GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA

What is Africa?

A country? A continent? A state?

AFRICA TODAY

• Second largest continent

• There are 53 countries in Africa.

• It contains the world’s longest river- the Nile and largest desert- the Sahara!

HIGHS AND LOWS

• Three important features of Africa’s geography are:– Mountains– Rifts: long, deep valleys formed by the

movement of the earth’s crust– Plains: wide, flat areasLet’s look at the map- page 113

FIND A FEATURE

Name a mountain range

Name a rift

Name a river

FOUR REGIONS

• West Africa is made up of four main regions that spread like bands across the continent– the Sahara– the Sahel (also called steppe)– Savannah– Rain forests Have you heard of these before?

THE SAHARA

• The world’s largest desert• Made up of sand and gravel• Little rain, less than 4 inches a year (Fresno’s

average rainfall is about 11 inches a year)• Temperatures above 120 F

SAHARA

• It includes areas of rock-strew plains, rolling sand dunes, numerous sand seas and oases.

• It ranges in elevation from 100 ft. below sea level, to peaks of 11,000 ft.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

What does the prefix “sub” mean?

• The parts of Africa that are below the Sahara desert are called sub-Saharan Africa.

THE SAHEL• A semi-arid strip of land that divides the

dry Sahara from the wetter lands to the south.

What does arid mean?

SAHEL• Although it’s dry- the Sahel or steppe has

enough vegetation to support hardy grazing animals

• There can be 8-10 month stretches of no rainfall• Average rainfall 6-20 inches a year

SAVANNAH• The band below the Sahel• Open grassland with scattered trees• Tall grasses and shrubs grow here• Grazing animals are common

• Rainfall average: 20-47 inches a year

SAVANNAH ANIMALS

RAIN FOREST• Wet, densely wooded areas

• Rainfall: 63-79 inches a year

• Near the equator What is the equator?

• Many plants and animals

GREAT RIVERS

• There are three main rivers in sub-Saharan Africa– the Congo– the Zambezi– the Niger Why would people want to live by

the water?

The great civilizations in West Africa grew around the Niger River.

NIGER RIVER

• What does it provide?– Water, food, transportation

• The four regions all surround the Niger• The Niger’s middle section is an area of

lakes and marshes called an inland delta– Many animals live here

WEST AFRICA’S RESOURCES

• Land

-Multiple climates = many crops

• Minerals

-ancient lakes dried up and left salt

• Gold

-mine locations kept secret, used for jewelry/coins

SALT & GOLD

• Important trading resources

• Think about why these might be important- we will be discussing it later.

REVIEW QUESTION 1

An area near the equator that has many trees and heavy rainfall may be called a

a. tropical area

b. rain forest

c. savannah

d. woodland

REVIEW QUESTION 2

The entire region south of the large North African desert is called

a. Drakensberg

b. extended Africa

c. sub-Saharan Africa

d. the sub-savannah

REVIEW QUESTION 3

The region of open grasslands where most grazing of animals takes place is the

a. rain forest

b. Sahara

c. savannah

d. sahel

REVIEW QUESTION 4

Between the Sahara and the savannah lies the

a. rain forest

b. inland delta

c. Zambezi

d. Sahel

REVIEW QUESTION 5

Long, deep valleys formed by the movement of the earth’s crust are called

a. chasms

b. rifts

c. volcanoes

d. earthquake zones

Review Question 6

• Which list of Niger River regions is in order from most rainfall to least?