Africa Vocabulary

Africa Vocabulary

famine • A drastic shortage of food over a wide area. People starve during a famine.

Drought (little or no rain over a long time) can cause famine because crops and livestock need water.

Sub-Saharan Africa • The portion of Africa that lies south of the Sahara Desert.

Countries described as sub-Saharan lie completely or partially south of the Sahara. • Nations, such as Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Sudan, which are partly within the Sahara and partly south of it, are typically considered part of sub-Saharan Africa.

developing nations • Those countries in which large segments of the economy are relatively undeveloped and most people are poor.

malnutrition When people do not receive enough nutrition (food, vitamins, clean water) in their diet they are malnourished.

Poverty is associated with malnutrition. When people are poor, they are less likely to have enough to eat to stay healthy.

If there is widespread drought (little or no rain) or famine (widespread shortage of food), there is likely to be malnutrition.

corrupt • immoral or dishonest • A corrupt ruler might use money to buy himself expensive things instead of helping to feed the nation’s people.

infrastructure • The basic underlying structure of a system or organization. This place in Uganda lacks infrastructure such as road and sewers.

The fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city, or area, such as transportation and communication systems, power plants, and schools Johannesburg, South Africa, has the infrastructure you would expect to find in a modern city. A lack of indoor plumbing in Uganda.

desertification • The spread of the desert due to natural or human causes. • A natural cause of desertification is climate change such as less rain.

Human causes of desertification include: • destroying plants, trees or grass • too much farming that robs the soil of nutrients • overgrazing (allowing animals to feed too much in one area)

poverty • Having little or no money • Exists everywhere in the world, but especially in developing nations, where nearly 50% of the people are poor. Poverty in Sierra Leone, where 70% of the people live below the poverty line.

fraud • The use of dishonest methods to cheat another person • A deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain.

African Union • An organization made up of 53 African nations • Its purpose is to build economic and political stability on the African continent • Calls for a multinational peacekeeping force and a single African parliament, court of justice, and central bank.

subsidies • Financial assistance given by a government to a person, business enterprise, institution, or cause. • Usually a grant of money with no expectation that it will be paid back. A government may give subsidies to farmers by giving them money to buy seed. • The term is sometimes used negatively to imply government waste.

Coup(Short for coup d’etat) • The sudden, and usually violent, overthrow of a government by a small group often assisted by the military. In 1971, the Ugandan government was overthrown in a military coup led by armed forces commander Idi Amin. Amin declared himself president, dissolved the parliament, and amended the constitution to give himself absolute power.

refugees • People who left their own country because of hardship or because they were expelled by their government. Darfur refugee camp

Reasons people might leave their homelands and become refugees: • Severe economic difficulty • Civil war • Political or religious persecution • Famine

epidemic • A widespread, sudden, and rapid outbreak of a contagious disease There is an AIDS epidemic in Africa. There are many orphans who have lost their parents to AIDS.

AIDS • Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome • A severe disorder caused by the HIV virus which damages a person’s immune system • A person with AIDS has a hard time fighting off infections and diseases, because the immune system does not work.

Africa Vocabulary