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WorksheetsEast Africa
Total questions: 20
Worksheet time: 10mins
Why is the lingua franca of many parts of East Africa not an indigenous language?
There are many native languages, but dominant colonial languages such as English or French were
commonly understood by most people, and so are still used today.
Trade activity with Arabic speaking peoples over hundreds of years made Arabic commonly understood
by most people throughout East Africa.
Because Portugal introduced Christianity, which since spread throughout East Africa, Portuguese has
spread across the region as a language understood by both believers and non-believers.
Most people in East Africa speak Bantu today because there is too much ethic tension associated with
Tutsi and Hutu languages.
Identify successful actions implemented by some East African governments that have had both environmental and economic benefits.
creating conservation areas and national parks, which draw ecotourists
encouraging commercial cash crop agricultural enterprises to convert back to traditional subsistence
farming
combating overpopulation, which contributes to desertification, especially along the Sahel
regulating industrial and agricultural chemicals that pollute water systems and kill off fish which otherwise
may be commercially harvested
What geographical factor(s) led to both Christianity and Islam becoming the two most prominent faiths within
East Africa today?
The harsh conditions of the Sahel served as a buffer to any cultures attempting to penetrate inland from
the coast, leaving East Africa culturally isolated, despite its access to the sea.
The uniform elevation across the subregion made East Africa vulnerable to colonization by both Arabic
and European powers.
Easy travel along the Great Rift Valley river systems brought both trade and new ideas.
Explorers, colonists, and traders had easy access due to East Africa’s long Red Sea and Indian Ocean
coastlines.
Which country is heavily investing in East African trade, natural resources, and infrastructure, fundamentally
altering the economy of the subregion?
Saudi Arabia
The United States
Egypt
China
How are escarpments and cataracts related?
They are both features of the savanna and Sahel that runs along the Great Rift Valley.
Both are common to the many volcanic regions in East Africa, especially along fault lines where tectonic
plates shift deep underground.
Rivers flowing over the many plateaus of East Africa plunge over steep cliffs to form large waterfalls
Rainwater flooding into the many rift valleys of East Africa forms deep freshwater lakes.
The largest sector in East Africa's economy is
export agriculture.
subsistence agriculture.
services, including tourism.
mining/fishing/raw materials.
Habitat loss and poaching are examples of
the effects of deforestation.
the effects of soil erosion and desertification
the variety of environmental threats East Africa faces.
the proper management of resources in East Africa.
Which human-caused problem is most directly related to exceding an area's carrying capacity?
loss of habitat
overpopulation
poaching
desertification
Which is a factor that has contributed to the lack of proper management of natural resources within East Africa?
deforestation
poverty
overfarming
pollution
Which characterizes the primary population pattern of people in East Africa?
urban
rural
coastal
inland
tropical grasslands with scattered trees and seasonal rainfall
savanna
Great Rift Valley
Bantu
Vasco da Gama
the defining geologic landform of East Africa, running north-south along the subregion, with two branches of
deep valleys formed by faults and shifting tectonic plates millions of years ago
Sahel
Kilimanjaro
Great Rift Valley
colonization
the process of foreign powers sending settlers to take political and economic control from indigenous people
Rwanda
colonization
savanna
Kilimanjaro
the Portuguese explorer who sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, and north along the Indian Ocean,
establishing an era of Portuguese control in East Africa
Kilimanjaro
Vasco da Gama
Rwanda
Bantu
the ethnic group that forms the majority of the populations of Uganda and Tanzania
Spanish
English
Swahili
Bantu
the East African nation in which ethnic conflict between Hutu and Tutsi led to a genocide that killed over 800,000
people during the 1990s, creating 2 million refugees
Rwanda
Uganda
Kenya
Tanzania
the major volcanic mountain peak located in Tanzania
Mount Everest
Mount Kenya
Kilimanjaro
The Rockies
the language of Tanzania and Kenya, which reflects blending of Bantu with Portuguese, Persian, Arabic, Hindi,
and English
Bantu
Swahili
Rwanda
Sahel
a major grassy plain of East Africa rich in wildlife, and the site of several conservation areas and national parks
that attract eco-tourists to Tanzania and Kenya
Serengeti
Vasco da Gama
Great Plains
An Nafud
the vast, semi-arid transition zone separating deserts from tropical savanna; means “shore” or “edge” in Arabic
Sahel
An Nafud
simoom
shamal
