What is culture, you might ask? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, culture is “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group or the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time” (Culture). The five main characteristics that define a culture include: culture is learned, culture is shared, culture is symbolic, culture is all-encompassing, and culture is integrated. Culture depends on the human capacity for cultural learning which includes shared rules of conduct and which depend on symbols. Cultures can be integrated using “social and economic forces, core values, and key symbols” (Mirror for Humanity, 2002). an analysis of its climate and an overview of the acronym ASCOPE. Sub-Saharan Africa refers to the diverse landscape of more than 50 countries in Africa, which lie south of the Sahara Desert. There are over nine million square miles of valleys, plateaus and mountains in this region of Africa. Due to the prevalence of highlands, Africa has been nicknamed the “highland continent.” Between the plateaus there are steep slopes or escarpments. This continent has the highest overall elevation due to the plateaus it has. This area is mountainous with mountains such as the Atlas Mountains in the northwest, the Drakensburg Mountains, and Mt. Kilimanjaro is the highest peak. The Great Rift Valley is also located in this region. There are many rivers in this region, including the "Nile, Congo, Niger and Zambezi Rivers" (physical geography). There have been many cases of political instability that... middle of paper... ..com/dictionary/culture .Mirror to humanity. 3rd ed. and. United States: MCGRAW-HILL COMPANIES (OH), 2002. Print. "Physical Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa". September 21, 2011. PowerPoint online. exchange.guhsd.net/teacher_objects/sub-sahara%20physical.ppt"Sub-Saharan Africa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Np, nd Web. 21 September 2011. “Sub-Saharan Africa: Global Warming.” NASA Earth Observatory: Home. Np, nd Web. 21 September 2011. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Experiments/PlanetEarthScience/GlobalWarming/GW_InfoCenter_Africa.php"SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: A LANDSCAPE OF POLITICAL INSTABILITY." The Geography Department GE. Np, nd Web. 21 September 2011. http://www.geography.ccsu.edu/kyem/GEOG466_Africa/Culture%20and%20Conflitti%20in%20Africa_Overhead.htm .