physical map of Africa

           PHYSICAL MAP OF AFRICA 

* 2nd largest continent the only continent which lies in all four hemispheres.

* Divided by Equator in half, lies between 37° 21' N to 34° 51' 15" S (°- degree)( '- minutes).     ( " -  means second)

* Prim Meridan also divides the continent, spreads from 17°31'13" W to 51° 27 ' 52" E.

Surrounded by:

North - Mediterranean Sea and Europe 

North East - Suezcanal (1869) Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Asia 

East and SE- Indian Ocean 

West- North and South Atlantic

* Covering an area of approx 3,03,68,609 km² including adjacent Islands 

* 6% of Earth's surface: Nearly 20.3% of land area

* Resided by 14% of Earth population 

* Surrounded by multiple small islands. Expect Madagascar fourth largest island on Earth, with an area of nearly 5,87,041 km².

* Madagascar lies in Indian Ocean, off the S.E ( south east) coast of Africa, separated from it by Mozambique channel.

5 Largest Islands:

* Greenland - Automous territory, part of Denmark - N. Atlantic Ocean.

- Geographically N. America, politically and culturally Europe.

* New Guinea - Oceania - west Pecific Ocean 

* Borneo - Asia - West Pacific Ocean 

* Madagascar - Africa - Indian Ocean 

* Baffin Island - N. America - N. Atlantic Ocean 

Africa:

* 54 Sovereign State 

* Largest: Algeria 7% of the continent 

* Smallest: Seychelles 451km²

*Most populous: Nigeria almost 14% of Africas population 

Africa Tectonic plates:

* Africa landmass is made up of a simple tectonic plate.

* Some geographers separate the Rift valley system from the rest of the Continent 

* The Rift valley begins from the Red Sea and extends through the Ethiopian highlands to the lake Victorian region where it subdivideds into an east and west segments and continues southward through lake Malawi to Mozambique.

Made Africa ( feature) :

* The continent is made up of very old Crystalline, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary Rock of great hardness ( collectively known as basement complex)

* Africa suffered little in terms of folding hence young folded mountain are missing ( expect Atlas Mountains .In the North and the Drakensburg Mountain  in the South)

* Some extensive areas of faulated plateau . Most highlands and mountains are result of recent volcanic activities.

African Desert:

* Sahara

* Kalahari 

* Namib

Sahara Desert:

* 3rd largest: largest hot desert in the world 

* Area : 92,00,000 km²

* Location: Mauritania, Mali, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Eritrea, Egypt,Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia 

* It ranges in elevation from 100ft below sea level to peaks in the Ahaggar and Tibesti Mountains that exceed 11,000 ft 

* Highest peak in Sahara is Emi Koussi 3,415 m (11,204ft)  in Tibesti range of Northern Chad.

* Defining Africa's Northern bulge, the Sahara makes up 30% of the continent.

" Has a number of distinct physical features, including Ergs, Regs. Hamadas, and Oases

* Ergs- sand dunes - covers 20% of the Sahara 

* Regs- plains of sand and gravel - make up 70% of Sahara 

" Hamadas- elevated plateaus of rock and stone - reach highest of 3,353m (11,000 f).

Kalahari Desert:

* Kalahari means great thirst

* Location - Botswana, Namibia and South Africa 

*Area- 2,59,000 sq.km

* Land of famous san people ( hunters)

* Famous for diamond mining 

* River: Okavango ( Orange river)

Namib Desert -

* Once of the oldest deserts in world 

* Coastal desert in Southern Africa 

* Stretches for more than 2000 Km along the Atlantic Coasts of Angola, Namibia and South Africa.

* Namib - Narkluft National park present here

Sahel (Transition zone)

* Narrow band of semi- arid land

* Forms a transition zone between the Shara to the north and Sudanian savannas to the South 

* Sahul suffers from desertification and drought 

* The sahul spans 5,900 km from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east.

Africa Savannas :

* Covers 40% of Africa 

" Also known as Tropical grasslands

* Rolling grassland of Shrubs and isolated trees

*Found between desert Biom and Tropical rainforest 

Found between either sides of equator.

* Among Africans many Savannas regions, Serengeti ( or Serengeti plains) is the most well- known. The Serengeti stretches 30,000 sq.km.

Tropical Rainforest :

* Occur in regions where high temperature are combined with heavy precipitation 

* 80% of Africa rain forest is concentrated in central Africa.

* Extends along western coast, Congo ( Zaire Basin, and on the Island of madagascar)

* Called - Jewal of Earth, worlds largest pharmacy 

African Rivers

Nile river:

Longest river in Africa as well as as world ( flows North) Rising from the highlands of southeastern Africa 

* About (6,693km) in length 

* It's a series of dams , rapids, streams. Swamps, tributaries, and waterfalls.

* Numerous ( major) rivers comprise the overall system, including Blue Nile and White Nile.

Congo River :

* Located in Central Africa 

* The river basin is about 3.7 million sq.km in size and contains almost 20% of the worlds rain forest.

* The second longest river in the Africa: one of the deepest in world.

* Crosses equator twice 

* The basin beings in the highlands of the East African Rift system and emptied it's land in the Gulf of Guinea .

Africa Great Lakes :

* The Great Lakes are located in countries that surround the Great Rift Valley 

* As the Africa continent separated from Saudi Arabia, large deep cracks were created in the earth surface. These cracks were later filled with water 

1. Lake Victoria 

2. Lake Tanganyika

3. Lake Malawi 

4. Lake Turkana

5. Lake Albert

6. Lake Kivu 

7. Lake Edward 

 Lake Victoria:

Africa's largest lake by area, the worlds largest tropical lake , and the worlds second largest fresh water lake by surface area after lake Superior in North America 

Lake Tanganyika:

World's largest freshwater lake, second largest by volume and 2nd deepest lake after lake Baikal in Siberia.

The Ethiopian Highlands:

* Rugged mass of mountains in central and northern Ethiopia and it's northern most portion reaches into Eritrea.

* Forms largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, little of its surface falling below (4,921ft) while the summits reach hights of up to 4550m (14,928ft)

* Tallest peak - Rad Dashen (4550m) 

* It is called the Roof of Africa for the height and large area.

East African Plateu:

* Eastern part of central Afrin Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania 

* It's elevation is mostly between 1000-1500 meters.

* Subdivided into of mountain ranges, Table lands: and Rift valleys.

* East Africa Plateu is highest in Kenya, where it is often 8,000 feet or more.

* Highest mountain Kilimanjaro -19,340 ft (5895m)

Other important points -

* The highest peak of Atlas Mountains is MT. Toubkal (4,167m)

* The Ruwenzori ( Ruwenzori) Range- sometimes called the mountains of the Moon.

* Rift valleys total length is estimated to be 6,000 miles (9,600m) average width ranges between 20 miles (32km) and 50 miles ( 80 km).