AFRICA

LAND, CLIMATE &

NATURAL

VEGETATION

• SECOND LARGEST CONTINENT

• EUROPEANS COIND AS DARK CONTINENT

EXPLORERS

DAVID LIVINSTONE

HENRY MORTON STANLEY

MUNGO PARK

TRAVELLERS AND

TRADERS DID NOT

VENTURE AFRICA

HOT AND HUMID

CLIMATE

DENSE FOREST AND

WILD ANIMALS

DANGEROUSINSECTS

LACK OF NATURAL HARBOUR

HUGE WATERFALLS

RIVERS WERE NOT NAVIGABLE

SAHARA DESERT

FEAR OF DISEASES

SIZE AND LOCATION

• SECOND LARGEST CONTINENT

• SOURROUNDED BY WTER BY ALL SIDE

• Second largest continent

• Surrounded by water by all side

• Touches Europe in the N.W at the strait of GIBRALTAR

• STRAIT OF BABEL-MANDEB

• Isthmus of Suez in N.E

• SUEZ CANAL cut through it and joins Mediterranean sea.

• It has shortened the route to India by more then 10,000 KM

• Africa stretches from 37°N to 35°S latitude and from 17°W to 50°E

• Southern most tip of Africa is known as cape of Good Hope.

POLITICAL DIVISIONS

•Were under European rule for a longer period of time

•At present 54 independent nations in Africa

PHYSICAL FEATURES

MOUNTAINS

PLATEAUS

PLAINSRIFT

VALLEYS

DESERT

DRAINAGE

PHYSICAL FEATURES

MOUNTAINS

• Lies in the NW region of AFRICA

•These are FOLD mountains consisting of several parallel ranges.

ATLAS MOUNTAIN

•There are number of volcanic mountain in the eastern part such as MT.KILIMANJARO , MT.KENYA

•Along the western side DARKENBERG MOUNTAINS forms the steep edge of the plateau

MT. KAIBO

MT. KENYA

MT. MAWENZI

MT.MARGHERITA

PLATEAUS• Entire Africa appears to be plateau

• Higher in the eastern and the southern side of the continent

• These plateaus are of volcanic origin.

• The South African plateau is bound by highlands in the east, west and south. A large part of the plateau is occupied by the barren Kalahari Desert.

• The East African plateau also rises steeply from the east. A characteristic feature of this plateau is the existence of two rift valleys. These are great lines of depression formed by the sinking of blocks of the Earth's crust.

PLAINS• In Africa the plains are found only in

the northern and western regions, along the coast.

The coastal plains are very narrow. This is because the plateaus drop down to the sea abruptly.

The Congo or Zaire basin in the central part is a lowland region.

RIFT VALLEY • The rift valleys are the most

prominent physical feature of Africa.

• These are found in the eastern part of the continent and are collectively known as the Great Rift Valley

• The Great Rift Valley of Africa stretches for a distance of about 8,000 km from River Zambezi in the south to the Red Sea in the north and then further into Asia

FORMATION OF RIFT VALLEYS

DESERTS

DRAINAGE

The Zaire (also known as

Congo) is another important

river which flows through

central Africa and drains

into the Atlantic Ocean.

It carries the largest volume

of water and drains a very

large area.

• The Victoria Falls on the Zambezi is higher and wider than the Niagara Falls in North America.

• These falls were discovered by the Scottish explorer David Livingstone in 1855 and he named them after Queen Victoria of England

CLIMATE , NATURAL VEGETATION AND WILD LIFE