Though Africa is a single continent, both the Physical and Cultural Geography of Northern Africa are different from Sub-Saharan (Southern) Africa in many ways. Look on the map of Africa on p. 224. Note that there are three color-coded areas: Afro-Asiatic (Northern) Africa, Niger-Congo (Southern) Africa, and between these two regions, what our textbook authors refer to as a Transition zone. The Transition provides a demarcation between the two African regions in terms of both Physical and Cultural Geography. The further you get away, either north or south, from this zone, the more different one area gets from the other area.

As you can see, the difference in Physical Geography is striking and obvious. North of this Transition zone is not very diversified, consisting mainly of sandy desert with limited trees and plants. Africa south of this zone is quite lush and diversified, including tropical rain forest and moist savanna (see map on p. 221). The difference in Cultural Geography, on the other hand, also is striking but much less obvious.

The major cultural difference is the extent to which the Muslim religion has spread to the people of Sub-Saharan Africa. As a result of Islamic traders and warriors spreading across Northern Africa centuries ago, most of the inhabitants are Muslim, where only very small percentages of Africans south of the Transition zone are Muslim. This is mainly because that historically, Arab Muslim merchants did not travel into the Sub-Saharan region, but traded with African merchants in the Transition zone, who brought trade items up from the south.

You have seen that Africa is a very large continent, which can be understood in terms of two distinct regions: Northern Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Please respond to the following questions. In what ways, other than religion, is the Cultural Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa different from that of Northern Africa, mainly in economic and social terms? In what ways might differences in Physical Geography be responsible for differences in social, economic, political, and cultural institutions?

Your response to this initial post should be at least two or three paragraphs in length (at least five sentences per paragraph) and include specific examples to support your opinions. Once you have responded to this post, I will read your response. At that time, I will either provide a follow-up post for your response or direct you to critique another students' response. Please wait for me to do this before you continue.