Transcript africa - kerrioconnor

AFRICA
Geography
Gulf of
Guinea
Atlantic
Ocean
Indian Ocean
Coastline

Africa has a regular
coastline
– Smooth
– Few natural ports and
harbors
– Limits trade

Coastline leads
directly to desert or
jungle
– Limited exploration by
the Europeans
– Helps to isolate Africa
Bodies of
Water
Lake
Victoria
 Lake
Tanganyika
 Lake
Malawi

Great Rift Valley
4,000 mile canyon in East
Africa
 Natural barrier
 Site of many
archeological discoveries,
including “Lucy” or Homo
Habilis, by Mary & Louis
Leakey.

Great Rift Valley cont’d
Great Rift Valley
It is believed
that Ancient
man originated
here
Skeleton of
“Lucy”- Remains
of Ancient
Female found in
GRV
Savannas
Tall, mostly
treeless grasslands
that has both a dry
and a wet season.
 Covers
approximately
45% of Africa
 The majority of
people & wildlife
live in the savanna
region.

Deserts
 Cover
about
40% of Africa
 Sahara
 Kalahari
 Namib
 Nubian
Mountains
 Atlas
Mts.
 Drakensburg
Mts.
 Mt. Kilamanjaro
 Highest
mountains are
located in
eastern Africa.
Climate
Zones
Africa has
very diverse
climate
regions.
 Desert
 Steppe
 Savanna
 Rainforest
 Mediterranean

Sahara Desert
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Located in Northern Africa
Larger than the United
States
Occupies 1/3 of Africa
Not a sandy desert: most of
the desert is rock and
gravel
Causes geographic
isolation
Serves as a natural barrier
separating the people of
the Sahara and Southern
Africa
Desertification


the process of fertile land
becoming desert.
Causes:
– Overuse/over farming,
overgrazing and over
cutting of trees for
firewood.
– Trees and grasses have
root systems that hold
topsoil in place, without
them erosion blows or
washes it away, and the
land becomes desert.
Desertification con’t
 Solutions:
– Crop rotation: moving one type of crop
to a different field each year.
 Prevents
the soil nutrients from being
depleted year after year.
– Planting tree belts also stops wind
erosion
Rivers
Nile River
 Niger R.
 White Nile
 Benue R.
 Blue Nile
 Congo R.
 Zambezi R.
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
Victoria Falls
Nile River
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The longest river in the
world at 4,180 miles
long.
It flows NORTH from the
mountainous region of
Lake Victoria to the coastal
plains of the
Mediterranean Sea.
Cataracts- places where
the river becomes shallow,
rocks, rapids and
waterfalls prevent
navigation
Trade/transportation
hindered- slowed,
prevented by cataracts
“Gift of the Nile”
It is an annual,
predictable flood that
provides nutrient rich
soil for crops to grow
surrounded by desert.
 Rich soil= silt
 The Nile River valley
was home to one of
the world’s first
civilizations: Egyptian
civilization

– The Egyptians created their
calendar based off the
annual overflow of the nile