Chapter 3 Section 1

The Shape of the Land

Mt. Kilimanjaro

• Made from hot ash and melted rock• 19,340 ft over Tanzania (snow covered)

A Vast Continent

• Second largest continent• 3 times the size of the U.S• Africa could hold the land occupied by China, India, Europe, Argentina, New Zealand and the continental United States, with room to spare!

• Location– Between two major

oceans• (To the west is the

Atlantic Ocean and East lies the Indian Ocean)(Mediterranean Sea in the North and Red Sea in the Northeast)

– Placed in the center of world transportation routes.

Regions

• Regions– Main regions: North Africa, West Africa, East

Africa, Central and Southern Africa.

Landforms

• Most is a vast plateau• Towards the coast , the

land drops sharply• Escarpments, or steep

cliffs, divide the plateau from the coastal plain

• Discouraged early Europeans who tried to explore– cataracts

Rivers

• Provide fish, water for irrigation, transportation

• Hydroelectric power– Energy produced by running water

What’s this?

The Nile

• Longest in the world• Until recently, flooded each year– Deposited silt in the River Valley, adding nutrients

to the soil• Technology changed the flooding– construction of the Aswan Dam in the 1960's

meant that from 1970 the annual flood was controlled.

Natural Resources

• Africa’s rivers are a source of precious metals• Mined• Unevenly distributed– ex)oil– Sudan and Nigeria are two of the main oil producers. China

owns 40% of Sudan's oil production. Oil is provided by both continental and offshore productions. Sudan's oil exports in2010 are estimated by US State Department at $9 billion with United States dollars.

– Much of Africa is not fertile and uncertain rainfall often makes farming difficult.