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Africa Notes
Physical Geography of Africa
Size and Climate
• Second Largest continent in the world
• 800 million people
• 15% of it is considered desert
• 10% of it is considered tropical rainforest
• 35% of it is considered savanna/grasslands
• Climates consist of Mediterranean, mountain, tropical wet and dry, rainy and mild, wet and mild
Population and Diversity
• 800 Ethnic Groups (this includes Asians, Europeans, and Arabs)
• 100 languages are spoken in Africa (40 of which have more than one million speakers)
• Over 40% of Africans practice a wide variety of traditional religions. (Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism are
practiced in Africa)
Agricultural Diversity
• Following crops are the main ones grown in different regions of Africa – Rice, wheat, maize, root crops(yams,
sweet potatoes), oil palm, tea, cocoa, coffee, wine, sugar, tobacco, cotton, sisal (fiber for making rope or twine)
Facts and Figures
 Largest country – Algeria
 Smallest country – Seychelles
 Largest city – Cairo (9.2 million)
 Highest point – Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,340ft)
 Largest lake – Lake Victoria (second –largest in the world)
 Deepest lake – Lake Tanganyika (second deepest freshwater lake in the world after Lake Baikal)
Health
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Malaria – 90% of all malaria cases are in sub-Saharan Africa
3,000 children under the age of five die each day from malaria in Africa
1-5% of GDP in Africa covers costs of malaria control and lost labor days
17 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have died of AIDS
25 million people in Africa are HIV-positive
12 million children have lost their parents to AIDS
Facts and Figures
• Nile River – longest river in the world (4,132 miles) and Africa. Originates at Lake Victoria
Great Rift Valley – 3,000 miles from Syria to Mozambique – two branches – the Eastern Rift and the Western
Location
• Which hemisphere is Africa located?
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Name: __________________________
Period: ______________
• Which hemisphere is Africa located?
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What major bodies of water surround the continent of Africa?
Quiz time ….
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Which country is the only country to border both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean?
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Which country is the only country to border both the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean?
Place
(What makes Africa different from other places?)
• What types of climate does Africa have?
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What types of physical features are there in Africa?
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What are the major physical features of Africa?
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Lake Tanganyika
• Second largest lake of Africa
• Longest lake of the world 481 miles
• Deepest lake on the African continent
• Second deepest in the world (Lake Baikal in Russia is the deepest) 4,800
• Oldest lake in Africa.
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Period: ______________
Date: _________
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Name: __________________________
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Miscellaneous
• The world’s largest diamond was the Cullinan, found in South Africa in 1905. It weighed 3,106.75 carats uncut.
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With a population of more than 113 million, Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and the 10 most
populated in the world.
The average poor person in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to live on just $.70 a day
The average life expectancy on the African continent ranges from 74 years in the island nation of Mauritius to
just under 32 years in sub-Saharan Swaziland
There are fewer people with internet connections in Africa than there are in just New York City.
An elephant can drink up to 160 liters of water per day and a mature elephant can carry up to 6.8 liters of water
in its trunk
The Sahara is the largest desert in the world and is bigger than the continental USA.
Over 90% of soils are unsuitable for agriculture and only 0.25% has moderate to low potential for sustainable
farming.
South Africa has a penguin colony
Almost 40% of adults in Africa are illiterate – two-thirds are women. Adult literacy rates are below 50% in Benin,
Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
The world’s biggest frog is found in Cameroon – the “Goliath Frog” – body can be as long as a foot
The Nile crocodile is Africa’s largest living reptile
Over 50% of Africans are under the age of 25.
The tallest animal on earth is the giraffe
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Name: __________________________
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• The Gorilla is the largest of the living primates
• Africa is the world’s poorest and most underdeveloped continent with a continental GDP that accounts for just
2.4% of global GDP
• The world’s largest and heaviest beetle, the Goliath Beetle, is found in tropical Africa. It can reach a length of 5
inches and weigh up to ¼ lb
• Africa has over 25% of the world’s bird species.
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