African History - Introductory

Explore the continent of Africa by learning these words related to African history. This list covers the development of agriculture, diverse religious and cultural traditions, colonialism and slavery, and much more.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. agriculture
    the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock
  2. animism
    the doctrine that all natural objects have souls
  3. apartheid
    a social policy of racial segregation
  4. aquifer
    underground layer of rock or sand that yields groundwater
  5. assimilation
    the process of absorbing one cultural group into another
  6. camel
    cud-chewing mammal used as a saddle animal in desert regions
  7. caravan
    a procession traveling together in single file
  8. cash crop
    a cultivated plant that is grown to be sold for profit
  9. cattle
    domesticated cows as a group
  10. chief
    the head of a tribe or clan
  11. Christianity
    a monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior
  12. city-state
    an independent nation comprised of a single town
  13. civilization
    a society in an advanced state of social development
  14. clan
    group of people related by blood or marriage
  15. colonialism
    exploitation by a stronger country of a weaker one
  16. colony
    a geographical area controlled by a distant country
  17. commerce
    transactions supplying goods and services
  18. Congo River
    a major African river
  19. council
    a body serving in an administrative capacity
  20. craftsman
    a skilled worker who practices some trade or handicraft
  21. delta
    a low area of alluvial deposits where a river divides
  22. democracy
    a political system in which power lies in a body of citizens
  23. desertification
    a gradual transformation into arid, uninhabitable land
  24. dictatorship
    a form of government in which the ruler is unconstrained
  25. diviner
    someone who claims to discover hidden knowledge with the aid of supernatural powers
  26. drought
    a shortage of rainfall
  27. dynasty
    a sequence of powerful leaders in the same family
  28. empire
    the domain ruled by a single authoritative sovereign
  29. equator
    an imaginary line around the Earth forming a great circle
  30. famine
    a severe shortage of food resulting in starvation and death
  31. folktale
    a traditional story or legend circulated by word of mouth
  32. governor
    the head of a state authority
  33. griot
    a storyteller in West Africa
  34. herder
    someone who drives a herd
  35. hunter-gatherer
    a member of a hunting and gathering society
  36. imperialism
    a policy of extending your rule over foreign countries
  37. Islam
    the monotheistic religious system of Muslims
  38. kingdom
    the domain ruled by a monarch
  39. lineage
    the kinship relation between an individual and progenitors
  40. malaria
    a disease caused by parasites transmitted by mosquito bite
  41. migration
    the movement of persons from one locality to another
  42. miner
    laborer who extracts ores and minerals
  43. monsoon
    a seasonal wind in southern Asia
  44. neocolonialism
    control by a powerful country of less developed countries
  45. Niger River
    an African river; flows into the South Atlantic
  46. Nile River
    the world's longest river
  47. nomad
    a member of a people who have no permanent home
  48. plateau
    a relatively flat raised area of land
  49. poach
    hunt illegally
  50. protectorate
    a state or territory partly controlled by a stronger state
  51. rainforest
    a densely wooded tropical area with heavy precipitation
  52. savanna
    a flat grassland in tropical or subtropical regions
  53. self-rule
    government by a country's own people rather than by an outside power
  54. slavery
    the practice or system of owning people as property
  55. stele
    an ancient upright stone slab bearing markings
  56. subsistence farming
    farming that provides for the basic needs of the farmer without surpluses for marketing
  57. sultan
    the ruler of a Muslim country
  58. terrace
    make land into level shelves, as for cultivation
  59. township
    an administrative division of a county
  60. trade
    the commercial exchange of goods and services
  61. traditional
    pertaining to time-honored orthodox doctrines
  62. tsetse fly
    bloodsucking African fly; transmits sleeping sickness etc.
  63. veldt
    elevated open grassland in southern Africa
Created on Thu Feb 16 13:39:43 EST 2017 (updated Fri Mar 31 11:36:54 EDT 2017)

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