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Sub-Saharan Africa

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Sub-Saharan Africa is the term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. Geographically, the demarcation line is the southern edge of the Sahara.

Poverty

The poverty rate as of 2004 was 41.09%, see Poverty, compared to the US rate of 12.7%, see Poverty in the United States

Geography

Sub-Saharan Africa covers an area of 24.3 million square kilometers.

Since around 5,400 years ago , the north and sub-Saharan regions of Africa have been separated by the extremely harsh climate of the sparsely populated Sahara, forming an effective barrier interrupted by only the Nile River in Sudan, though the Nile was blocked by the rivers cataracts. The modern term sub-Saharan corresponds with the standard representation of North as above and South as below. Tropical Africa and Equatorial Africa are alternative modern labels, used for the distinctive ecology of the region. However, if strictly applied, this term would exclude South Africa, most of which lies outside the Tropics.

History

In 19th century Europe and the Western world, the area was sometimes referred to as "Black Africa." This was partly due to the skin color of its inhabitants and partly because much of it had not been fully mapped or explored by Westerners.

Sub-Saharan Africa, especially East Africa, is regarded by most biologists and anthropologists as being the birthplace of the human race (the genus Homo). Mitochondrial Eve, from whom all humans alive are descended, is thought to have lived in present day Ethiopia or Tanzania. Sub-Saharan Africa has been the site of many empires and kingdoms, including the Axum, Wagadu (Ghana Empire), Mali, Nok, Songhai, Kanem, Bornu, Benin and Great Zimbabwe.

Critique of the term

Some object to the usage of the term and see it is as misleading and a racist colonial way of viewing Africa. Academic and cultural writer Owen 'Alik Shahadah states "...This barrier of sand hence confined Africans to the bottom of this make-believe location, which exists neither linguistically, ethnically, politically or physically...Somalia and Djibouti are part of the same political Islamic alignment just like many so-called Arab countries." (See Arab League). Others such as P. Godfrey Okoth, Department of History University of California, states that European travelers and geographers created the concept of "two Africas," sets up the removal of African contribution to world civilization.Demography The population of sub-Saharan Africa was 770.3 million in 2006. The current growth rate is 2.3%. The UN predict for the region a population of nearly 1.5 billion in 2050.

Economies

Generally, sub-Saharan Africa is the poorest region in the world, suffering from the effects of economic mismanagement, local corruption and inter-ethnic conflict. The region contains many of the least developed countries in the world. (See Economy of Africa.)

Health care

In 1987, Bamako was the location of a WHO conference known as the Bamako Initiative that helped reshape the health policy of sub-Saharan Africa. The new strategy dramatically increased accessibility through community-based healthcare reform, resulting in more efficient and equitable provision of services. A comprehensive approach strategy was extended to all areas of health care, with subsequent improvement in the health care indicators and improvement in health care efficiency and cost.

Up to and including October 2006 many governments face difficulties in implementing policies aimed at mitigating the effects of the AIDS-pandemic due to lack of technical support despite a number of mitigating measures.

Nations of sub-Saharan Africa

There are 42 countries located on the sub-Saharan African mainland and 6 island nations. According to this classification scheme, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa are:

Central Africa

East Africa

Southern Africa

West Africa

Island nations

Territories

See also

Notes

External links

Political maps of Sub-Saharan Africa



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Last updated on Wednesday March 12, 2008 at 02:45:06 PDT (GMT -0700)
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