1. Africa’s Unique Physical Geography First glue in the sheet. Then choose 4 colored pencils and get ready to learn!

2. Northern Southern WesternEastern

3. Africa’s Size Fraction of the earth’s land surface: 20.6% Distance north to south: 5,000 miles Distance east to west: 4,600 miles Only 1/10 of the world’s population! Why?

4. Africa Regions Africa is BIG! You could fit the US, Europe and China inside Africa with room to spare Africa has two major regions: 1. Saharan 2. Sub-Saharan Africa is the home of the world’s longest river (Nile) and the world’s second largest freshwater lake (Victoria).

5. How is Africa unique? There are six main ways that Africa is unique: 1.No mountain ranges! 2.Rift Valley 3.Elongated Lakes 4.Erratic River Courses 5.Plateaus 6.Major Deserts

6. How is Africa unique? There are six main ways that Africa is unique: 1. No major mountain ranges!

7. No major mountain ranges! only minor mountain ranges All other continents have major mountain ranges (Alps, Rockies, Himalayas, Andes, etc…) Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,340 ft.) is a volcano, not a part of a mountain range!

8. How is Africa unique? There are six main ways that Africa is unique: 1.No major mountain ranges! 2.Rift Valley

9. Great Rift Valley East Africa is breaking away from the rest of Africa, causing very deep valleys

10. How is Africa unique? There are six main ways that Africa is unique: 1.No major mountain ranges! 2.Rift valley 3.Elongated lakes

11. Elongated Lakes Parts of the rift valleys have filled with water to create long, narrow lakes

12. How is Africa unique? There are six main ways that Africa is unique: 1.No major mountain ranges! 2.Rift Valley 3.Elongated Lakes 4.Erratic River Courses

13. Erratic River Courses With no mountain ranges and relatively level surface, rivers are free to wander

14. How is Africa unique? There are six main ways that Africa is unique: 1.No major mountain ranges! 2.Rift Valley 3.Elongated Lakes 4.Erratic River Courses 5.Plateau

15. Africa - the Plateau Continent A plateau or “tableland” is relatively flat, and at higher elevation. Austin sits at around 600 feet. Most of Africa is around 3000 feet.

16. How is Africa unique? There are six main ways that Africa is unique: 1.No mountain ranges! 2.Rift Valley 3.Elongated Lakes 4.Erratic River Courses 5.Plateaus 6.Major Deserts

17. Major Deserts The Saharan Desert is the largest in the world - slightly smaller than the continental United States Kept Sub-Saharan African isolated from the rest of the world until sea navigation made exploring Africa possible (late 1400s)

18. The Nile River The Nile River is the longest river in the world The source of life in a very arid land - 90% of Egypt’s population lives on 4% of total land (within sight of the Nile). The Nile flows north and is fed by the White Nile and the Blue Nile.

20. Ancient Egypt and the Nile The Nile shaped nearly every part of life of Egyptian life: - Agriculture - Religion - Social Events Egyptians depended on the cycle of flooding to replenish the soil for agriculture The first written language in Egypt arose out of the need to keep records of harvests, rainfall and flooding of the Nile

21. Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser Benefits: 1.Generates electricity 2.Fishing industry in Lake Nasser 3.Helps alleviate dangerous flooding and droughts Drawbacks: 1.Initially flooded area, displaced 90,000 people and flooded ancient sites 2.Fertile silt being held back by dam 3.Hurts fish stock and make-up of Mediterranean Sea