The Geography of Africa

2.7.12

Main Ideas

• Fertile soil along the Nile River encouraged the rise of great civilizations (ex. Egypt)

• Many geographic features in Africa have prevented contact, trade & unity among peoples

• Many of these same features limit European knowledge of Africa “the Dark Continent”

Physical Geography

• PHYSICAL FEATURES

• Sahara Desert• smooth coastline• lack of navigable

rivers• Great Rift Valley• high plateau

• RESULT• Groups are kept

separate • 800 different

languages are spoken in modern Africa

More Physical Features

• Lake Victoria

• Lake Tanganyika

Diversity leads to Imperialism

• Raw materials and resources lead to European interest in Africa

• Africa’s geographical divisions prevents the Africans from cooperating to resist

Interesting Statistics

• 2nd largest continent- - 11,700,000 square miles!

• That’s 20.2% of the earth

• And 3x the size of the USA

• 1,022,234,000 people• 55 countries

Topography

• Deserts– 40% of the land surface of Africa– slows cultural diffusion - does not totally

prevent it

• Sahara -- North Africa– 1/3 of the continent (= to the USA!!)– majority is rock and gravel

• Kalahari--Southwest Africa

True desert spreads into semi-arid regions

P rob lem : D esertifica tion

m a ln u trit ion s ta rva tion p overty

S ah e l D esert(sou th S ah ara )

Desertification - Causes

• Farmers use semi-arid land next to desert - yields poor crop

• Overgrazing by cattle and goats

• Overcutting of trees for firewood

• With no grass or tree roots, the topsoil With no grass or tree roots, the topsoil blows away, the desert advancesblows away, the desert advances

Solutions

• Crop rotation

• Terracing to prevent soil from washing away

• Tree belts to stop erosion and hold soil in place

Mountains

• East Africa-– caused by volcanic activity– section of the land sank - causing the Great Rift

Valley– Atlas (NW)– Drakensberg (SE)– Ethiopian Highlands– Famous peaks - Mt. Kenya & Mt. Kilimanjaro

Rivers

• Depth varies depending on the season

• Plateaus prevent easy navigation

• Therefore, the interior of Africa remained Therefore, the interior of Africa remained largely unexplored in the past largely unexplored in the past

• 4,180 miles long (world’s longest!!)

• flows NORTH

• Source - - Lake Victoria

• Delta - - Egypt

• Floods annually – One of the most densely populated region in

Africa

• Waterfalls and rapids prevent easy navigation

• Congo - 3000 miles long

• Niger - ancient civilizations flourished here

• Zambezi - Victoria Falls, used for hydro-electric power

Coastline

• Smooth

• Few natural harbors - hard to land ships

Climate - determined by rainfall, latitude and elevation

• Savanna - 40%, safari!!

• Tropical Rainforest - 8%,

• Desert - 40%

• Mediterranean - 12%, good farm land

• About 85% of the land is not suited to About 85% of the land is not suited to farmingfarming

Natural Resources

• Farming– peanuts, cotton, cocoa, coffee

• Minerals– diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt

• Water– hydroelectric power

Features to Remember

• I watch CNN on TV in the AM.

Rivers:

• C: CONGO

• N: NIGER

• N: NILE

Lakes

• Lake VICTORIA

• Lake TANGANYIKA

Mountains

• Atlas Mountains