West Africa

High school (ages 12+)
Geography

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/west-africa

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the major linguistic families?Niger-Congo (including Bantu languages), Nilo-Saharan, and Afro-Asiatic languages are represented
2. What were the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai empires known for?They were powerful kingdoms that controlled gold and salt trade, had strong governments, and were centers of learning like the city of Timbuktu.
3. Why was the trans-Saharan trade important for West Africa?It let West African kingdoms trade gold, ivory, and salt with North Africa, bringing wealth and new ideas, including Islam.

Trans-Saharan Trade: A historical network of trade routes across the Sahara Desert, crucial for the exchange of goods like gold, salt, and slaves between North and West Africa.
Mali Empire: A powerful West African empire (c. 13th-16th centuries) known for its immense wealth, particularly from gold, and its intellectual centers like Timbuktu.
Transatlantic Slave Trade: The forced migration of millions of Africans, primarily from West Africa, to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries, with devastating social and economic consequences.
Cultural Diffusion: The spread of cultural beliefs, social activities, and other phenomena from one group of people to another.