Sub-Sahara Africa: The Land

Ch. 20 Sec. 1

A Satellite View

The African Plateau

Highland Features

•

Plateaus

make a series of steps  make up most of Africa • Edges of plateaus are

escarpments

(cliffs) –Most are <20 miles from coast (Map on p. 501) –Hard to travel inland from coast (bad for exploration)

Highland Features

• Rivers plunge down escarpments making

cataracts

(waterfalls)

Victoria Falls; b/w Zambia & Zimbabwe

Highland Features

• Africa has highest overall elevation than any other continent… • But still few mountains • Mts. included in Eastern highlands –Ethiopian Highlands, and volcanoes Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya

Mt. Kenya 17,057 ft; in Kenya Mt. Kilimanjaro 19,330 ft; in Tanzania Highest Free Standing Mountain in the world

Mt. Kenya

Highland features

• Ruwenzori Mts.

–Divide Uganda & Dem. Rep. of the Congo –Covered in snow and clouds • Drakensberg Range –South Africa –Lots of national parks, wetlands

Ruwenzori Mts.; 16,761 ft.

Ice Cap on Mount Margherita….Africa’s 3 rd tallest mountain

Drakensberg Range; 11,420 ft.

“Barrier of Spears” in Zulu Tugela Falls World’s 2 nd tallest Waterfall

Great Rift Valley

• Stretches from Syria to Mozambique • Formed by shifting tectonic plates (what kind??) millions of yrs. ago –Volcanoes & earthquakes continue to shape region TODAY

Seismic Activity in Africa

6,000 Miles Long!

Red Sea

Great Rift Valley

• Forms two branches –Eastern branch = volcanic cones –Western branch= lakes • Lake Tanganyika (2 nd freshwater & 2 nd lgst. deepest in world) • Lake Malawi (mt. rimmed, >2,300 feet deep) • Lake Victoria (2 nd widest in world, but shallow; source of White Nile)

Lake Malawi Lake Tanganyika

Lake Victoria

The African Great Lakes

Water Systems

• Lakes & rivers come from basins formed millions of yrs. ago as land uplifted • Travel from plateaus in center of cont. to the sea – Hit escarpments   waterfalls near impossible to navigate inland/ up river

Water Systems

• Lake Chad: –West-central Africa • 20 mil. ppl in 4 countries depend on it –Faces desertification (droughts + natural climate) • So shallow, affected greatly by climate Δs • 1960s = 26,000 km²; 2000= 1,500 km²

Water Systems

• Lake Volta: –Man-made (1 of lgst. in world) –Flooded 700 villages & displaced 70,000 to create –Used for irrigation, fishing, hydroelectric power (Akosombo Dam) for major aluminum plant and ppl of Ghana

Akosombo Dam (creates Lake Volta)

Water Systems

• Niger River: –“great river”  main artery in W. Africa – 2,600 miles long (3 rd in Africa) • Forms arc across 5 countries –Vital for irrigation & transportation –Splits into Niger Delta in Nigeria (150 X 200 miles)

Water Systems

• Zambezi River: –Many waterfalls (Victoria Falls- 355 foot drop – 2X size of Niagra) • Congo River: –Meets sea at deep,

navigable

estuary in Africa rapids (only one in Africa) –Largest network of navigable water –But still has major waterfalls &

Zambezi River Victoria Falls

Congo River- 2 nd longest in Africa

Physical Barriers

• Sahara prevents travel from North Africa to South/Central Africa • Western deltas were treacherous to sail inland • Eastern highlands made travel inland difficult (cliffs) –Europeans controlled coastal trade and Africans controlled inland trade

Natural resources

• Mineral resources are abundant –Plentiful

oil

reserves –

Various metals

across region –S. Africa has ½ world’s

gold

, also found elsewhere –Major

diamond

deposits

Natural Resources

• Water is ABUNDANT • The problem lies with harnessing power (physical & financial problems) – Congo River- More potential hydroelectric power than U.S. – Africa hold’s 25% of the world’s potential for hydroelectricity, but uses less than 10% of it.

• More development is occurring – Kenya installed 20,000 rural solar power systems from 86-96

How Much Do You Know about… AFRICA??

1.

2.

• • The land area of the U.S. fits into the land area of Africa a little over three times FALSE- over four times!

Africa is composed most of desert, jungle, and some grassland.

FALSE- 25% desert, 10% jungle,

55%

grassland

How Much Do You Know about… AFRICA??

3. Lions, giraffes, tigers, and many other wild animals are native to Africa.

• FALSE- no tigers (only in Asia) 4.

• The cultures of Africa are very similar.

FALSE- about 3,000 ethnic groups!

5. • Most of Africa experiences four seasons each year.

FALSE- mostly tropical year round

How Much Do You Know about… AFRICA??

6.

7.

• 8.

• • Africa is one of the largest countries in the world.

FALSE- 2 nd largest

continent

The “Afro” is a hair style from Africa FALSE- originated in U.S.

There are very few tribes left in Africa today.

FALSE- many, many, many tribes today

How Much Do You Know about… AFRICA??

9.

• Outside of South Africa, there are very few ethnic problems in Africa.

FALSE- leaders overthrown in Uganda, Nigeria, Angola, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia… 10. Africa is a poor land with few resources.

• FALSE lots of water, 70% of world’s diamonds 11. The people in Africa live in huts.

• FALSE- all types of housing from huts to modern skyscrapers

How Much Do You Know about… AFRICA??

12. The male lion is the best hunter of all African cats.

• FALSE Female lion called “Queen of Savanna” 13. Africa has no early history or any advanced civilizations.

• FALSE- Egyptians; no

written

for a while record of others 14. The largest river in the world is the Nile.

• FALSE- longest river

How Much Do You Know about… AFRICA??

15. Most Africans speak the same language.

• FALSE- speak tribal or European lang.