Topics on the Page

 

How Big is Africa?

 

The Regions of Africa

 

The Climate Regions of Africa

 

African Waterways

• The Nile River
• Lake Victoria
• Cape of Good Hope 

 

Important Natural Sites in Africa

• The Great Rift Valley
• Sahara Desert 
• Mount Kilimanjaro

 

Teaching Resources 

 

• CROSS-LINK: Wildlife Diversity and the Serengeti Wildebeest Migration
• CROSS-LINK: Origins of Modern Humans in Africa  

 

 This page includes information for Topic 1.2 of AP African American Studies.

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How Big is Africa?

 

Political Map of Africa from Nations Online Project

 

Mapped: Visualizing the True Size of Africa 

 

 

The Regions of Africa 

 

There are 5 primary regions of Africa: Within the regions of Africa there are 54 countries and 8 territories 

 

Map of the Regions

Northern Africa:   Algeria  Canary Islands  Ceuta  Egypt  Libya  Madeira  Melilla  Morocco  Sudan  Tunisia  Western Sahara

Southern Africa:   Botswana  Eswatini (Swaziland)  Lesotho  Namibia  South Africa

Eastern Africa:   Burundi  Comoros  Djibouti  Eritrea  Ethiopia  Kenya  Madagascar  Malawi  Mauritius  Mayotte  Mozambique  Reunion  Rwanda  Seychelles  Somalia  South Sudan  Tanzania  Uganda  Zambia  Zimbabwe

Western Africa:  Benin  Burkina Faso  Cape Verde  Ivory Coast  Gambia  Ghana  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Liberia  Mali  Mauritania  Niger  Nigeria  Saint Helena  Senegal  Sierra Leone  Togo

Central Africa:   Angola  Cameroon  Central African Republic  Chad  Democratic Republic of the Congo  Republic of the Congo  Equatorial Guinea  Gabon  São Tomé and Príncipe

 

Major Climate Regions

 

Africa is geographically diverse with five primary climate zones: desert (e.g., the Sahara), semiarid (e.g., the Sahel), savannah grasslands, tropical rainforests, and the Mediterranean zone. 

 

Early human settlement occurred in the Sahel and the savannah grasslands because...

• The waterways and grasslands connected trade between communities in the Sahara region (to the north) and in the (tropical regions to the south). 
• Fertile land supported the expansion of agriculture and the domestication of animals. 

 

How different climates effected trade:

• Desert and semiarid areas - populated with mostly nomadic herders, with some trading salt.
• The Sahel - people traded livestock.
• The savannah grasslands - people cultivated grain crops.
• The tropical rainforests - people grew kola trees and yams, and traded gold.  

 

 

African Waterways

 

The water surrounding Africa (Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean) supported the development of early human societies and global connections.

 

The major rivers (Niger River, Congo River, Zambezi River, Orange River, and Nile River) connected the different regions in the continent and facilitated the moving of people and goods.

 

Nations bordering or containing the…

• Atlantic Ocean:
• (bordering) Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Namibia, South Africa

 

• Indian Ocean:
• (bordering) Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar (island), Mauritius (island), Mozambique, South Africa

 

• Mediterranean Sea:
• (bordering) Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt

 

The Nile River

Nile River at Luxor

CROSS LINK: The Nile River

 

One of the birthplaces of human civilization with the Pharaohs and the Nubians thriving in this valley, the Nile River basin is one of the most geographic and historically important places on Earth. 

It is the world's longest river (4,160 miles) followed by the Amazon River (4,000 miles) and the Yangtze River (3,917 miles).

Click here for a learning plan on the Nile River

 

Lake Victoria

 

The end of the Nile, bordered by Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.

 

• It is the largest lake in Africa and the second largest freshwater lake in the world.

 

• The lake contains over 200 different species of fish.

 

 

 

Important Natural Sites  

  

Mount Kilimanjaro

Elephants and Mount Kilimanjaro. Image: Dan Lundberg

The highest peak in Africa at 5895 meters (19,298 feet) high; on the border of Kenya and Tanzania. 

 

It is also the highest free standing mountain in the world.

 

It is a very popular mountain to climb; it is possible to reach the crater rim with a walking stick as your equipment. 

 

Click here for the Nova site on Mount Kilimanjaro. 

 

  

Cape of Good Hope

 

The southern tip of Africa, on the coast of South Africa. Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias spotted the Cape on a journey to discover the lowest points of Africa.

 

It is the place where warm currents from the Indian Ocean meet cold currents from the Antarctic. Because of this, the Cape is known for having rough storms. 

 

• For more information, click here.

 

 

 

Great Rift Valley

 

Great Rift Valley: a geologic fault—or split in the earth's crust that shifts up and down—running from Central Asia down through Africa from north to south. In Asia, countries containing the Great Rift Valley are Lebanon, Syria, and then the rift runs down through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

• (quote) “The main section of the valley in Africa continues from the Red Sea SW across Ethiopia and south across Kenya, Tanzania, and Malawi to the lower Zambezi River valley in Mozambique.

 

• Many small lakes in Ethiopia and several long narrow lakes, notably lakes Turkana and Nyasa, lie on its course. Just north of Lake Nyasa there is a western branch, which runs north, chiefly along the eastern border of Congo (Kinshasa); this branch is marked by a chain of lakes, including lakes Tanganyika, Kivu, Edward, and Albert (Mobutu).

 

• Lake Victoria does not lie in the Great Rift Valley but between its main and western branches. The Great Rift Valley ranges in elevation from c.1,300 ft (395 m) below sea level (the Dead Sea) to c.6,000 ft (1,830 m) above sea level in S Kenya. 

 

• Erosion has concealed some sections, but in places, notably in Kenya, there are sheer cliffs several thousand feet high.”

 Click here for a virtual interactive on the Great Rift Valley

Sahara Desert

Desert Dunes

This desert occupies most of the inland land mass of North Africa; (“sub-Saharan Africa” refers to roughly the Southern two-thirds of the continent).

 

• Countries that are wholly or partly in the Saharan Desert are: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Sudan. 

 

• It is the largest desert in the world.

 

The Sahara Desert on YouTube

• The Sahara Desert: A Gallery of 60 Photographs from YouTube

 

• Crossing the Sahara Desert by Camel, Michael Palin, BBC

 

Environmental History and Changes

Lake Chad as Seen from the Apollo 7 Spacecraft 

One of the Driest Places on Earth, the Sahara Desert, Once Ran Water from USA Today

The Sahara Desert is Millions of Years Older Than Thought from Smithsonian

 

• Scientists Discover Sahara Desert Once Contained the World's Largest Lake. 

 

• Lake MegaChad

 

• Largest Freshwater Lake on Earth was Reduced to Desert in Just a Few Hundred Years, Science Daily, June 29, 2015

 

• Life in the Sahara from Curriki

 

 

 

Teaching and Learning Resources: How Big Is Africa?

 

• How Big Is Africa?

 

• How Big is Africa video

 

• Click here on instructions on how to create maps of Africa with your students.

 

• Getting to Know Africa: 50 Interesting Facts from National Geographic, October 2013.

 

• Africa in World History: Teaching and Incorporating Africa in the Classroom from University of Notre Dame

 

• Kids Geo.com - How fast can you locate the countries of Africa? Play this game and find out!

 

• Go here for an Interactive Africa country game

 

Link here for a song on African geography

 

Sights and Sounds of Africa from the University of Wisconsin- Madison Libraries 

 

Sources

unless otherwise noted, information compiled using the Oxford Atlas of the World, 2005