9.

1 Area and Population 401

Chapter outline Hollywood still perpetuates stereotyped images of the "Dark Continent," a self-
9.1 Area and Population 401 contained, tribalized land of mystery. To the contrary, writes Dayo O lopade, Africa
9.2 Physical Geography and Human is the "Bright Continent," home to some of the world's fastest-growing countries and
Adaptations 403 a growing midd le class.4
9.3 Cultural and Historical Geographies 412 This chapter will show th at getting to know this br ight continent is manage-
9.4 Economic Geography 419 able, rewarding, and interesting. This region's diverse cultures and natural envi-
9.5 Geopolitical Issues 429 ronments are sources of endless wonder. There are many reasons for hope and
9.6 Regional Issues and Landscapes 433
much to celebrate in the study of this fascinating region. Just ask the people: a
Gallup survey of 50,000 citizens around the world found that Africans are the
most optimistic. 5
Chapter Objectives Geographers typica lly recognize the continent of Africa as having two major
divisions: North Africa (the predominandy Arab and Berber realm of the continent,
This chapter will enable you to
described in Chapter 6), and ethnically diverse Sub-Saharan Africa (•Figures 9.1 and
• Understand what made Sub-Saharan Africa 9.2; •Table 1). In his authoritative Africa: Geographies of Change, a book cited fre -
the world's poorest region, and how it is
quently in this chapter, Richard Grant argues that "Sub-Saha ran Africa" is a Euro-
now finally breaking out of poverty.
centric term. 6 "Africa South of the Sahara" is less laden but is cumbersome to use,
• Know how the region came to have
the world's greatest HIV/AIDS and Ebola
so this chapter often adopts Grant's solution of using "Africa" as shorthand for the
outbreaks, and how these epidemics can most commonly-used regional name, "Sub-Saharan Africa."
be stopped.
• Consider the pressures on African wildlife
and the unique approaches taken to
protect the animals. 9.1 Area and Population
• Appreciate the diversity and richness of Sub-Saharan Africa has the second largest land area of all the major world regions
African cultures, and the role of ethnicity in
described in this book. It covers 8.7 million square miles (22 .4 million sq km) and
the region's conflicts.
so is more than twice the size of the United States (•Figure 9.3). Even with the terrible
• See how Africans have leapfrogged
communications challenges with mobile
loss of lives due to AIDS, the rate of natural population increase in Sub-Saharan
phones and are developing new IT hubs. Africa is 2.6 percent per year, or about five ti mes that of the United States. Africa's
• Recognize why, after decades at the population of 920 million is the most rapidly growing in the world; half of all the
sidelines, Sub-Saharan Africa is considered persons born in the world between now and 2050 will be Sub-Saharan Africans. The 77
important again in geopolitical affairs. lion's sha re of Africa's doubling of population by 2050 will be in a handful of coun-
• Appreciate what corrupt leadership tries: Nigeria w ill grow from about 177 million to 396 million then, when it will be
has done to impoverish people in the third most populous county in the world.7
countries with enormous oil and other The wild card in Africa's population deck is the human immunodeficiency virus
natural resource wealth, and how good
governance is taking its place.
(HIV). The d isease it causes-AIDS (acqu ired immunodeficiency syndrome)-has
inevitably been identified by some as the Malthusian "check" to the region's popula-
tion growth (see Geography of Disease, page 408).
The world's largest youth bulge, people aged 15-35, will be here, even more than
in the Middle East, with all the political and people power that represents. The me-
dian age is now 20 (compared with 30 in Asia and 40 in Europe). There are different
ways of viewing this young, growing population. Some see the youthfu l median age
as a "demographic dividend," as large numbers of workers will be able to contr1bute
to the region's economic growth. A similar demographic dividend boosted economic
growth in Asia a generation ago. 9 As more people work, more money will circulate,
and economies will grow. But population growth also means more people for whom
to provide housing, educational and medical services, and food. Some observers fear
that the Malthusian scenario will come about because of the gulf between popula-
tion growth and agricu ltural output in these mainly agrarian societies. Since the ao
1960s, the population of Sub-Saharan Africa has grown at a rate of between 2 and
3 percent annually. In the 1980s, there were fears of widespread starvation across
the continent as population growth accelerated faster than food production. As the
severe African droughts ended by 1990, however, food production increased; by
2010, the region's population was 3.7 times larger than it had been in 1960, but food
production was 4 .3 times higher than in 1960.
A survey of more than 50,000 people in 34 countries revealed, however, that
one in five Africans lacks food, health care, and clean water. Three-quarters of
those surveyed believe their governments are not doing enough to reduce income

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