Eye On

Trading goods has always been important in the Sahara. People like the Tuareg would travel for months from one town to another selling and buying goods.


	© Clive Shirley/Panos Pictures

Everything was carried on camels in lines called ‘caravans’. Caravans would vary in size but sometimes they had over one thousand camels!

On the map you can see some of these trade routes.
Map of the Sahara
http://www.marekinc.com/GeoMapTradeMigrationRoutes.html

Can you guess what the black dots are on the map? Why are they important for a journey across the desert?

for the answer

Timbuktu is one of the places marked on the map - you may have heard of it before. Timbuktu is sometimes used in a phrase to describe a place that is very far away. But Timbuktu is a real town in Mali, and for centuries it has been an important stopping point in the Sahara. In fact, Timbuktu had the best university in the Sahara region in the 14th century! Timbuktu was nicknamed the ‘Oxford of Africa’ because of it.

The table shows how far it is from one trading place in the Sahara to another.

(Km)	Agades	Cairo	Gao	Fez	Marrakesh	Timbuktu	Tunis
Agades	-	2,2850	450	2,100	2,250	1,200	2,250
Cairo	2,850	-	3,300	3,300	3,750	3,900	1,950
Gao	450	3,300	-	2,100	1,950	750	2,400
Fes	2,100	3,300	2,100	-	450	1,950	1,500
Marrakesh	2,250	3,750	1,950	450	-	1,800	1,950
Timbuktu	1,200	3,900	750	1,950	1,800	-	2,700
Tunis	2,250	1,950	2,400	1,500	1,950	2,700	-

Ahmed is a trader who lives in Timbuktu. He travels great distances with his camel, Abdul to take palm leaves to different markets. The palm leaves are made into baskets, mats and brooms.

to download a worksheet to calculate how far Ahmed and Abdul have to travel on different journeys, using the table of distances to and from markets in the Sahara region.

After you have finished the worksheet,
to see how well you did.

The table gives the direct distances from each place - we sometimes say, ‘as the crow flies’. But these are not the distances that people like Ahmed will actually travel. Can you think of any reasons why there is a difference between the direct distances and the actual distances they travel?

for some answers.

In the past, traders like Ahmed bought and sold gold, salt, and even ostrich feathers across the Sahara. Today, trading is less important because of new ways of transporting goods. Can you think of some?


	©Jean-Leo Dugast/Panos

New discoveries have brought other changes in the way people work and make money in the Sahara. Libya was the poorest country in the world until oil was discovered beneath the desert surface in 1951. Now, Libya is one of the richest countries in the Sahara.

Oil can bring great wealth because many things are made from it.
for a drag and drop exercise - which items are made from oil?
Drag and drop them into the correct boxes.
(you will need flash player 6)

for the answers.

Go to the next page to compare Libya to some other countries in the Sahara.