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Physical Features of Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is composed of a huge plateau
The edges of the continent tend to end in Escarpments
• Steep cliff at the edge of a plateau with a lowland area below
River Transportation impeded by waterfalls and rapids
Kongou Falls - Gabon
Victoria Falls
The Great Rift Valley• A rift valley is a large break in the Earth’s
surface formed by shifting tectonic plates (divergent)
Location of equator through middle of region acts like a mirror
• Similar climatic patterns north and south of equator
Desert
Desert
Tropical Tropical
Savannah
Savannah
Desertification of the Sahel
Smooth Coastline, few harbors
• Harbor – a part of a body of water along the shore deep enough for anchoring a ship and situated to provide protection from wind, waves, and currents
Large Number of Land-locked countries
Soil Composition – not a lot of fertile land
• Limited fertility of rain forest soil
• Deserts– Sahara in north, Kalahari in south, Namib in
south east
Africa has approximately 30 percent of the earth’s remaining mineral
resources. South Africa’s total mineral reserves alone is estimated to be worth
$2.5 trillion. The continent has the largest reserves of precious metals with
over 40 percent of the planet’s gold reserves, over 60 percent of the cobalt,
and 90 percent of the platinum reserves
How does the physical geography of Africa affect settlement,
conquest, and development?
• Plateau• Hydroelectric Power• Escarpment• Rift Valley• Animism• Sub-Saharan• Imperialism• Colony• Harbor