MC_A Concise History of Africa

NORTH AFRICA

The Maghreb In modern times the Maghreb comprises the political units of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania. To the north, the region is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, and to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, running south-west from the Straits of Gibraltar to the deserts of Mauritania. The eastern boundary is geographically open, and some medieval Arab geographers considered the Maghreb began westwards from Alexandria in Egypt, although most accepted that Egypt was in fact outside the Maghreb. Maghreb means “western” in Arabic, and was often called Barbary by the Europeans.

Words to Understand Annexation: To incorporate a territory into an existing political unit such as a country, state, county, or city. Predynastic: Pertaining to, or existing in the period before the rule of a given dynasty or dynasties. Slavery: The condition in which one person is owned as property by another and is under the owner's control.

Later, the Sahara came to form an ethnic and cultural divide, with Arabs and Islam predominating along Africa’s northern coast, and the lands stretching from the Atlas Mountains to the sea adopting

Mediterranean influences. The Saharan interior was inhabited by Berbers and Tuaregs, while the sub-Saharan region was more ethnically diverse. To the Sahara’s south lies the Sahel (meaning “shore” or “border” in Arabic), which forms the transition between the Sahara Desert to the north and the more fertile region to the south, and which is lightly populated by pastoralists. This is a vast area of semi-arid savanna, known as the Sudan (not to be confused with the country of that name). The West Sudanian savanna runs from the Atlantic Ocean to eastern Nigeria, the East Sudanian savanna runs from the Cameroon Highlands east to the Ethiopian Highlands, extending to the tropical equatorial zone in the south. Since travel by sea was easier than crossing the Sahara, these countries have historically had more in common with other Mediterranean lands than with Africa. They also have a different population, comprising the original

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