World Geography Africa Notes. Africa – 2 nd largest continent

World Geography Africa Notes

PHYSICAL

Africa

Africa – 2nd largest continent

Landforms

Plateaus - Huge plateau covers most of Africa,

Basins - huge depressions on plateau

Plateaus separated by escarpments—steep slope with flat plateau on top

Landforms

Mountains - Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest mountain

Landforms

Valleys – long, thin rift valleys were formed when Pangaea broke apart

Eastern part is still slowly pulling away from Africa

Rivers

Congo River - Africa’s largest river network (2,900-mile)

32 cataracts (waterfalls) make much of Congo impassable

Rivers

Nile River—world’s longest river

- Provides 95% of Egypt’s water

Aswan High Dam (1970)

Created 300-mile Lake Nasser to regulate the water supply along the Nile

Benefits - Provides regular supply of water for farmers & holds back Nile floodwaters for irrigation

Egypt’s farmable land increased by 50% ( now have two or three harvests a year)

Aswan High Dam (1970)

Problems - River no longer deposits rich silt—sediment—on farmland

Irrigation raises water table & river doesn’t flush out salts that decrease soil fertility

Mosquitoes thrive in Lake Nasser, spread malaria, other diseases

Millions of gallons of fresh water lost yearly to lake evaporation

Lakes

Lake Victoria - Africa’s largest lake

World’s 2nd largest freshwater lake

Victoria Falls – Named after Queen Victoria

DavidLivingstone was the 1st European explorer to see the waterfalls

 Climates

Deserts - Sahara is world’s largest

May go years without rain

Temperatures as high as 136 degrees in summer, freezing at night

Fewer than 2 million of Africa’s 800 million people live in Sahara

Climates

Aquifers - located 6,000 feet under Sahara

creates oasis when water comes to the surface

Climates

Sahel - narrow band of grassland runs east-west along southern Sahara edge

Climates

Desertification—expansion of dry conditions into nearby moist areas

Human Causes of Desertification - Livestock overgrazing, Water drilling& irrigation increase soil’s salt levels

Climates

Tropical Savanna - covers half of Africa

- Six-month rainy season

- Longer rainy seasons near equator; longer dry seasons near desert

Tropical Grassland - covers most of Africa dry climate, hard soil prevent growth of trees, crops

Climates

Serengeti Plain (northern Tanzania) - best grasslands in the world (Serengeti National Park)

Ideal for grazing animals like wildebeests, gazelles, zebras

Site of largest numbers of migrating land mammals

Climates

Mediterranean climate – Located on northern & southern tips of Africa

- Clear blue skies, moderate summers, rain in winter

Climates

Tropics - Africa has largest tropical area of any continent

- 90% of Africa lies between tropics of Cancer & Capricorn

- High temperatures year around

Climates

- Major tropical rain forests are on equator in Congo Basin

- Most animals live in canopy—uppermost branches, 150 feet off ground (birds, monkeys, flying foxes, snakes)

Natural Resources

Africa’s minerals make it one of world’s richest continents

Oil - Libya, Nigeria, Algeria among world’s leading petroleum producers

Nigeria is world’s 6th leading oil exporter (most shipped to U.S).

Natural Resources

Coffee - Africa’s second most profitable commodity

-20% of world’s supply is grown there few but only a Africans drink it

42% of world’s cobalt South Africa is largest

producer of chromium, for stainless steel & produces 80% of world’s platinum, & 30% of gold

Review Questions

What are rift Valleys? What is Africa’s highest peak?What is an escarpment?What is the largest lake in Africa?Africa is the largest continent. What African country receives 95% of its water from the Nile River?What is the Serengeti? What is the Sahel?Where is a canopy & who lives there?What is the main purpose of the Aswan high Dam?What is an aquifer? What is desertification? What is the longest river in the world?What is an oasis?Where are aquifers in the Sahara Desert? Name three ways that humans cause desertification?What is Africa’s 2nd most profitable commodity?

 Early History

Prehistoric remains found in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

3100 B.C. - Egyption civilization developed along the Nile

Nile provided water & rich soil

Pharaohs rule Egypt for 2,600 years

Egyptian geometry and medicine are spread by trade

Early History

814 B.C. - Ancient city of Carthage was founded in location on Gulf of Tunis peninsula

A.D. 800 -1591 - Ghana, Mali, & Songhai empires grew on Sahara trade routes (gold, salt)

 Slave Trade & Colonialism

1400s to 1800s - Slave traders exchanged guns & goods for captive Africans

Colonialism – 1800s – Europe began colonizing the region

- Berlin Conference – European powers divided the continent

Effects of Colonialism - Lost resources as well as the cultural & ethnic oppression of people

Little infrastructure or money for transportation, education systems

Most countries gained their independence by 1960s

Apartheid in South Africa

White minority government in South Africa instituted apartheid

Complete separation of races in schools, hospitals, & neighborhoods

Blacks make up 75% of population, but owned little land

Apartheid in South Africa

1949 - Nelson Mandela became leader African National Congress

-Worked to end apartheid & was imprisoned

Apartheid in South Africa

1980s - South Africa began reform

-Pressured by international sanctions

1989 - F.W. de Klerk became president

Early 1990s - Peaceful revolution ended apartheid

1994 – Nelson Mandela was freed & elected president

1996 - New, democratic constitution passed

LIVING IN AFRICA TODAY

Review Questions

Trade in the Ghana, Mali, & Songhai Empires was

based on what two products?What was the main purpose of the Berlin

Conference?What did the rest of the world implement in

an attempt pressure South Africa to end apartheid?

 What is infrastructure?

Economics

Mineral wealth has not created general African prosperity

Most African countries are worse off today than in 1960

- Average incomes have decreased

Economics

- Worldwide: accounts for 1% of total GNP, 1.5% of exports

- Lack crucial infrastructure (roads, airports, railroads, ports)

- Little access to computers or high technology

manufacturing to achieve economic growth and stability

Economics

Most countries do little manufacturing - Sell raw materials to industrialized

countries (Serves as the economic base for most African nations)

Economics

Agriculture is Africa’s single most important economic activity

- 66% of Africans earn a living farming which accounts for 1/3 of exports

Economics

“One-commodity” countries rely on export of one or two commodities (economies unstable)

- Commodity - agricultural or mining product that can be sold (supply and demand)

Economists want Africans to diversify - create variety in economies & promote

Education

Uneducated populace is a large barrier to economic development

Brain Drain - Many professionals migrate to Western nations

Average schooling time for women up only 1.2 years in last 40 years

Education

2001 - less than half the sub-Saharan young adults attended school

- shortage of teachers and secondary schools high dropout rate

Civil wars have destroyed school systems in Angola and Somalia

In Cameroon, most children leave school at age 12

Algeria - 94% get a formal education 83% of Mauritians over 15 are literate

Serious Diseases

Epidemic diseases are killing Africa’s people in huge numbers.

Cholera—sometimes fatal infection that is spread by poor sanitation & lack of clean water

Serious Diseases

Malaria - often-fatal infectious disease marked by chills & fever

carried by mosquitoes (resistant to drugs due to overuse)

Serious Diseases

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) (caused by HIV virus)

- 70% of adult & 80% of child AIDS cases are in Africa

Often paired with tuberculosis - infectious respiratory infection

AIDS Stalks the Continent

2000 - 3 million died from AIDS worldwide

- 2.4 million lived in sub-Saharan Africa

Swaziland, 3 of 4 deaths were from AIDS

- life expectancy has fallen from 58 years to 39

2000- 26 million people in Africa had HIV or AIDS

Economic Consequences of AIDS

Sick people work less or not at all, earn less,& slip into poverty

AIDS is lowering South Africa’s GDP - by 2010, it could be 17% lower compared

to without AIDS UNAIDS estimates $4.63 billion needed

to fight AIDS in Africa UNAIDS—United Nations program

studying AIDS epidemic

Review Questions

What is a commodity?What is a “one –commodity” country?What does it mean to diversify a country’s economy?What is AIDS?What is cholera & what causes its spread? What is malaria & what insects carry it?What is tuberculosis, how is it spread & what other

disease does it usually accompany? What serves as the economic base for most African

nations?What is “brain drain”? What disease has the greatest negative impact on

Africa?