GEO 358 Lecture 11: Geo 358-Southern Africa
Southern Africa
1. Minerals in southern Africa
a. Zambia
i. Copper
b. Zimbabwe
i. Gold and minerals
c. South Africa
i. Gold, diamonds, coal, platinum
2. Angola and Mozambique
a. Portuguese colonies until 1975
i. Large # of Portuguese settlers
b. Civil wars erupted in 1975
i. Some to South Africa
ii. Infrastructure destroyed
c. Civil war
i. 1975-1990s
ii. War orphans
3. Angola
a. Communist government after independence 1975
i. Supported by Soviet Union (arms) and Cuba (troops)
ii. Rebels supported by U.S and South Africa
b. Rich in oil
i. 2nd most oil in Sub-Sharan Africa
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ii. Oil (under government control) funded civil war
c. Rich in diamonds
i. Rebels mined them to fund their fighting
d. Civil war finished 2002
4. Zimbabwe
a. Was a British colony called Southern Rhodesia
b. Unilateral declaration of independence written by whites 1965
i. Called “Rhodesia”; whites ruled
1. International trade embargo
ii. 1980 black government overthrew white government
iii. Renamed “Zimbabwe”
1. Named for ancient African kingdom
c. Economy
i. #2 in Africa before 2000
ii. Rich in minerals
iii. Fertile soil- productive agriculture
1. Commercial crop
a. Tobacco
2. Subsistence crop
a. Corn
iv. Tourism
1. Victoria Falls
2. Wildlife
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d. 5% white before 1980
e. After 1980 many emigrated
f. Remaining whites still had economic/political clout
i. Owned most of the commercial farmland
g. President Robert Mugabe (1987-2017)
i. Land seizures from whites since 2000
1. Land redistributed to blacks
a. Mostly Mugabe loyalists
b. Agricultural production down
ii. 5000 white farms in 1990s
1. 250 now
2. Evicted or killed
3. Some relocated to other African countries
h. International criticism of Mugabe
i. Economic sanctions
i. Zimbabwe economy crashed
1. Tourism, mining, farming down
j. Brain drain due to poor economy and political repressions
5. Namibia
a. German colony until World War I
b. South African control until 1990
c. Official language- English
d. Afrikaans and German
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