Unit 6: Africa
Physical Geography
Landforms and Resources
Geography
• Plateau
– Covers most of the
continent
– 1,000 feet above sea level
– “Plateau continent”
• Basins and Rivers
– Basins span more than
600 miles across, up to
5,000 ft deep
– Water travels through
multiple rivers to these
basins
Geography
• Rift Valleys
• Eastern part is pulling away from the rest of the
continent
• 4,000 miles long
Geography
• Mountains
– Mount Kilimanjaro
– Volcanic activity
– Escarpment-steep slope with a plateau on top
Resources
• Minerals
– Gold
– Platinum
– Chromium
– Cobalt
– Copper
– Phosphates
– Diamonds
• Did these pay off for the African people?
Resources
• Oil Resources
– Libya, Nigeria, Algeria: 7% of
world’s oil supply
– Angola, Gabon have untapped
oil reserves
• Other Resources
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Coffee: 20% of world’s supply
Lumber
Sugar
Palm Oil
Cocoa
Diamonds
Climate and Vegetation
Climate
• Deserts
– Sahara: largest desert in
the world
• 3,000 miles long
• 1,200 miles north to south
– Kalahari
– Namib
– Little to no water on the
surface, but deep below:
• Aquifers-stores of
underground water
Climate
• Tropics
– Largest tropical area
of any continent
– Temperatures do
not differ much
between the
summer and winter
• Day and night
temperatures differ
more
Weather Patterns
• Rainfall
– Rain forest in Central Africa
gets the most
– For the most part, rest of
Africa has 2 rainy seasons
– Tropical savanna goes though
middle of continent
• Rainy seasons can last nearly 6
months
– In desert regions: rain may
not fall for years
Vegetation
• Tropical Grassland
– Serengeti Plain
– Not good for growing crops or trees, but great for
grass
Vegetation
• Rain Forest
– Located on equator, Congo Basin
– 100 different kinds of trees in just a sq. acre
– Lots of flora and fauna
Human-Environment Interaction
Human Destruction
• Desertification
– Shift from fertile soil to
desert
– Usually caused by over
grazing or other poor
agricultural methods
– Seen in the Sahel
• Band of grassland that
runs along the southern
edge of Sahara
Human Destruction
• Oil Production in
Nigeria
– Debt issues
– Environmental
problems
• 4,000 oil spills
• People forced from
homes
• Land ruined
Human Destruction
• The Nile
– Aswan High Dam
• Does help farmers by
supplying water
• Has helped to create more
arable land
• However, some negative
impacts on environment
– Silt from river now means
farmers must use strong
fertilizers
– Animal and vegetation
habitats destroyed