Africa, India and its Neighbors - Essay Example

?Answer Sahel’ is an Arabic word referring ‘Border.’ In Africa, Sahel is a boundary zone that divides northern parts of Sahara desert and the region of Sahara in Sudan. So, Sahel is a geographic zone between the Sahara situated in the north and Sudan grasslands in the south. Moreover, it extends across the north of African continent connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Red Sea. The Sahel covers a vast territory of land from west to east and passes through various prominent countries of Africa including Mauritania, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali. The Sahel is situated 5, 400 km away from Atlantic Ocean in the west of Africa to the Red Sea which is situated in the east. The belt or the boundary is about 620 miles in width and covers an area of about 3, 053, 200 square km. the area of Sahel is composed of semi arid grassland, steppers, savannas and thorny shrubs that are lying between Sahara desert and Sudanian Savannas. As far as the topography of Sahel is concerned, it is flat having just 200 to 400 meters elevations. Here it is interesting to note that several mountain ranges and plateaus rise from this boundary commonly known as Sahel. However, these plateaus and mountain ranges are regarded as separate eco- regions because of the distinction in flora and fauna present there (Webster’s Online Dictionary, 2012). Source: (Caritas.Org, 2012) Answer 2: Niger River is the primary river as well as the exotic stream of West Africa with a length of about 4, 200km.Niger River ranks third in Africa just after the River Nile and the River Congo. It is believed that the name ‘Niger’ has its origin with Greeks. It is very interesting to note that Niger River is known by several other names based on its courses. The upper course is known as Joliba, central track is known as Isa Rghirren and Mayo Balleo while the lower stretch is called Quorra. The exotic streams of Niger River have significant impact on the settlements and ongoing trade activities in the region of Africa. Basically, Africa is an agricultural civilization. So, water from these streams is a need for crops’ cultivation. Moreover, this region does not have well developed road network to allow trade activities so trade activities are mostly carried through water ways. Agricultural as well as other commodities are transferred from one place to another through waterways. So exotic streams originate through River Niger offer transportation routes and in this way facilitate the trade. Last but not the least; the water of these streams is also used in washing, bathing and drinking purposes. Source: (Wikipedia, 2012) Answer 3: TAN- ZAM railways pass which is also known as Tazara or Uhuru Railway connects Kapiri Mposhi town in Zambia with Tanzanian seaport of Dar es Salaam. This railway pass was built in 1970 to 1975 and financed by China. This railway network was especially designed for trade purposes for Zambian productions, particularly copper products. It runs for 1,860 kilometers. So, this network offered economic incentive to the region. However, it is important to note that this railway network is just for trade purposes and definitely, it is not a tourist train. Moreover, railroads have significant value in the economic development of a country. Railways, as in case of TAN- ZAM pass and surely many others round the globe, provides great market for different goods that might be agricultural as well as industrial. Railways connect far going areas of the country and allow widespread business activities that directly contribute in the economic development of a country. Here it is also important to note that before the invention of automobiles, highways and planes, the only way to travel was railroads. Railroads were used to travel goods from one place to another. So, this sort of communication paved the way for unprecedented growth for a country especially at industrial level. Moreover, with the help of train networks people can also travel with great ease, comparatively, at an inexpensive rate. Answer 4: Kenya Tanzania Uganda Capital City Nairobi Dodoma Kampala Govt. / Economic Sys. Presidential system / Capitalism Presidential system / Capitalism Presidential system / Capitalism Former Colony of? British Crown German British Empire Answer 5: Pakistan’s new forward capital is Islamabad. Answer 6: River Ganges flows across the North Indian Plains and finally empties into Indian Ocean through Bangladesh. This river floods each year, however, important to the people of the region. Actually floods also have many benefits other than disastrous effects. For example, floods bring nutrients’ rich soil to the land and make the nearby areas cultivable. The floods of River Ganges help in the distribution of rich sediments in the surroundings. Moreover, natural overflow in rivers may help to prevent serious flooding afterwards. Answer 7: Africa is so flat and it has comparatively few elevations and mountain ranges and no specific mountain chains because of the tectonic activities. Basically, mountains and elevations form due to push activities that create in the interior of the earth. Earth’s plates move apart or in opposite directions creating mountains. In Africa these tectonic plates are Far East and pushing apart, at a distance making most of the Africa flat. The average height of Africa is about 1000 feet. Because of the absence of mountains, African continent does not hold subduction zone that edges the continent. On the contrary, those areas where mountains and elevations are present, subduction zone also border the surroundings. Answer 8: Indus valley civilization that was in existence about 5000 B.C. is the river civilization along River Indus and arose in an area what is today Pakistan. This was the world’s first urban civilization. Answer 9: The Aryan tribe was a part of group today we know ‘Indo- Europeans.’ Unlike Indus Valley settlers, Aryans pass nomadic life and raise livestock. Around 2000B.c. Aryans left their homelands of Russia and moved to Asia and some parts of Europe. Those who settled in India are known as Aryans or Indo- Aryans. Aryans first invaded the Indus valley civilization in India. The cultural impact of Aryan invasion into the Indus valley is briefly described here, a. Aryans were nomads, uncivilized and warlike. They were familiar with horse riding and iron weapons. After their invasion, their warlike strategies impacted greatly Indus valley. b. Aryans worshiped god and goddesses and number of other powerful creatures like sun and moon. Their religious beliefs can be derived from Veds, the religious books of Hinduism. In the later years, Aryans had strong impact on the religious beliefs of India. c. Before Aryans, Indus valley was empowered by Sarasvati civilization which was declined after Aryans’ invasion (TCi, 2011). Answer 10: India is an agricultural country. More than half of its population depends on agriculture. This is the basic reason why June to September monsoon rains in India is crucial for its arable land. Round about 60% of its cultivable land depends on monsoon rain. The exact arrival of monsoon rain is in the start of June and it reaches at its peak in July. These rains especially trigger summer crops. In the mid July, monsoon rainfall covers tea, coffee and rubber plantation in the areas of southern India. Monsoon Rain Pattern in India and its Impact: According to India’s weather office, an average or normal monsoon rainfall is between 96 to 104% of 50 years standard of 89 centimeters during four months period in monsoon season. However, in India monsoon rains may go below 90% of average causing famine and droughts. This condition occurs in 2004 and later on in 2009. On the other hand, rainfall above 110% of average would reflect an excessive monsoon rainfall. However, this condition is not as damaging as the earlier one. Excessive monsoon may hurt the yields of sugarcane. As far as rice cultivation is concerned, monsoon rain covers the eastern parts of India in June and produces good effects for rice crop. The cotton producing areas receive heavy monsoon by the first 10 days of July. Average monsoon may act well for bumper cotton production. However, rain above average cannot be a good option. Finally, the importance of monsoon rains may have direct relation with the economic development of the country because of its agrarian economic structure (Reuters, 2012). Answer 11: The partitioning of India was to divide two important religions practicing at that time that were Hinduism and Islam. The followers of Hinduism and Islam became unable to live together as a single identity under one political and social structure. So, subcontinent was divided into two separate countries including India and Pakistan. Answer 12: Every year Bangladesh, a country situated in the east of South Asia, faces tremendous life and infrastructure loss and severe death tolls from floods. The geographical location of Bangladesh makes this country in an unlucky situation for floods. Basically, the land of Bangladesh is distinguished by two features including a vast deltaic plain prone to frequent and excessive flooding and a comparatively small hilly area. The total area of this country is 144,000 square km. on the south of Bangladesh, there is an extremely uneven deltaic coastline. This coastline spreads over an extensive area of about 600 km. Many rivers, streams and rivulets flow through this plain into Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh has low elevations whereas numerous rivers flow through the area making flooding a very common physical feature of the area. Round about 10,000 square km area in Bangladesh is covered with water bodies. So, a large area is regularly flooded especially during monsoon rainfall. During monsoon season, the rivers get over pressured causing flooding in the nearby areas (MONGABAY.COM). In Bangladesh, 67% land is under cultivation. The woodland and forest cover is about 16% whereas permanent crops only cover 2% of the arable land. Pasture lands and meadows also cover an extensive area. However, flooding produces adverse effect for the crops. Although the alluvial soils in deltaic plains are fertile but flood water also carry silt deposits and accumulate on the fertile land causing the soil infertile. This most often happens in monsoon season. However, as a whole, we can say that the geographic location of Bangladesh make this area unfortunate and prone to natural disaster that is flooding. References 1. Webster’s Online Dictionary. “Definition: Sahel.” 2012. Web. 2. Caritas.Org. “Hunger Spreading in West Africa’s Sahel.” 2012. Web. 3. Encyclopedia Britannica. “Niger River.” Web. 4. TCi. “The Impact of the Aryan Invasion of India.” 2011. Web. 5. Reuters. “India’s Monsoon and Impact on Economy.” 2012. Web. 6. MONGABAY.COM. “Bangladesh- Historical Setting.” Web. Read More