AFRICA
The Plateau Continent
PHYSICAL
FEATURES
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Much of central
Africa is a high, dry
plateau
Sahara – world’s
largest desert
Nile River – longest
river in the world
Lake Victoria –
world’s second
largest freshwater
lake
Lake Tanganyika –
longest freshwater
lake in the world
SAHARA DESERT
DESERTIFICATION
GREAT RIFT VALLEY
MOUNT KILIMANJARO
CLIMATE
ZONES
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What
landform
dominates
Northern
Africa?
What is the
climate type
found along
the equator?
RAINY SEASON
POPULATION
DENSITY
Largest Cities:
•Cairo, Egypt
•Lagos, Nigeria
1. Where is most of
the population
concentrated in
Egypt?
2. Have you noticed a
pattern in the
northern part of
Africa?
MWANZA, TANZANIA
ECONOMIC
ACTIVITY
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What natural
resource is
found mainly in
the southern
part of Africa?
What land use
dominates
most of Africa?
What land use
is the least
common in
Africa?
WORKERS PAN FOR DIAMONDS
COUNTRIES OF AFRICA
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53 countries
Largest: Sudan
Smallest:
Seychelles
At least 2,000
languages spoken
in Africa
Swahili and Arabic
are two of the
most common
languages
EUROPEAN COLONIALISM
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Africa was divided up by 8
countries in Europe during
the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.
Europeans wanted power
and strategic advantage,
exploited the resources of
Africa, established
settlements, and converted
Africans to Christianity.
In general, Europeans took
what they wanted from
Africa with very little
concern about the quality of
life for Africans.
AFRICAN INDEPENDENCE
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Africans fought European imperialism since
its beginnings, but this opposition gained
strength after World War I and again after
World War II.
Many Africans resented European
presence.
Africans desired self-rule because they
were generally treated as second-class
citizens by Europeans.
The World Wars also demonstrated that
Europeans were imperfect and raised
questions about European racism.
Finally, many African soldiers were exposed
to other places and they saw that European
powers were weakened by the wars in
Europe.
AFRICAN INDEPENDENCE
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In 1945, many prominent
leaders of Africa met in
Manchester, England and
drafted a resolution as an
appeal to their colonial
powers and a warning of
what would come if this
appeal was ignored.
By 1960, Africa had 27
independent states. That
number grew to 39 six
years later, and the
number became 47 by
1975.
TRIBAL TRADITIONS
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Social life revolves
around the
extended family.
Extended families
are linked to clans,
kin groups, and
tribes.
Religion and
language is closely
tied to the group
that one joins by
birth.
LANGUAGES OF AFRICA
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Niger-Congo: spoken by one out of
every two Africans, spread by
Bantu migrations
Afro-Asiatic: second-most-spoken
on the continent, mainly in North
Africa
Nilo-Saharan: western bend of the
Niger River through the Sahel
region into parts of east Africa
Khoisan: smallest number, found
in Southern Africa, known as “the
click languages”
Because there is usually such a
wide variety of languages spoken
in one country, trade languages,
such as Swahili, Hausa, Fulani,
and Creole have developed for
cross-cultural communication.
AGRICULTURE
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Africa is largely a
rural continent.
Many young
Africans are
moving to the
cities to find work,
however, many
Africans stay in the
rural villages and
practice
subsistence
farming and
livestock raising.
RELIGION
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46 % are Christian
(mainly in West, East,
Central, and Southern
Africa)
40% are Muslim (mainly
in North and West
Africa)
Over 100 million
practice indigenous
religions