1. C. Ghana's ability to control the gold-salt trade helped them grow into a powerful empire
The Empire of Ghana had an excellent location, despite it not getting out on any coastline. The empire was located right between the coastal regions of West Africa, and the western part of North Africa. This give a lot of power because it was located right on the way of the trade routes between these two regions. Being able to control the trade routes, especially the gold and salt trade, this empire became wealthy and very powerful. The lack of coastline was not a problem, as the Niger and Senegal rivers were passing through it, so the transportation was easy through them over larger distances.
2. c. clans
The villages in Western Africa in general had the same ethnic background. They also had very similar way of life, similar culture, similar religions. Wgile all of these things were similar, there were some unique traits in every village, which was giving it something special to it. The villages were also made up of different clans, and that was what was making most of the problems. The different clans, despite all the similarities between them, were seeing each other as competition in every field, so they were often in conflict between each other, with massacres and enslavement being very common unfortunately.
3. B. It became the language of Songhai law and learning
The Songhai Empire was a large and powerful empire. It was located from what is now Gambia and Senegal, throughout the western Sahel, thus between North and West Africa. The empire grew powerful and wealthy because it was controlling most of the trade between North and West Africa. Because the Songhai were in constant contact with the Muslim from North Africa, they were exposed to the Islam, and gradually accepted this faith. Once the faith was made official in the empire, the Arabic language, the official language of the Islamic faith, was set as the language of law and learning in the empire, thus making it the most powerful and influential language in the empire.
4. d. controlling trade routes
The Axum Empire was an empire that had big power and lot of wealth. It was located on the territory of modern day Sudan (the eastern part), Ethiopia (the north and eastern part), Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia (the northern part). The location was excellent, as the empire was on a location from which it was able to control the trade routes between sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa, as well the trade between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Since much of the trade was going through this empire, it gained a lot of wealth, which in turn was invested in developing the empire and its military, making it very powerful.
5. B. oral traditions
The oral traditions are the traditions that are passed from one generation to another orally. This basically means that there isn't written traditions, but the only medium used for the passing on of the traditions is the language, or rather the speech. The poetry, folk tales, wise sayings, are part of the oral traditions, and they have played crucial role in the identity of numerous ethnic groups around the world, keeping them united, and giving them a feeling of something special.
