In what general area of Africa do the Mande live? (See if you can locate the Gambia, where “Lambango” was recorded, on the map in Worlds of Music, page 99). Why is this area referred to as a “Cultural Crossroads”?

What will be an ideal response?

• The Mande live in the West African savanna, south of the Sahara desert and north of the forest. (A savanna is "a grassland containing scattered trees and drought-resistant undergrowth [Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, tenth edition, p. 1039].")
• "Routes of intercultural communication run" through this area in all directions.