Africa Physical Geography

1. Africa Physical Geography

2. Land and Water • Where is Africa located? • What are Africa’s most important landforms?

3. The Four Regions of Africa • Africa can be divided into four regions: (1) _____________________ (2) West; (3) _____________________ (4) Central and Southern.

4. North Africa’s physical features include _______________________________ ______________________________.

5. West Africa is Africa’s _____________ __________________; its grasslands provide good soil for farming.

6. East Africa is marked by _______________________________________, large raised areas of mostly level land.

7. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

8. Africa’s Major Landforms • Africa is called the “_________________” because of its high elevation—the height of land above sea level. • Each of Africa’s regions has mountains. • The highest are is in ________________. • There, the continent’s highest mountain, __________________, rises to a height of more than ________________ feet.

9. Coastal plains lie along much Africa’s coastline. • ___________________________________________________________________. • The 4,000-mile-long _________________ in _____________ was formed millions of years ago as continents pulled apart. • A rift is ______________________. • Major lakes are in or near the Great Rift Valley.

10. The Great Rift Valley ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. Africa’s Rivers • The Nile: ______________________________, it runs more than ___________ miles. • From its two sources, the White Nile and the Blue Nile, it flows north into the Mediterranean Sea. • __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • The Aswan High Dam controls flooding and provides ____________ from the rushing water.

12. The Congo: Africa’s _____________ river runs through Central Africa into the Atlantic Ocean, fed by tributaries, small rivers and streams that flow into a larger river. • The Niger: Africa’s ______________ river ___________________________________________________________________. • The Zambezi: Africa’s ____________ river is about 2,200 miles long and runs through __________ in __________________.

13. Climate and Vegetation • What types of climates and vegetation are found in Africa? • How do climate and vegetation affect how Africans make a living?

14. What Influences Climate? • The climate in most of Africa is warm because __________________________ _________________. • The seasons above _________________ are the ___________ of those below the Equator.

15. Countries with higher elevation, such as Ethiopia, tend to have a ______________ climate than those at a low elevation.

16. Lower countries such as Somalia tend to be _________________.

17. Their farmers must irrigate, or _________ water, their crops. • Or they must farm near an oasis, a place _________________________________. • _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

18. What Influences Climate? Desert and Rain Forest

19. Vegetation • _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • Loss of the forest causes nutrients in the land to be washed away in heavy rains.

20. North and south of the rain forests is the ________, grasslands with scattered trees. • The climate in the savanna has a _______ season and a ____________ season.

21. Between the Sahara and the savanna is a region called the _______, which is hot and _________. • ______________ are people who move around to various places to make a living. • ____________________________________________________________________.

22. Building Good Health • Climate affects the health of people and livestock throughout Africa. • The ___________ in the rain forest breeds _____________________ insects.

23. The ____________ is found in nearly one fifth of Africa. • The bite of the tsetse fly kills cattle and causes humans to get _______________. • Herders in various countries use poisons and traps to try to control the spread of the tsetse fly.

24. Natural Resources • What are Africa’s major natural resources? • How are Africans developing these resources?

25. Agricultural Resources • ____________________________________________________________________________________________. • Some subsistence farmers also grow a few crops to sell or trade.

26. Crops raised to be sold are called ___ _____________. • African cash crops include _________, cacao, and tea. • When too much land is used for cash crops and those crops fail, food shortages can occur.

27. _________________________________________________________________. • Some countries are replanting hardwoods to save the forests.

28. Agricultural Resources • From this map you can see how the ways of making a living in Africa vary from region to region. • Herding is widespread in the north, and farming takes place throughout the western and central portions of the continent. • Other activities such as manufacturing are scattered throughout Africa.

29. Mineral Resources • An economy is a system for ___________, distributing, consuming, and owning _________________________________. • _____ is a major part of Africa’s economy. • Parts of North Africa, as well as the West African country of Nigeria, have large supplies of a valuable mineral resource: _____________________________. • It is used to make oil and gasoline.

30. The country of Ghana was once called the Gold Coast because it was a chief exporter of ______________. • Other minerals from Africa include _________________________________________________________________________________________.

31. Balancing Crops, Minerals, and Industry • A specialized economy is one that is dependent on __________________. • In Africa, specialized farm economies can be harmed by lack of rainfall or falling crop prices.

32. African countries are now trying to diversify their economies—that is, to add ________________________. • _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.