Cultural Awareness Of Sub-Saharan Africa

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What is culture, one might ask? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, culture is the “customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group or the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life} shared by people in a place or time” (Culture). Five major characteristics that define a culture include culture is learned, culture is shared, culture is symbolic, culture is all-encompassing, and culture is integrated. Culture depends on the human capacity for cultural learning that encompasses shared rules for conduct and that are dependent upon symbols. Cultures can be integrated by using “social and economic forces, core values, and key symbols” (Mirror for Humanity, 2002). This essay will elaborate on the physical geography and military history of Sub-Saharan Africa, an analysis of its weather, and an overview of the ASCOPE acronym.

Sub-Saharan Africa refers to the diverse landscape of more than 50 countries of Africa, which are south of the Sahara Desert. There are over nine million square miles of valleys, plateaus, and mountains in this region of Africa. Because of the prevalence of plateaus, Africa has been nicknamed the “continent of plateaus”. Between the plateaus, there are steep slopes, or escarpments. This continent has the highest overall elevation because of the plateaus it has. This area is mountainous with such mountains as the Atlas Mountains in the Northwest, Drakensburg Mountains and Mt. Kilimanjaro is the highest peak. The Great Rift Valley is also in this region. There are many rivers in this region, including the “Nile, Congo, Niger, and the Zambezi Rivers” (Physical Geography).

There have been many instances of political instability tha...

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....com/dictionary/culture .

Mirror for Humanity. 3ed. ed. United States: MCGRAW-HILL COMPANIES (OH), 2002. Print.

“Physical Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa.” 21 September 2011. Online PowerPoint. exchange.guhsd.net/teacher_objects/sub-sahara%20physical.ppt

"Sub-Saharan Africa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2011. .

"Sub-Saharan Africa: Global Warming." NASA Earth Observatory: Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2011. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Experiments/PlanetEarthScience/GlobalWarming/GW_InfoCenter_Africa.php

"SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: A LANDSCAPE OF POLITICAL INSTABILITY." The Department of Geography GE. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2011. http://www.geography.ccsu.edu/kyem/GEOG466_Africa/Culture%20and%20Conflicts%20in%20Africa_Overhead.htm .

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