The Geography of Africa By: Eleanor Joyce City of Salem Schools

Main Ideas Fertile soil along the Nile River encouraged the rise of great civilizations (ex. Egypt) Many geographic features in Africa have prevented contact, trade & unity among peoples Many of these same features limit European knowledge of Africa “the Dark Continent”

Physical Geography PHYSICAL FEATURES Sahara Desert smooth coastline lack of navigable rivers Great Rift Valley high plateau RESULT Groups are kept separate - - 800 different languages are spoken in modern Africa

Desert Rainforest Savanna Desert

Black line shows the Great Rift Valley

This is what Africa will look like in about one million years This is what Africa will look like in about one million years. Notice that the Persian Gulf does not exist and the horn of Africa is a separate peninsula. This is caused by the movement of tectonic plates.

Diversity leads to Imperialism Raw materials and resources lead to European interest in Africa Africa’s geographical divisions prevents the Africans from cooperating to resist

Interesting Statistics 2nd largest continent- - 11,700,000 square miles! That’s 20.2% of the earth And 3x the size of the USA 778,000,000 people 55 countries

Topography Deserts Sahara -- North Africa Kalahari--Southwest Africa 40% of the land surface of Africa slows cultural diffusion - does not totally prevent it Sahara -- North Africa 1/3 of the continent (= to the USA!!) majority is rock and gravel Kalahari--Southwest Africa

Desert spreads into semi-arid regions

Desertification - Causes Farmers use semi-arid land next to desert - yields poor crop Overgrazing by cattle and goats Overcutting of trees for firewood With no grass or tree roots, the topsoil blows away, the desert advances

Solutions Crop rotation Terracing to prevent soil from washing away Tree belts to stop erosion and hold soil in place

Mountains East Africa- caused by volcanic activity section of the land sank - causing the Great Rift Valley Atlas (NW) Drakensberg (SE) Ethiopian Highlands Famous peaks - Mt. Kenya & Mt. Kilimanjaro

Atlas Mountains Ethiopian Highlands Mt. Kilamanjaro Drakensburg Mountains

Rivers Depth varies depending on the season-if it’s the rainy season or the dry season Plateaus prevent easy navigation due to water falls. Therefore, the interior of Africa remained largely unexplored

Can you name the rivers? Niger Nile Congo Zambezi

Nile River 4,180 miles long (world’s longest!!) flows NORTH Source - - Lake Victoria Delta - - Egypt Floods annually One of the most densely populated region in Africa

Congo, Niger & Zambezi Rivers Waterfalls and rapids prevent easy navigation Congo - 3000 miles long Niger - ancient civilizations flourished here Zambezi - Victoria Falls, used for hydro-electric power

Coastline Smooth coastline Few natural harbors - hard to land ships Narrow continental shelf

Climate - determined by rainfall, latitude and elevation Savanna - 40% of the land, safari!! Tropical Rainforest - 8% of the land, Desert - 40% of the land Mediterranean - 12% of the land, good farm land About 85% of the land is not suited to farming

Natural Resources Farming Minerals Water peanuts, cotton, cocoa, coffee Minerals diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt Water hydroelectric power

Diseases in Africa Tropical climate creates incubator for disease Poverty spreads disease polluted water open sewers bathing in parasite infected water poor medical care

Diseases in Africa Ebola Encephalitis Guinea worm Sleeping sickness Aids Malaria Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease transmitted by the sand fly, is almost always fatal if left untreated.

Diseases in Africa Ebola- is one of the deadliest viruses in the world, killing up to 90% of its victims in days. The disease begins with high fever, diarrhea, bleeding from the nose and gums, and can eventually induce massive internal hemorrhages.

Diseases in Africa African Sleeping Sickness (Trypanosomiasis) : This disease occurs in several countries of Central and East Africa. Most risk to tourists occurs when visiting game parks. Travelers to rural areas should take measures to prevent insect (tsetse fly) bites.

Diseases in Africa Arboviral Fevers : Few if any cases of dengue are reported from North Africa. Sandfly fever is widely distributed, especially in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia. Rift Valley fever and West Nile fever are significant risks in Egypt.

Diseases in Africa Cholera occurs in areas with inadequate sanitation, such as urban slums and rural areas. Travelers should consider vaccination. Prevention consists primarily in adhering to safe food and drink guidelines.

Diseases in Africa Many diseases are carried by mosquito bites, rodent bites or tick bites. World Bank officials say diarrhea causes the deaths of more than 800 000 African children each year. Many of the deaths are in West Africa, where intestinal illnesses claim more young lives than malaria or AIDS. Programs are in place that encourage people to wash their hands with soap after using the toilet.

Diseases in Africa Guinea Worm Guinea worm disease is caused by a threadlike parasitic worm that grows and matures in people. Worms grow up to 3 feet long and are as wide as a paper clip wire. People get infected when they drink standing water containing a tiny water flea that is infected with the even tinier larvae of the Guinea worm. Inside the human body, the larvae mature, growing as long as 3 feet. After a year, the worm emerges through a painful blister in the skin, causing long-term suffering and sometimes crippling after-effects

Guinea Worm

Guinea Worm

Guinea Worm

Sleeping Sickness

Sleeping Sickness African sleeping sickness affects as many as 500,000 people, 80 percent of whom eventually die, and the bite of the fly causes more than $4 billion in economic losses annually. The tsetse fly has turned much of the fertile African landscape into an uninhabited "green desert," spreading sleeping sickness -- and killing 3 million livestock animals every year

AIDS IN AFRICA

AIDS IN AFRICA                         70 Two orphaned children stand next to the graves of their parents who died from the AIDS virus. An infected mother with her child who has the disease as well.

70% of the world’s estimated 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS are located in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 90% of the world’s HIV infected children.

Of 30 children born in sub-Saharan Africa- 10 will acquire the virus simply by being born- 4 will be infected from breast feeding .

Most of these children will not live to see their 5th birthdays.

12 million African children have been orphaned due to the AIDS virus.

17 million Africans have already died since the epidemic began in the late 1970’s.

In recent years the government budget for Health care per person in Kenya has dropped from $9.50 to less than $3.00.

Within 10 years the average life expectancy in 11 countries in Africa will drop below 40 as HIV/AIDS continues to shorten life spans.