FIND OUT MORE. Conservation 125 • Endangered Species 124 • Energy Resources 60–61 • Weather 50
People and Places^243
MASAI PEOPLE 3
The Masai are a semi-nomadic
people who live in the Great Rift
Valley in Kenya and Tanzania.
They keep cattle, goats, and
sheep, although some are settled
farmers. The Masai once had a
fearsome reputation as warriors,
although today they live at peace
with their neighbours.
IS NIGERIA RICH?
Nigeria is potentially the richest nation in Africa, with
huge reserves of oil, natural gas, coal, tin, and iron
ore. It also has abundant fertile land, capable of
growing cotton, coffee, sugar, and many other crops.
However, corruption and bad government have meant
that the money earned from these natural resources
has not been used properly, and most
Nigerians remain very poor.
WHY DOES FAMINE KEEP OCCURRING?
Ethiopia and Somalia have both endured lengthy civil
wars in recent years, leaving many people homeless
and destitute and creating millions of refugees. Both
countries have also been affected by drought, crop
failure, and the over-farming of poor or exhausted
land. This intense pressure on hugely over-stretched
resources means that famine occurs regularly.HOW DOES THE EQUATOR AFFECT THE LANDSCAPE?
Africa is the only continent through which the
Equator and both tropics (Capricorn and Cancer)
run. Around the Equator itself, high rainfall has
created a watery landscape of lakes, rivers, and lush
tropical rainforest. Either side of the Equator, the
climate and vegetation roughly mirror each other,
with great deserts forming in the hot and rain-starved
land around each tropic.WHAT WORK DO PEOPLE DO IN THIS REGION?
Most rural Africans live off the land, tending herds of
cattle, sheep, and goats, and growing food crops such
as maize, cassava, and yams. In East Africa, many
also work on the tea and coffee plantations or earn
a living from tourism in the many wildlife reserves.
The oil industries of Nigeria and Cameroon and the
mineral mines of Congo employ thousands of people.WHICH RIVER HAD ITS NAME CHANGED?
In 1971, President Mobutu changed the name of the
Congo River to the Zaire (a Portuguese corruption of
the local name nzere or “river that swallows all rivers”).
In 1997, after Mobutu’s fall, the river was renamed
Congo. This river cuts through the Democratic Republic
of the Congo and is a lifeline for the Congolese people.RIFT VALLEY 3
The Great Rift Valley
stretches for 4,830 km
(3,000 miles) from Syria in
western Asia south through
the Red Sea and East Africa
to Mozambique. Its landscape
is extraordinary, with many
deep lakes, steep-sided valleys,
vast plateaux, and volcanic peaks.
2 NIGERIAN OIL
Nigeria is one of the main
producers and exporters of oil
in the world, and has substantial
reserves of natural gas. When oil
prices fell in the 1980s, efforts
were made to develop other
products so that Nigeria’s
economy was not so
dependent on oil.
Cattle are kept for
milk and blood,
which the Masai
drink mixed
together
Children wear
home-spun
cotton clothescentral
Africa