Sub-Saharan Africa Physical Geography

Landforms Africa is a large plateau with escarpments on the edges. An escarpment is similar to a cliff although not as steep.

Map showing escarpments on the edge of the plateau and rift valleys in East Africa.

Rift Valleys Divergent plate activity formed the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. In some areas the Great Rift Valley is hundreds of miles wide. Rift valleys extend from The Red Sea to South Africa.

Rift Valleys East Africa has several large lakes that formed in the bottom of rift valleys. A.Lake Victoria – Largest lake in Africa A.World’s second largest freshwater lake B.Lake Chad – Droughts, shrinking

Mountains Sub-Saharan Africa does not have large mountain ranges, but there are several tall mountains that are volcanoes. The tallest mountain is Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania at 19,341 feet. The second tallest mountain is Mt. Kenya at 17,058 feet. (located in Kenya)

Rivers Sub-Saharan Africa has several major rivers: A.Niger River – “Great River” (Western Africa) B.Congo River – longest in sub-saharan area C.Zambezi River – Flows into Victoria Falls D.Orange River – South Africa

Map showing major rivers in Africa

Niger River in West Africa

Congo River in Central Africa

Cataracts or rapids on the Zambezi River

Orange River in South Africa

Rapids on the Orange River

Rivers The rivers in Sub-Saharan Africa are difficult to navigate because they have many waterfalls and rapids.

Natural Resources Mineral resources are abundant Angola, Nigeria, Gabon and Congo have Oil Reserves South Africa has about half of the world’s gold (other countries include Zimbabwe, DRC, Tanzania and Ghana South Africa, Botswana, Angola, Sierra Leone, and the DRC have diamonds Economic difficulty and civil wars halt development

Climate Most of Africa is in the low latitudes. The equator divides Africa in half so the continent has similar climates north and south of the equator. Africa has tropical wet and tropical wet and dry climates near the equator. Africa is only continent to be in all four hemispheres.

Climate There are two deserts in southern Africa, the Namib and the Kalahari.

Climate and Lake Chad

Climate change impacting the region very hard Lake chad is drying up and may soon become extinct in less than 20 years

Map that shows the relative location of the Namib and Kalihari Deserts. Notice how the deserts are in North and South Africa.

Vegetation Rainforests grow in the tropical wet climates in Africa. Most of the rainforest is located in central Africa in the Congo. The soil in the rainforest has limited fertility and this area is being deforested by slash and burn farming.

Grasslands Savanna is a type of grassland located in tropical wet and dry climates. Covers almost half of the continent Serengeti Plain: One of the world’s largest Savanna’s

Nature Preserves Sahel: band of dry land that extends from Senegal to Sudan (Southern “coast” of the Sahara) Desertification is a BIG problem Africa has large national parks and nature preserves.

South Sahara Africa PICTURES!!!

Regions of Africa

Mount Kilimanjaro

Lake Victoria

Great Rift Valley

Kalahari Desert

Namib Desert

Victoria Falls: Zimbabwe and Zambia

Newest Country: South Sudan

Fighting and attacks in the country for several decades. Ethnic and religious fighting Sudan has OIL! Whoever controls oil will be wealthy Created one of the largest refugee populations in recent times Lost Boys of Sudan: Follows the story of 3 refugees as they come to the U.S. Look for cultural differences (you will see many!) Dinka (TALL)