King+Cobras~+West

West Africa

**How do the cultures of West Africa compare and contrast with North Africa?**
West Africa is known for its cultural diversity. Unlike North Africa, West Africans lives don’t revolve around one religion and one language. The 17 countries that make up West Africa alone have hundreds of ethnic groups. West Africans can speak many languages and this is helpful for them for them when they conduct business. Another effect of this is unifying countries with ethnic groups. Not only do the people differ in the sense of language and religion they also differ in the way they make a living. Similar to North Africa, West Africans have many ways of making a living. Most West Africans live in rural areas and grow food for themselves and cash crops to sell. West Africans who live along the coast make a living by fishing. West Africans who live in bigger cities can find employment in hospitals, hotels, and many other places. Another similarity between North and West Africans is that they both see themselves as part of group. West Africans are strongly bonded by kinship, which is a family relationship. Kinship consists of four levels. · **__Nuclear Family__** - Consists of parents and children · **__Extended Family__** - Consists of other relatives besides parents and children · **__Lineage__** - Group of families that trace their descent from a common ancestor · **__Clan__** - Several lineages Today in Africa, people are adapting to change, but most people are trying to keep traditions alive. One way they do this is by passing down traditions through storytellers called griots. These oral traditions tell about histories, ethnic groups, and kinship. One quote that sums up this tradition is “The young can’t teach traditions to the old.”

What are three different ways of life in West Africa? **  1. The Hausa and Fulani: Traders of the North  2. The Yoruba: Farmers Near the Coast  3. The Igbo: Tradition of Democracy

**Vocabulary**
The European conquest arose because there was a Muslim king named Aksum (Incorrect, Mansa Musa) who was taking his pilgrimage to Mecca and on his way he met up with random strangers so he gave them gold so the Europeans were told of the Land of Gold and they were suddenly interested in taking Ghana over.  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/ColonialAfrica_1914.svg/350px-ColonialAfrica_1914.svg.png   
 * __Griot__** – An African storyteller
 * __Cultural Diversity__** – A wide variety of cultures
 * __Kinship__** – A family relationship
 * __Multiethnic__** - Containing many ethnic groups
 * __Census__** - A count of the people in a country
 * West Africa **
 * Why did the European Conquest arise? **



This is a picture of European controlled Africa after the European's discovered the advantages there.

Aksum: a muslim king in Africa.

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