Africa Physical Geography

Physical Geography of Africa

• Congo Basin rainforest at the Equator (20% of Africa)

• Plateau grassland, north and south of the Equator (40% of Africa), called Sa anna Savanna

World grasslands

Savanna grasslands

• Plateau desert north and south of the grassland (40%) of Africa

--Sahara Desert in the north

--Kalahari Desert and Namib Desert in the south

• Mountains -- In Sahara Desert (Atlas Mountains)

--East Africa (Ethiopian Highlands)

--South Africa (Drakensburg Mountains)

-- Mt. Kiliminjaro, near Equator (19,340 ft. high)

• Great Rivers g , -- Nile,, world’s longest, 4145 miles

-- Zaire (Congo)

-- Niger (west Africa), caravan city of Timbuktu

Where the canoe meets the caravan . . .

-- Zambezi (east Africa), Victoria Falls

• Great Rift Valley of East Africa --cuts a wide break into the highlands --earthquakes and volcanos

• Lakes of the Great Rift --Lake Victoria (2nd largest surface in world)

-- Lake Tanganyika (world’s longest, 420 miles)

-- Lake Nyasa (wide variety of endemic fish)