The African Continent

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The African Continent
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The African Continent

• Africa is the second largest continent
• a fifth of the earth's landmass
• divided into 54 different countries
• the equator cuts the continent's into two nearly
  equal halves
• generally divided into two regions with reference
  to the Sahara (the world's largest desert)
• north of the Sahara
• sub-Saharan region

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The African Continent

• landmass largely consists of plateau land
• plateau can be divided into two regions
• southeastern portion includes the Ethiopian
  Plateau, the East African Plateau and the
  Drakensberg Range.
• northeastern portion contains the Sahara Desert
  with the Ahaggar Mountains, and in northwestern
  Africa, the Atlas Mountains
• Several basins (bowl shaped areas) within the
  plateaus

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The African Continent

• there are several mountain ranges in Africa
• the Atlas Mountains in the northwest
• Mt. Kilimanjaro is the most well known
• presence of many rivers
• the Nile Africa AND the worlds longest
• Congo River
• The Niger River
• The Zambezi River
• many large lakes
• Lake Victoria
• Lake Tanganyika
• Lake Malawi
• Lake Chad

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The African Continent

• The Ituri Forest
• a dense tropical rain forest in the northern part
  of the Congo River Basin in the Democratic
  Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire)
• A desert
• The Sahara Desert Africas AND the largest
  desert in the world
• Kalahri Desert
• Namib Desert
• The Great Rift Valley
• runs from the north to the south of the continent

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The African Climate

• Alternating wet and dry season
• Rain is distributed unevenly
• From less than an inch to more than 80 inches
• Northern and Southern Hemispheres almost
  symmetrical
• six general climatic regions
• Tropical
• Tropical Wet
• Tropical Wet and Dry
• Dry
• Desert
• Semiarid
• Mid Latitude
• Mediterranean
• Marine west coast
• Humid Subtropical
• Highland

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The Africa Climate

• Largest climate zone Tropical Wet and Dry
• Savanna (grassland) covers almost half the
  continent
• Home to most Africans
• Rain is unpredictable
• Heavy or light
• Early or late
• Or not at all drought
• Desertification is a serious
• problem
• Turning semiarid lands into desert
• Caused by droughts, over grazing and people
  moving onto the land

Dead vegetation in drought-stricken area,
Senegal.
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The African Vegetation Regions

• Rain forest
• Grassland
• Desert and dry shrub
• Temperate grass.land
• Mediterranean shrub

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Desertification

• The Tanout, Niger area, situated just south of
  the Sahara desert

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The African People

• 12 of the world's population
• Is large and growing rapidly
• Second largest and fastest growing in the world
• More than 1,500 different languages/cultural
  groups
• In the North (close cultures ties to the Middle
  East)
• mostly Arabs
• In the South (Sub-Sahara)
• Amhara, Mossi, Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo, Kongo Zulu,
  Akan, Oromo, Hausa, and the Masai
• Europeans due to colonization
• Africa is sparsely populated in parts
• Africa has some of the most densely populated
  places on Earth
• Egypt along the Nile River (95 of Egypts pop.)
• principal cities of Africa are usually the
  national capitals and the major ports

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The African Economy

• Farming
• Subsistence farming (60) vs cash crop
• Herding
• Cattle on the savannas (grassland)
• fishing
• Hunting and gathering
• Very few remain today
• Mining
• Gold and diamonds
• Urban (cities)
• Along the coast, capital
• Growing quickly
• Move for a better life
• Slums

Himba, nomadic pastoralists, girl herding
goats, Namibia
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Agriculture and herding in Africa

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Africas Resources

• Oil is most valuable
• Algeria, Kenya, Libya, Egypt, Angola, Nigeria
• Diamonds
• 40 of the worlds
• Gold
• 50 of the worlds gold
• Rich in resources

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Pictures of Africa
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The NileThe worlds longest river
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The Sahara
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Camel Caravan crossing the Sahara
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Atlas MountainNorthwest
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Ethiopian Plateau
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Great Rift Valley
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Mount Kilimanjaro
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Lake Victoria
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Serengeti
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Flamingoes in Ngorogoro Crater part of the
Serengeti National Park
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The Masai
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Congo River
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The Niger River
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The Zambezi RiverLake Kariba
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Victoria Falls
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Drakensberg MountainsSoutheast
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Ituri Forestnorthern part of the Congo River
Basin
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Kalahari Desert
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Kalahari Desert
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Kalahari Desert A black-maned lion
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Okavango Delta an oasis in the Kalahari Desert
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The Grand Canyon of South AfricaLocated in
Augrabies Falls National Park
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Augrabies Falls
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The Great Escarpment in South Africa

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Africa

• 54 countries.
• Over 1000 languages.
• 797 million people.