Southern Africa • Great Zimbabwe and the Mutapa Empire Thrived on the Gold Trade

453-457-Chapter19 10/16/02 11:20 AM Page 453 Main Ideas Southern Africa • Great Zimbabwe and the Mutapa Empire thrived on the gold trade. • The wealth of Southern Africa is tied to the land, and conflicts over land and resources often result. Places & Terms A HUMAN PERSPECTIVE In April 2000 in Zimbabwe, armed men Great Zimbabwe attacked the farmhouse of a white farmer whose family has lived in Mutapa Empire Zimbabwe for generations. A political crisis that goes back to Britain’s apartheid colonial rule caught white farmers in a violent crossfire. British colonial Nelson Mandela rule ended in 1980, but more than 4,000 white farmers in Zimbabwe still own one-third of the best land in a country of about 10 million Connect to the Issues blacks. The British and the white farmers have made attempts to equal- health care AIDS ize land ownership, but Zimbabwe’s leaders have not taken advantage threatens Southern Africa’s youth and could significantly of these opportunities. Instead, they have targeted individual white reduce the region’s population. farmers who own that land. This conflict illustrates a critical issue in all of Southern Africa—that blacks far outnumber whites but still own lit- tle of the land. Gold Trade Builds Empires Southern Africa includes Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The history of Southern Africa involves a blending of colonialism with African cultures and the devel- opment of gold-trading empires. PLACE Pictured below are the walls of Great Zimbabwe. GOLD TRADE SPAWNS GREAT ZIMBABWE The majority of the people What do the materials used to build the walls reveal in Southern Africa are Bantu-speaking peoples, including the Shona peo- about the local physical ple. Around 1000, the Shona established a city called Great Zimbabwe in geography? what is now the country of Zimbabwe. From the 1200s to the 1400s, Great Zimbabwe became the capital of a thriving gold-trading area. But for unknown reasons, around 1450 the Shona abandoned Great Zimbabwe. One theory is that cattle grazing had exhausted the nearby grasslands, and overfarming had ruined the soil. MUTAPA EMPIRE According to local legend, a man named Mutota left Great Zimbabwe around 1440 and settled in a fertile valley to the north. He founded a new state to replace Great Zimbabwe. By the time Mutota died, the Mutapa Empire extended throughout all of present-day Zimbabwe except the eastern part. 453 453-457-Chapter19 10/16/02 11:20 AM Page 454 The Mutapa Empire thrived on the gold trade. In the 1500s, however, the Portuguese arrived and began interfering with the politics there. Soon, the Mutapa Empire began to decline. This event showed the increasing role Europeans would play in Southern Africa. A. Answer ETHNIC CLASH FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA Africans and As Europeans migrated to Europeans Southern Africa in the 1700s and 1800s, their presence led to conflicts with competed for Africans. As the map below shows, many different ethnic groups were control of the land. already living in Southern Africa. They competed with each other and with the Europeans for control of the land. In the early 19th century, the Zulu controlled a large area in Southern Africa. However, the British defeated Seeing Patterns the Zulu and by the late 19th century had taken over their land. What led to the In the 1890s, the British battled the Dutch farmers, or Boers, in the conflicts between Boer War for control of the region. The Boers had arrived in Southern Europeans and groups of people Africa in the mid-1600s. The British won the war and formed the Union already living in of South Africa in 1902. South Africa is currently a country in the Southern Africa? region of Southern Africa. THE POLICY OF APARTHEID IN SOUTH AFRICA In 1948, the white minority government of South Africa instituted a policy of apartheid, or Background complete separation of the races. It banned social contact between Segregation is the separation of blacks and whites and established segregated schools, hospitals, and people on the neighborhoods. Although blacks made up 75 percent of the population, basis of race or they received only a small percentage of the land. The government kept ethnicity. the best land for whites. In 1912, blacks had founded the African National Congress (ANC) to fight for their rights. In 1949, Nelson Mandela emerged as one of the Ethnic Groups of Southern Africa o g n o ZAMBIA Country K L u b u a Makua Ethnic group n d K i m b u e 0 400 800 miles w ° a 10 S k b 0 400 800 kilometers o a e m d g h e n n Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area Projection u C o d L B o k n u C T a COMOROS v Lunda o M u h a b a Y l e a M e k u w MALAWI a ANGOLA a g M n a e ty ZAMBIA e o a e s M a w ih N a Y u r a m im INDIAN v a o k s i j L l T n L a e a omwe n y M a S H n a OCEAN h a v k h a a H o a n r e Ambo n C l i a Sena r s r a a e e e m r i o u k M s t Tsw q a Nama an a ZIMBABWE i e ° S B 20 S b ileo N ts m e o MAURITIUS a B r d z o Herero BOTSWANA to o m a e MOZAMBIQUE MADAGASCAR i T w M a g b s Bara t NAMIBIA N n K e o a g n A Nama en a Tropic of Capricorn Kw t l l g Tanala N a a g e wa ndroy N ketse Anta i az W E Sw SWAZILAND o t h 40°E50°E60°E o u S S l A u Z f LESOTHO 30°S r SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps i ATLANTIC k SOUTH a a REGION Which country in Southern Africa contains the most a AFRICA o s n X h OCEAN e ethnic groups? r PLACE What might the concentration of ethnic groups in the 10°E 20°E30°E eastern portion of the map indicate about the number of conflicts in that area? 454 CHAPTER 19 453-457-Chapter19 10/16/02 11:20 AM Page 455 leaders of the ANC, and he led a long struggle to end apartheid that resulted in his being imprisoned. By the 1980s, nations around the world—including the 1819 United States—pressured South Africa to end The Zulu (left) apartheid. In 1989, F. W. de Klerk became the presi- establish their dent, and he wanted to change South Africa. supremacy in Southern Africa. As a result, South Africa experienced a peaceful revolution, and the government ended its apartheid laws. An election that involved members of all races in South Africa took place in 1994. Mandela, having been released from prison, won the election and 1836 became president. In 1996, the government passed a Boers (right) new, democratic constitution that guarantees the come into conflict rights of all citizens. with native groups in Southern Africa. Southern Africa Grows Economically The economies of Southern African countries are some of the most advanced in Africa. However, many countries are struggling to raise the standard of living for blacks, who get the worst jobs, own the 1891 least productive land, and attend the worst schools. DeBeers gained 90 percent of SOUTH AFRICA The policy of apartheid has hurt African diamond the economy of South Africa. Because of apartheid, industry. foreign nations imposed economic sanctions that B. Answer South prevented their countries from conducting business 1905 Africa possesses with or investing in South Africa. In addition, the 1912 The world’s largest great cities with policy led to poor education of blacks, creating an The African diamond, called the “Star of industrial com- uneducated mass of young people. As a result, two National plexes and mod- Congress is Africa,” (above) ern farms and economies exist in South Africa. formed. is cut in South ranches. There are One segment of South Africa has an upper-middle- Africa. also shantytowns, income economy like that of the United States. South 1948 poverty-stricken Africa possesses great cities with huge industrial com- areas, and a Apartheid begins severe housing plexes, such as Johannesburg and Cape Town. It also in South Africa. shortage. has modern, mechanized farms and large ranches. In contrast, though, South Africa also has p0verty-stricken rural areas. Black townships and shantytowns also 1973 1994 Swaziland bans Nelson Mandela Making fill portions of the cities. Furthermore, the government political parties, currently faces problems arising from unequal land and F. W. de Klerk Comparisons and its king (below) shake hands What are the distribution and a severe housing shortage. assumes absolute after Mandela wins two segments of power. SUCCESS AT A COST South Africa’s first South Africa’s Botswana illustrates a prob- multiracial election. economy? lem that exists in many African countries today. It made a great deal of money from valuable resources but has serious agricultural problems and an unequal distribution of wealth. Botswana gained its independ- ence from Britain in 1966 and subsequently experienced long-term economic growth. In 1966, its per capita income stood at $69. In 1997, that figure had risen to $3,900 per capita.

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