The Niger River and the Growth of Ghana and Mali Empires
1. The Niger River and
the Growth of Ghana
and Mali Empires
Audrey de Guzman
For Mr. Haskvitz
2. Vegetation Zones of Forest
• The delta covers 20,000 km² within wetlands of
70,000 km² formed primarily by sediment
deposition.
• Home to 20 million people.
• The Delta's environment can be broken
down into four ecological zones.
• Coastal barrier islands, mangrove swamp
forest, fresh water swamps, and lowland
rainforest.
3. Savannah
• The savannah belt occupies sub-humid
grassland regions extending through the south-
central and East African Plateau, to the northern
margins of both the Niger and Zaïre, as far as to
the south of the Gambia River.
• Distribution of savannah coincides with pen
plains where water logging and moisture
deficiency alternate.
4. Desert
• Steppe and desert are restricted to areas where
annual precipitation is less than 400 mm/year.
• Steppe vegetation is located in parts of semi-arid
West Africa, in the central Sudan Republic and
in Somalia.
• In the southern part of Africa, gradual merging of
the savannah southwards into wooded steppe.
5. Gold
• The gold deposits of West Africa brought great
wealth to the surrounding people from which
great empires emerged.
• Gold deposits brought much wealth to Ghana.
• Fish also made a good medium trade.
6. Salt
• Salt extraction is one of many principles of
livelihood.
• Salt mining was used as slave labor
• Salt trade created movement of people,
information of ideas across the Sahara
7. Food
• Nigeria has such a variety of people and cultures that it is difficult to
pick one national dish.
• Each area has its own regional favorite that depends on customs,
tradition, and religion.
Some Foods Include:
• Some of the popular fruits are oranges, melons, grapefruits, limes,
mangos, bananas, and pineapples.
• Isu (Spiced Boiled Yams)
• Nigerian Stew
• Jollof Rice
• Iyan (Pounded Yams)
• Efo (Greens Stew)
• Dodo (Fried Plantains)
• Chinchin
8. Slaves
• The bight was the scene of extensive
slave trading between the 16th and the
19th century
• The Niger delta became known as the
Salve Coast.
9. Growth of Ghana
• Most of Ghana’s growth was because of
trade.
• Expansion of Serahule power over
neighboring peoples who were also
involved in trade.
• With more wealth the kings of Ghana had
more power and could command the
services of many descent lines.
• War helped the expansion of empire.
10. Growth of Mali Empire
• Mali empire was a black empire that flourished in
west Africa from about 1240 to 1500.
• At its height, the Mali Empire controlled
most of what are now Gambia, Guinea, Mali,
and Senegal, and parts
of present-day Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and
Niger.
• The Mali Empire served as a model of statecraft
for later kingdoms long after its decline in the
15th and16th centuries.
11. Question Time!
1. What created movement of people,
information across the Sahara?
2. What is the Niger Delta known as?
3. What brought much wealth to Ghana?
4. What helped Ghana’s growth?
