What was the major trading center in the Sahara Desert?

What was the major trading center in the Sahara Desert?

Timbuktu, French Tombouctou, city in the western African country of Mali, historically important as a trading post on the trans-Saharan caravan route and as a centre of Islamic culture (c. 1400–1600). It is located on the southern edge of the Sahara, about 8 miles (13 km) north of the Niger River.

What was the name of the major trade route across the Sahara?

Trans-Saharan trade
Trans-Saharan trade requires travel across the Sahara between sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa.

What three countries in West Africa are named for ancient trading empires?

A succession of three great kingdoms came to power as their people, gained control of valuable trade routes in West Africa. Ghana​ was the first of these empires, followed by the kingdoms of ​Mali​ and ​Songhai​. Historians think the first people in Ghana were farmers along the ​Niger River​.

Who are the major trading partners of modern African nations?

China is one of the major trading partners of modern African nations. In addition, it is a key investor in the continent. Trade between China and Africa significantly grew in the past 10 years. Africa primarily exports natural resources, while China exports electronics.

What did the Sahara Desert trade?

Much gold was traded through the Sahara desert to the countries on the North African coast. Other items that were commonly traded included ivory, kola nuts, cloth, metal goods, beads, and also human beings in the slave trade.

What did North Africa trade?

Camel caravans from North Africa carried bars of salt as well as cloth, tobacco, and metal tools across the Sahara to trading centers like Djenne and Timbuktu on the Niger River. Some items for which the salt was traded include gold, ivory, slaves, skins, kola nuts, pepper, and sugar.

What are the major trade routes in Africa?

Several major trade routes connected Africa below the Sahara with the Mediterranean Middle East, such as Sijilmasa to Awdaghust and Ghadames to Gao.

Where did medieval empires develop in West Africa?

The Sahel, the ecological transition zone between the Sahara desert and forest zone, which spans the African continent, was an intense point of contact between North Africa and communities south of the Sahara. In West Africa, the three great medieval empires of Ghana, Mali, and the Songhay developed in Sahel.

Where was the Ghana Empire located in Africa?

The Ghana Empire lay in the Sahel region to the north of the West African gold fields, and was able to profit by controlling the trans-Saharan gold trade, which turned Ghana into an empire of legendary wealth. Ghana appears to have had a central core region and was surrounded by vassal states.

Where did the spread of Islam begin in Africa?

Eventually, African kings began to allow Muslims to integrate. Accounts during the eleventh century reported a Muslim state called Takrur in the middle Senegal valley. Around this time, the Almoravid reform movement began in Western Sahara and expanded throughout modern Mauritania, North Africa and Southern Spain.