Topics on the Page
How Big is Africa?
The Regions of Africa
The Great Rift Valley
Sahara Desert
The Nile River
Lake Victoria
Mount Kilimanjaro
Cape of Good Hope
Map of Africa from Nations Online Project
CROSS-LINK: Wildlife Diversity and the Serengeti Wildebeest Migration
Earth 105: Environments of Africa
- Online course featuring Open Educational Resources from the Department of Geosciences, Penn State University
Mapped: Visualizing the True Size of Africa
Teaching and Learning Resources: How Big Is Africa?
- Click here on instructions on how to create maps of Africa with your students.
- 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
African 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 Regions of Africa
There are 5 primary regions of Africa: Within the regions of Africa there are 54 countries and 8 territories
Northern Africa:
Southern Africa:
Eastern Africa:
Western Africa:
Central Africa:
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
Environmental History and Changes
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
Lake Chad as Seen from the Apollo 7 Spacecraft
Scientists Discover Sahara Desert Once Contained the World's Largest Lake.
The Nile River
Nile River at Luxor
Cross-Link: The Nile River
Nile River: ends in Egypt as the Nile, runs down into Sudan and Uganda as the White Nile, and across into Ethiopia as the Blue Nile.
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).
For more on ancient Nuba, see Black Kingdoms of the Nile from PBS and Nubia: Lost Civilization of Egypt from the BBC.
Click here for a learning plan on the Nile River
Lake Victoria
The end of the Nile, bordered by Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.
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It is the largest lake in Africa and the second largest freshwater lake in the world.
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The lake contains over 200 different species of fish.
| Elephants and Mount Kilimanjaro. Image: Dan Lundberg |
Mount Kilimanjaro
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.
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For more information, click here.
Sources
unless otherwise noted, information compiled using the Oxford Atlas of the World, 2005
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