G+Thirteen

Geography
Africa is the second largest continent on earth with 53 countries and the land shaped like a soup bowl. There are 4 regions in West Africa: __The Sahara__ is the third largest desert in the world whose temperatures can rise over 120 degrees fahrenheit. It is mostly made up of sand and gravel. __The Sahel__ covers west to east africa and is fairly dry with support for hardy grazing animals. __The Savannah__ is a field with trees surrounding it. Tall grasses and shrubs are grown and grazing animals often roam around. __Rain Forests__ have alot of trees surrounding and in them. These places contain a lot of different plants and animals.

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One form of trade was the silent barter. This specific trade involved no contact at all, this did not take place face to face. Trade got bigger with time and soon West Africans began to trade with people who lived a far away. They started traded in deserts but only made short trips because their horses couldnt go far without having water to drink. Because of this problem, during the AD 200s they started using camels to travel. The camels could go long times without water because they stored it.=====

For trade they used salt and gold. Camels carried the salt from the Sahara to the south to trade for the gold. Traders took the gold north. These weren't the only things they traded. There was also copper, cloth, silver, and iron.

Culture
Culture was one of the central features of village life. To honor spirits, they marked places as a scared place by putting up carved statues. The families went there to talk to their ancestors about their news or problems. They did this becuse they believed by keeping the spirits happy they would in return protect the village from harm.

Empire of Ghana
Ghana was an empire located south of the sahara desert that grew rich by trading salt and gold. The silent barter trade was one form of trade they used to make the empire rich.

Empire of Mali
Mali's rise was under a king named Sundiata. He was the son of the previous king but he hated him. When he was old enough he gathered an army and won the throne. After he took over salt and gold trades and improved agriculture in Mali. Legend says that he even put some soldiers to work in the field.

Mansa Musa
Mansa Musa was a ruler of Mali who went on a pilgrimage to the city of Mecca. He became one of the kings of West Africa due to the reason that while traveling he gave out large amounts of gold during 1325. He had 80 camels which were each carrying 310 pounds of gold.

Empire of Songhai
Even as the empire of mali was reaching its height,a rival power was growing in the area.Thatrival was the songhai kingdom.From their capital at gao, the songhai participated in the same trade that had made ghana and mali so rich.

Askia the Great
Askia the great became ruler of Songhai when we was nearly 50 years old. He ruled for 35 years and gained power all over. He went blind when he was in his 80s and his son Musa convinced him to leave the throne. He was sent to live on an island for 9 years until another one of his sons brought him back. He died back at the capital and his tomb is stil one of the most respected places in all West Africa.

Artistic Traditions
For West Africa sculptures are the most admired. To make these sculptures the Africans used brass, wood, clay, ivory and stone. Most of the time the statues/sculptures were made for their ancestors and gifts for gods.

Page Created by: Teresa and Victor