. XX century. became Cairo. In 1950 there were only two of them, but already in 1980 there were 8, in 1990 - 27, and the number of inhabitants in them increased from 3.5 million to 16 and 60 million, respectively. At the beginning of the XXI century. in Africa, there were already 40 agglomerations with a population of more than 1 million people, which concentrated 1/3 of the urban population. Two of these metropolitan areas (Lagos and Cairo) with a population of over 10 million people have already entered the category of "supercities". But such a manifestation of the "city explosion" has a number of negative consequences. After all, it is mainly capital cities and "economic capitals" that are growing, and they are growing thanks to a constant influx of rural residents who have no means of livelihood and live in the outskirts of slums.
Example. Lagos in Nigeria has recently become the second most populous city in Africa after Cairo. Back in 1950, its population was not even 300 thousand people, but now (within the agglomeration) it has exceeded 10 million! However, the living conditions in this overpopulated city (also founded at one time by the Portuguese on a small island) are so unfavorable that in 1992 the capital of the country was transferred from here to another city - Abuja.
North and South Africa are distinguished from individual sub-regions of the continent in terms of urbanization. In Tropical Africa, this level is lower. But in terms of the hypertrophied high proportion of capital cities in the urban population, some of the countries of Tropical Africa are unmatched. ...
Despite the scale of the “urban explosion,” 2/3 of Africans still live in rural areas. (Exercise 4.)
4. Economy: sectoral and territorial structure, place of Africa in the world.
After gaining independence, African countries began to make efforts to overcome age-old backwardness. Of particular importance were the nationalization of natural resources, the implementation of agrarian reform, economic planning, and training of national personnel. As a result, the pace of development has accelerated. The restructuring of the sectoral and territorial structure of the economy began.
In the sectoral structure, the share of industry and non-production sphere has increased. Nevertheless, in most countries the colonial type of the sectoral structure of the economy is still preserved. Its distinctive features: 1) the predominance of low-commodity, low-productivity agriculture, 2) the weak development of the manufacturing industry, 3) the strong backlog of transport, 4) the limitation of the non-production sphere, mainly in trade and services. The colonial type of sectoral structure is also characterized by a one-sided development of the economy. In many countries, this one-sidedness has reached the level of monoculture.
Monoculture (mono-commodity) specialization is a narrow specialization of the country's economy in the production of one, as a rule, a raw material or food product intended mainly for export.
Monoculture is not only a natural phenomenon, but also a historical and social one. It was imposed on African countries during the colonial period. And now, as a result of such a narrow international specialization, the whole life of dozens of countries is dependent on the world demand for one or two goods they export - coffee, cocoa, cotton, peanuts, oil palm, sugar, livestock, etc. Monoculture countries are striving to create a diversified economy, but so far only a few have made progress on this path.
That is why Africa's place in the world economy is determined mainly by two groups of industries. The first of these is the mining industry. Today, Africa holds an important and sometimes monopoly place in the world in the extraction of many types of minerals (see Table 8). Since the bulk of the extracted fuel and raw materials is exported to the world market, it is the extractive industry that primarily determines the place of Africa in the international geographical division of labor ... The second branch of the economy that determines the place of Africa in the world economy is tropical and subtropical agriculture (see table 8). It also has a pronounced export orientation. (Task 5.)
There have also been some changes in the territorial structure of the African economy. Along with the areas of highly productive plant growing and extensive pasture cattle breeding, several rather large areas of the mining industry have already formed the axis. However, the role of the manufacturing industry, largely handicraft and handicraft, in the creation of the geographical pattern of its economy is still small. The transport infrastructure is also lagging behind.
In general, in terms of the level of its social and economic development among the large regions of the world, Africa takes the last place. Share of Sub-Saharan Africa in the world GDP is only 1.2%.
In the 80s. the socio-economic situation in Africa has especially worsened, turning into a deep crisis. The pace of development has slowed down. The gap between food production (an annual growth of about 2%) and the needs of the population (an increase of 3%) widened: as a result, grain imports increased. In addition, Africa suffered an unprecedented drought that affected more than half of the continent's countries and directly affected 200 million people. Africa also found itself in the grip of indebtedness to countries in the West. That is why it is increasingly called the "continent of disaster."
Africa covers an area of \u200b\u200b29.2 million km2. Africa, the second largest of the planet's seven continents. As part of the world (including adjoining islands) it has an area of \u200b\u200bapproximately 30 million km, that is, approximately 22% of the entire earth's surface area. Africa is home to about a billion people - 14.9% of the world's population.
Economic-geographical location and political map of Africa
The length of the mainland from north to south is 8 thousand km, from west to east in the northern part - 7.5 thousand km. A feature of the economic and geographical position of many countries in the region is the lack of access to the sea. Countries facing the ocean have a poorly indented coastline and this limits the possibility of using the benefits of physical and geographical location. Construction of ports in these conditions requires increased costs. The most advantageous position is occupied by North Africa, open to Europe. For the development of the subregion, the possibility of communication with France, whose colonies were Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco (the countries called the Maghreb countries), is of particular importance. Openness to the Indian Ocean is currently facilitating the penetration of Chinese and South Korean capital into the East Asian economy.
There are 56 states on the territory of Africa, of which three are monarchies - Morocco, Swaziland and Lesotho. Two countries are federations - Nigeria and since 1984 - Ethiopia. There is no consensus in the sources regarding South Africa. In some works it is called a federation, in others - regional autonomy, that is, the form of its state structure is similar to that of Spain. The rest of the countries are republics, mostly presidential.
South Africa is the only economically developed country in the region and is one of the countries of resettlement capital that differ dual economic structure... The duality lies in the fact that while developing the tertiary sector and modern sectors of the economy, they preserve vestiges of the colonial past: the role of the primary sector (extractive industry, agriculture and other industries related to the agricultural sector) is significant in the structure of their economies. export structure. In particular. in South Africa, the share of mineral raw materials significantly exceeds the total share of manufacturing and services. This country accounts for about half of the region's VVR.
In Africa, only one country - Egypt - belongs to the socio-economic group of "key countries". Libya, Algeria, Nigeria are among the oil exporting countries. There is a significant group of countries with enclave economies with mineral and raw material or agrarian and raw material specialization. The most significant in number is the group of the least developed countries. Of the 43 countries in this group, 30 are in Africa. These include most countries with a continental economic and geographical position. Africa is the region with the most acute social problems. 70% of the population lives below the poverty line. Functionally illiterate people predominate among the adult population. Approximately 86 percent of the employed have no vocational training. Continental Tropical Africa is a zone of hunger, the spread of AIDS, declining life expectancy, acute environmental problems - desertification, deforestation, lack of clean water, rapidly increasing soil erosion. About 5 million people are environmental refugees leaving the deserted regions of the Sahel for more southern regions. Their desire to settle in other countries due to the scarcity and low fertility of soils suitable for agriculture evokes protests from the permanently living population. This leads to conflicts that often take on the character of armed clashes.
Natural conditions and natural resources
Africa is distinguished by the contrasting natural conditions and, accordingly, the location of the population and the level of economic development. Within the continent, there are two sub-regions: North Africa with a predominantly Caucasian population, represented by Arabs and nomadic peoples - Tuaregs and Bedouins.
The entire territory located to the south of the Sahara belongs to the region of Tropical Africa, or it is called the Sub-Saharan Africa (SALS). It surpasses North Africa both in territory and in population, but its role in the economy and social complex does not correspond to either territorial or demographic potential. The extensive development of the region is one of the consequences of the colonial past, which left behind medieval forms of land ownership, backward agricultural technology for cultivating consumer crops and a system of social relations. Based on the racial composition of the population, this region is sometimes referred to as "black Africa". Even in South Africa, where the modern foundations of the economy were laid by white colonizers - first by the Dutch (Boers or Afrikaners), and then by the Anglo-Africans who seized key economic and political positions in the country, the Negroid population predominates.
Africa is exceptionally rich in natural resources. The reserves of mineral raw materials are especially large, including ores of manganese, chromite, bauxite, etc. Colossal reserves of cobalt and copper ores are concentrated in Zambia and the People's Republic of the Congo; manganese ores are mined in South Africa and Zimbabwe; platinum, iron ores and gold - in South Africa. Primary energy sources are represented mainly by oil and gas. Oil is produced in North and West Africa (Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Libya). Uranium is mined in Niger, Namibia. In Congo, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Ghana, diamonds are mined, in Morocco, Tunisia - phosphorites;
Africa has quite significant land resources, but soil erosion due to desertification has become catastrophic due to overexploitation and improper cultivation. Water resources are also significant, but extremely unevenly distributed throughout Africa. Therefore, such great importance is attached to transit rivers, that is, rivers flowing through the territory of several countries. Zones of irrigated agriculture have been created along their course, a significant population is concentrated. The most famous and largest oasis in Africa is the Nile Valley. Irrigated agriculture originated here in ancient times. The fertility of the soil was supported by silt deposits brought from the upper reaches of the river to the floods. The construction of the Aswan Dam to a certain extent solved the country's energy problem, but the overregulated flow deprived the Nile croplands of annual recharge. The problem of reducing yields is solved by the introduction of mineral fertilizers. This becomes the cause of chemical intoxication of soils and agricultural products. A geopolitical role is played by Libya's water intake from an artesian reservoir in the middle reaches of the river. Over time, this will cause a decrease in the inflow of groundwater in the period between spills and an increase in the deficit of irrigation water. Nevertheless, the Nile Valley retains its reputation as the main agricultural region of North Africa. Nile walks and cruises are a constant attraction for tourists.
Forests occupy about 8% of the territory, but as a result of predatory destruction, their area is rapidly decreasing. This contributes to the impoverishment of the species composition of the flora and fauna of forests. Valuable tree species are disappearing as they are cut down first. Unlike the forests of the northern zone, there are no forestry methods of renewal for them in Africa. Along with the disappearance of forests, the habitats of "forest ghosts", as the pygmy tribes are called in Africa, are decreasing. Deforestation contributes to the further spread of desertification.
Population of Africa
The population of Africa in the XXI century has exceeded the billion mark. This is clearly a reliable figure as Africa maintains the world's highest natural population growth rates. In many countries, it exceeds 30 people per 1000 inhabitants per year. This significantly outstrips the growth of the gross product and the growth rate of food production. Hunger continues to be one of the continent's most pressing social problems. Population growth and poverty in countries is one of the reasons for the high proportion of illiterate people. The illiteracy of the population, in turn, is one of the reasons for the low investment attractiveness of most African countries. It is appropriate here to rephrase the "formula of the closed cycle of poverty" by Dan, an outstanding Russian scientist of the early 20th century: "Countries are poor because they are poor." Like nowhere else in the world, the share of children is high (50%) and the share of older people is low (about 5%). In the 1960s and 1970s, thanks to social change and international health care, child mortality in Africa began to decline and life expectancy increased. However, food shortages and the spread of AIDS have caused a setback in this regard, and in many countries these rates have returned to the level of the early 1960s.
Since the 1960s, the vectors of external migration in Africa have changed. After the liberation of countries from colonial dependence, the region experienced an outflow of the European population - officials, plantation owners, skilled workers and engineers who worked in production facilities, contracted education and health workers. Subsequently, the flow of labor migrants from Africa began to grow, mainly to European countries. At first, it was formed at the expense of the population of the former North African French colonies, for which the former metropolis retained a single passport regime. Later, the flow of migrants from West Africa joined. Departure from here is directed to France and Great Britain. Later labor migrants took over jobs in the European labor market that originally belonged to North Africans. These are street sweepers, subway cleaners, couriers, etc. The first wave of settlers had already occupied semi-skilled and skilled jobs by this time. Assessment of the role of labor migration is ambiguous. On the one hand, they attract the most literate and active population from the country of origin; on the other hand, during their work in the metropolis, most of them acquire a profession and, returning home, contributes to the formation of a more qualified detachment of labor resources. In addition, migrant families have a higher standard of living, children from these families have the opportunity to study and receive vocational training. Working abroad reduces the unemployment rate in countries of origin. Natives of Arab countries often travel to the oil-producing countries of the Persian Gulf. Egypt stands out in this respect. Egyptians work not only in oil production, but also in agriculture, hotel and tourism business, education, and medicine. Internal migrations are directed to large cities, where it is more likely to find work. The unregulated flow of migrants is the reason for the development of "false" or "slum" urbanization. The quarters of settlers from rural areas were called "bidonvili", since the main building materials are sheets of tin, cardboard and film materials.
Yu.D. Dmitrievsky once noted that many cities in Tropical Africa are characterized by subdivision into indigenous, business and European parts. They are characterized by an extremely crowded population. The most striking example of this kind is Lagos, which by this indicator (about 70 thousand people per 1 km²) takes one of the first places in the world.
As in the developing world, the urban explosion in Africa is characterized by the predominant growth of large cities. Their number increased from 80 in 1960 to 170 in 1980, and subsequently more than doubled. The number of cities with a population ranging from 500 thousand to 1 million has also noticeably increased.
But this distinctive feature of the African urban explosion can be most clearly demonstrated in the growth of the number of millionaire cities. Cairo became the first such city at the end of the 1920s. According to the UN, at the end of the 90s in Africa, there were already 33 agglomerations with a population of more than 1 million people, which concentrated 1/3 of the entire urban population of the region. Two of these agglomerations (Lagos and Cairo) with a population of over 10 million have already entered the category of supercities. About half of all millionaire metropolitan areas are now located in Tropical Africa. In 2001, there were already 43 millionaire agglomerations.
For the most part, African cities have never become engines of economic growth and structural transformation in the economy. On the contrary, in many cases they began to act as the main centers of the socio-economic crisis, becoming the focus of sharp social contradictions and contrasts, such as unemployment, housing crisis, crime, etc. The complexity of the situation is aggravated by the fact that cities, especially large attract the poorest villagers, who are constantly adding to the marginalized population. Statistics show that the top ten cities in the world with the lowest quality of life include nine African cities: Brazzaville, Pointe Noire, Khartoum, Bangui, Luanda, Ouagadougou, Kinshasa, Bamako and Niamey.
The ethnic composition of the population is very complex. The most numerous people are the Arabs of North Africa. There are over 200 peoples in the Tropical African Region. During the colonial development of the mainland, many state borders were drawn without taking into account ethnic characteristics, which still leads to interethnic conflicts. The average population density in Africa is 22 people / km², which is significantly less than in Europe and Asia. In terms of urbanization (less than 30%) Africa lags behind other regions, but the rate of urbanization is the highest in the world.
Almost all African countries were colonies. After the Second World War, African countries gained independence. However, the former metropolises retained their economic influence, and over the years of colonial existence, a certain cultural unity developed between the metropolises and colonies.
Most of the former colonies retain the language of the metropolises as the state language. This allows you to get a European education and avoid ethnic complications that arose in multi-ethnic countries when one of the local languages \u200b\u200bwas introduced as the state language. The unity of monetary units is often retained, so, along with national currencies, the former French colonies - (Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Cameroon, Congo, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Chad, etc.) - formed the franc zone. The policy of the former metropolises and other states aimed at maintaining economic influence on the countries that received sovereignty was called neo-colonialism.
General characteristics of the economy
The economy of most African countries has an agricultural and raw material structure. It is characterized by the following features:
Orientation on the export of minerals and agricultural products; - extensive development of the agricultural sector;
Lack of qualified and simply competent labor resources, which prevents the introduction of new technologies.
Clannishness and significant corruption in the economy. For example, Nigeria, the richest in natural resources, confidently holds the first place in corruption in the world. All attempts by the United States and the IMF to modernize the economy of this country have crashed against a powerful wall of corruption and fraud. Paradoxically, Nigeria, the 13th largest oil producer in the world, suffers from a chronic shortage of petroleum products in its country.
- for countries in tropical Africa characterized by large external debt. For every African, including children, there is $ 350 in external debt. The region's debts amount to more than $ 200 billion, which is equal to 80% of GDP (in Congo and Mozambique - 300%). 60% of the total external debt of African countries owes various states on a bilateral basis, 23% - to international banks, and the rest falls to the share of private creditors.
- low investment inflow. Africa is still out of the mainstream of financial flows. The current decade has seen a significant increase in foreign direct investment in developing countries, but it has only slightly affected the states of the black continent, which find it difficult to create favorable conditions for attracting foreign investors. According to UNCTAD, of all foreign direct investment in developing countries, only 5% goes to African countries.
- decrease in international aid. Along with the low volumes of investment entries, there is a significant decrease in financial assistance to African countries. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (UNCTAD), the size of official development assistance to sub-Saharan African countries fell to $ 10.7 billion in 1996. For comparison, in 1990, it amounted to $ 14 billion. dollars. The downward trend in aid volumes has continued to this day.
- the threat of extinction. According to CNN, the AIDS epidemic has lowered the average life expectancy in the region to the level of the 50s. Life expectancy in some countries is now 39 years, up from the 60-65 years before the AIDS epidemic. Mortality rates are especially high among children and young people, which will undoubtedly affect other demographic indicators of the population of the African continent.
External relations of African countries
In the world value of foreign trade, Africa's share barely reaches 1%. Exports from African countries are predominantly raw materials. Mineral, energy raw materials and agricultural products account for 69% of regional exports. The most important imports are machinery and equipment (40%), food (12%), fuel (14%), and other manufacturing products (27%). The main trading partners are developed countries. They account for 65% of regional exports and over 70% of imports. Developing countries account for 26% of regional exports, with African countries accounting for 10%.
In the world capital market, African countries act as net importers.The largest foreign investment partners in the region are South Africa and oil exporting countries. The region's total external debt corresponds to approximately 47% of regional GDP. The amount of international aid per capita is about $ 43 per year, in recent years it has been declining. External economic ties have a predominantly European vector, although the role of the United States has increased in the second half of the 20th century. Their interests are concentrated in countries that have manganese, cobalt, uranium ores, heavy non-ferrous metal ores, bauxite, and iron ores that are in short supply for the United States and Western Europe. The US industry is especially dependent on the supply of diamonds from South Africa. Guinea is the main supplier of bauxite for the aluminum industry in the Russian Federation.
In the future, the positions of European countries and the United States will be replaced by China and the Republic of Korea. The Chinese government intends to provide low-interest loans to African states for three years. “We will help Africa build financial capacity. We will provide $ 10 billion in concessional loans to the countries of the continent, ”said Premier of the State Council of China Wen Jiabao, opening the fourth ministerial meeting in the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which was held in Egyptian Sharm el-Sheikh.
In addition to new loans, the prime minister has pledged to write off multimillion-dollar debts to China for some of Africa's poorest countries. Chinese funds are expected to be used to develop infrastructure in African countries and finance programs in the social sphere. According to the prime minister, China is ready to continue to provide assistance to African countries not only in the construction of large facilities, but also in agriculture, education, health care, poverty eradication, and drinking water purification. China promises to transfer modern technologies for generating clean energy to African countries, help combat climate change, and train African technicians and managers.
The Chinese authorities have pledged to encourage the country's financial institutions operating in African markets to provide and expand access for African goods to the huge Chinese market. At the same time, China agreed to write off the debts of 31 African countries. The growing volume of Chinese investment in African economies confirms Beijing's commitment.
Companies from China invest mainly in the development of oil fields in Africa, as well as in a number of projects related to the extraction of other minerals. According to official Chinese statistics, the volume of direct investment in Africa in 2008 amounted to $ 7.8 billion, compared with $ 491 million in 2003. Thus, in six years this figure has grown almost 16 times. The trade turnover between China and African states is also growing rapidly. Since 2000, trade between China and African countries has increased by 45% to $ 107 billion in 2008. Last year, China exported $ 51 billion worth of goods to Africa and imported $ 57 billion, mainly from oil-producing countries. - Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Republic of Congo and Sudan. China is forced to buy more and more raw materials from Africa to support the growth of its increasingly energy-intensive economy. It is expected that new loans will also contribute to further growth in bilateral trade.
Until the end of the 1980s, the USSR was actively developing external relations with this region, many countries had large debt obligations to the USSR. Imports included mineral raw materials, especially bauxite, tropical agricultural products, textile raw materials. Exports were dominated by finished products and equipment. At present, the volume of external relations has decreased; bauxites are of the greatest interest. Russian aluminum companies have a share in bauxite mining. Alros bought an aluminum plant in Ghana.
Enclave economies are countries specializing in the export of products of primary sectors of the economy, mainly in the extractive industry and / or plantation agriculture. They are oriented towards the external market and have very little effect on the development of other regions. They constitute, as it were, an isolated "island of the world economy" in the structure of the national economy. Over time, as the respective manufacturing industries develop in the country, their isolation may break, as happened in India with the development of the textile and other industries.
General overview, geographic location
The mainland occupies 1/5 of the world's land mass. In terms of size (30.3 million km 2), it is second only to Asia from all parts of the world. The region includes 55 countries.
Almost all African countries are republics (with the exception of Lesotho, Morocco and Swaziland, which are still constitutional monarchies). The administrative-territorial structure of states, with the exception of Nigeria and South Africa, is unitary.
There is no other continent in the world that has suffered as much from colonial oppression and the slave trade as Africa. The collapse of the colonial system began in the 1950s. in the north of the continent, the last colony, Namibia, was liquidated in 1990. In 1993, a new state appeared on the political map of Africa - Eritrea (as a result of the disintegration of Ethiopia).
Various criteria can be used to assess the economic and geographical position of African countries. One of the main criteria is the criterion dividing countries according to the presence or absence of access to the sea. Due to the fact that Africa is the most massive continent, no other of them has so many countries located far from the seas. Most of the landlocked countries are the most backward.
Natural conditions and resources
The continent is crossed almost in the middle by the equator and lies entirely between the subtropical belts of the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The peculiarity of its shape - the northern part is 2.5 times wider than the southern one - determined the difference in their natural conditions. In general, the continent is compact: 1 km of the coastline accounts for 960 km 2 of territory.
The relief of Africa is characterized by stepped plateaus, plateaus, and plains. The outskirts of the continent are the highest.
Africa is exceptionally rich in minerals, although they are still poorly studied. Among other continents, it ranks 1st in terms of reserves of manganese ores, chromite, bauxite, gold, platinum, cobalt, diamonds, phosphorites. The resources of oil, natural gas, graphite, and asbestos are also great.
The share of Africa in the world mining industry is 14%. Almost all of the extracted raw materials and fuel are exported from Africa to economically developed countries, which makes its economy highly dependent on the world market.
In total, there are seven main mining regions in Africa. Three of them are located in North Africa and four from the Sahara.
Atlas Mountains Regionis allocated by reserves of iron, manganese, polymetallic ores, phosphorites (the world's largest phosphorite belt).
Egyptian mining regionrich in oil, natural gas, iron and titanium ores, phosphorites, etc.
Region of the Algerian and Libyan parts of the Saharahas the largest oil and gas reserves.
West Guinea regioncharacterized by a combination of gold, diamonds, iron ores, bauxite.
East Guinea regionrich in oil, gas, metal ores.
Zairian-Zambian region.On its territory there is a unique "Copper Belt" with deposits of high quality copper, as well as cobalt, zinc, lead, cadmium, germanium, gold, silver.
Zaire is a major global producer and exporter of cobalt
The largest mining region in Africa is located within Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa.Almost all types of fuel, ore and non-metallic minerals are mined here, with the exception of oil, gas and bauxite.
Minerals in Africa are unevenly distributed. There are countries in which the lack of a raw material base slows down their development.
Significant land resourcesAfrica. There is more arable land per inhabitant than in Southeast Asia or Latin America. In total, 20% of the land suitable for agriculture is cultivated. However, extensive farming and rapid population growth have resulted in catastrophic soil erosion, which reduces crop yields. This, in turn, exacerbates the problem of hunger, which is very urgent for Africa.
Agroclimatic resourcesAfrica is defined by the fact that it is the hottest continent. But at the same time, precipitation is the main factor determining the differences in climatic conditions.
Water resources of Africa.In terms of their volume, Africa is significantly inferior to Asia and South America. The hydrographic network is extremely unevenly distributed. The utilization of the huge hydropower potential of the rivers (780 million kW) is not high.
Forest resources of Africasecond only to the resources of Latin America and Russia. But its average forest cover is much lower, moreover, as a result of felling, exceeding natural growth, deforestation has taken on an alarming scale.
Endowment
Africa stands out worldwide at the fastest pace reproduction of the population.In 1960, 275 million people lived on the continent, in 1980 - 475 million people, in 1990 - 648 million people, in 2000 - 872 million people. In terms of population growth rates, Kenya is especially prominent - 4.1% (first place in the world), Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda. Such a high birth rate is explained by the age-old traditions of early marriage and large families, religious traditions, as well as the increased level of health care. Most of the continent's countries do not pursue an active demographic policy.
Large consequences entail and change as a result population explosionage structure of the population: Africa is high and the proportion of children is still growing (40-50%). This increases the "demographic burden" on the working-age population.
The population explosion in Africa exacerbates many of the regional problems, the most important of which is food problem.Despite the fact that 2/3 of Africa's population is employed in agriculture, the average annual population growth (3%) significantly outstrips the average annual growth in food production (1.9%).
Many problems are associated with the ethnic composition of the African population, which is very diverse. There are 300 - 500 ethnic groups. Some of them have already formed into large nations, but most are still at the level of nationalities, and remnants of the tribal system are preserved.
An important feature of African countries is mismatch of political and ethnic boundariesas a consequence of the colonial era of the continent's development. As a result, many united peoples found themselves on opposite sides of the border. This leads to inter-ethnic conflicts and territorial disputes. The latter concern 20% of the territory. Moreover, 40% of the territory is not demarcated at all, and only 26% of the length of the borders runs along natural boundaries that partially coincide with ethnic boundaries.
The legacy of the past is the fact that the official languages \u200b\u200bof most African countries are still the languages \u200b\u200bof the former metropolises - English, French, Portuguese.
The average population density in Africa (24 people / km 2) is several times less than in Europe and Asia. Africa is characterized by very sharp contrasts of settlement.For example, the Sahara has the largest uninhabited areas in the world. A rare population of willows in the tropical rainforest zone. But there are also quite significant population groups, especially on the coasts. Even sharper contrasts are characteristic of individual countries.
In terms of urbanization, Africa still lags far behind other regions. However, the rate of urbanization here is the highest in the world.
General characteristics of the economy
After gaining independence, African countries began to make efforts to overcome economic backwardness. Of particular importance were the nationalization of natural resources, the implementation of the agrarian reform, economic planning, and the training of national personnel. As a result, the pace of development of the region accelerated. The restructuring of the sectoral and territorial structure of the economy began.
The greatest successes along this path have been achieved in mining industry,component now in terms of production volume 1/4 of the world. In the extraction of many types of minerals, Africa holds an important and sometimes monopoly place in the world. The main part of the extracted fuel and raw materials is exported to the world market and provides 9/10 of the region's exports. It is the mining industry that first of all determines the place of Africa in the MGRT.
Manufacturing industrypoorly developed or absent at all. But some countries in the region are distinguished by a higher level of manufacturing industry - South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco.
The second sector of the economy that determines the place of Africa in the world economy is tropical and subtropical agriculture.It also has a pronounced export orientation.
But in general, Africa is still far behind in its development. It ranks last among the regions of the world in terms of industrialization and crop yields.
Most countries are characterized by a colonial type of sectoral structure of the economy. It is determined by: the predominance of small-scale extensive agriculture; an underdeveloped manufacturing industry; a strong backlog of transport - transport does not provide communication between the hinterland, and sometimes foreign economic relations of states; the non-production sphere is also limited and is usually represented by trade and services.
The territorial structure of the economy is also characterized by the general underdevelopment and strong disproportions remaining from the colonial past. On the economic map of the region, only separate centers of industry are distinguished, mainly metropolitan areas and areas of high-value agriculture.
The one-sided agrarian and raw material direction of economic development in most countries is a brake on the growth of their socio-economic indicators.
Monocultural specialization is a narrow specialization of the country's economy in the production of one, as a rule, raw or food product, intended mainly for export. The emergence of such specialization is associated with the colonial past of countries.
External economic relations
Monocultural specialization and the low level of economic development of African states are manifested in their insignificant share in world trade and in the enormous importance that foreign trade has for the continent itself. Thus, more than 1/4 of Africa's GDP goes to foreign markets, foreign trade provides up to 4/5 of government revenues to the budget of African countries.
The developed countries of the West account for about 80% of the continent's trade turnover.
