Rivers running across land create great rapids and waterfalls
Great Rift Valley in East Africa home to continents greatest mountain ranges
Most of the region lies in the tropics, great tropical rain forests across central Africa, vast grasslands on either side of tropical forests
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PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Wide variety of physical features
Higher average elevation than any other continent, but few major mountain ranges
Eastern Highlands, Rwenzori Mountains, Drakensberg Range
Highest mountain Mt. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)
Great Rift Valley in East Africa, formed by tectonic plates moving apart
Series of faults along region shape valley today
Volcanic mountains are found along the eastern part of the rift
Deep lakes formed by faults- Tanganyika, Malawi- are found on the western side of the Great Rift Valley
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PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Water Systems
Most large lakes near Great Rift Valley
Largest lake in Africa Lake Victoria, source of White Nile River (shallow compared to Tanganyika, Malawi)
Lake Chad (North Central Africa) shrinking
Droughts , too much water used for irrigation and desertification (caused by long periods of drought and poor land use) have caused Lake Chad to shrink
Drought, arid climate threats to its existence
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PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Lakes and rivers of southern Africa found in huge basins formed by uplifting land
Rivers originate in high plateaus and flow to the sea, across ridges and escarpments
Hard to navigate inland from sea because of waterfalls and rapids
Niger River main river in West Africa, vast inland delta formed before it meets the sea
Zambezi River, south- central Africa, course interrupted by many waterfalls
Congo River in central Africa, most easily navigated from the sea inland
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PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Natural resources distributed unevenly across region
Countries in western Africa have petroleum reserves
Gold and diamond deposits found in some countries (South Africa world's leading producer of gold)
Water is an abundant resource in some regions
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CLIMATE AND VEGETATION
Great variety of climates across region
Near Equator, tropical rainforest, wettest region of continent
Farmers clearing land to grow cash crops in rainforest cause soil depletion
Tropical grasslands called savanna covers almost half of continent
Rainfall is seasonal (6 months wet, 6 months dry)
Main vegetation is trees and tall grasses
Savanna is home to African wildlife (Serengeti Plain)
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CLIMATES AND VEGETATION
Away from tropics climate becomes drier
In North Africa separating savanna from deserts is semiarid steppe called Sahel
Low growing grasses, little rainfall
Over past 50 years much of region has undergone desertification
Human overuse and drought depletes topsoil and degrades quality of environment
Possibly caused by climate change that affects the lands ability to recover
Southern African deserts include the Namib and Kalahari
Moderate climates are found along the southern coast and parts of East Africa