African Geography

1. African Geography

2. Africa overview • Africa is the world’s second-largest continent, only behind Asia • Also is second-most populated, with 1.03 billion people living there • Known as the “Mother Continent;” people have been living in Africa for over 5 million years • The continent is divided in half by the Equator • Contains 54 different countries

4. Sahara Desert • Africa’s most dominating feature • The Sahara is the world’s largest hot desert, covering 3.3 million square miles • About the size of Brazil • Sand dunes can reach almost 600 ft. high • One of the harshest environments on the planet • Most of the Sahara receives less than 1 inch of rain per year

5. Sub-Saharan Africa • The area of the continent that lies south of the Sahara Desert • Contains all but 7 countries in Africa and about 800 million people • Has several “belts” of biomes

6. Sub-Saharan climates • Savanna: A rolling grassland dotted with trees covering much of central Africa • Receives between 15 and 25 inches of rain per year • Jungle: land overgrown with dense vegetation • Covers much of the Congo and the western coast of Africa • Both areas contain a large amount of animal life, but relatively few people • Southern Africa is a mix of forests, grasslands, and deserts

7. Savanna Jungle

8. Africa’s physical features • Africa has relatively few mountain ranges • Mt. Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa at 19,341 ft. • East Africa contains the African Great Lakes, a series of the seven largest lakes in Africa • Lake Victoria: 2nd largest freshwater lake in the world • Lake Tanganyika: 2nd deepest lake in the world • These lakes flow into and create the Nile and the Congo Rivers