AFRICA’S GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

Location

1000s of miles North and South of the Equator

2nd largest continent Regions

North Africa: Morocco to Egypt

West Africa: To the Atlantic (S of the Sahara)

East Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania

Central Africa: DRC, on the Equator

Southern Africa: Zimbabwe, South Africa

Landforms

Escarpments: Steep cliffs that divide the plateau from the coastal plain

Cataracts: Large waterfalls

Great Rift Valley: Series of mountains and valleys in East Africa (rich in minerals and metals)

Rivers

Provide hydroelectric power The Nile

Flows over 4000 miles north into Egypt and empties into the Mediterranean Sea

Rich farmlands used to support the Nile

Aswan Dam: Built in the 1970s in the upper Nile Supplies hydroelectric power

The Congo Drains in Central Africa:

many waterfalls Niger River in Sierra Leone

and Guinea: used for irrigation

Natural Resources

DRC: copper South Africa, DRC:

Diamonds and cobalt

Nigeria, Angola: Oil

Uneven distribution in resources

Climate

80% lies in the Tropics 4 Climate Zones

1. Tropical Wet Hot and humid all year 60-120 inches of rainfall

2. Tropical Wet and Dry Largest in Africa Wet and dry season Savanna, a grassland, covers almost ½ the

continent Issues:

Drought Desertification: Turning of semidesert land into

deserts

Climate Part 2

3. Deserts 40% of Africa Sahara: highway for

traders, Kalahari (Southern Africa), Namib (1 of the driest places on earth)

4. Mediterranean Climate Southern tip and

northern coast Mild (similar to LA) Supports many crops