2. Physical Geography of Sub-Sahara Africa Sub-Sahara refers to Africa SOUTH of the Sahara desert. Includes almost 50 countries. One-third of all the countries on the earth. Extremely diverse landscape. 2nd largest continent has 9 million square miles of huge plateaus, mountains, and valleys south of the Sahara.

3. Continent of Plateaus  “One big Plateau”  Coastal plains go 20 miles inland.  Plateau after plateau & in between there are escarpments.  Escarpments- steep cliffs or slopes.  South & East hold steepest escarpments.  B/C of plateau Africa has the highest overall elevation

4. Mountains  Atlas in Northwest.  Most mts. east side.  Drakensberg, Ruwenzori.  Volcanoes= Mount Kenya, Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak (19,340 feet)

5. Great Rift Valley  Stretches from Jordan river to Zambezi River in Mozambique.  Occurred when pangaea ripped apart creating mountains.

6. Water Systems  Largest lakes cut into Great Rift Valley.  Longest rivers all rise in plateaus.  Due to high escarpments, rapids and waterfalls are common on the edge of the continent.

7. Lakes  Lake Victoria in GRV, 2nd largest freshwater lake in the world, source of White Nile.  Lake Tanganyika (420 miles) 1st largest lake in world.  Lake Malawi in GRV  Outside GRV: Lake Volta, Lake Chad (no natural outlet-loses water through evaporation.

8. Rivers  4 great rivers slice through Africa: Nile Nile Congo (largest river system sub-Sahara) Congo (largest river system sub-Sahara) Niger Niger Zambezi (plunges down a huge chasm known as Victoria Falls, which is twice the size of Niagara falls) Zambezi (plunges down a huge chasm known as Victoria Falls, which is twice the size of Niagara falls)

9. Natural Resources F Diamonds form the D.R.O.T. Congo. F Gold from South Africa & GRV. F Nigeria 3 % of world’s known oil. F Uranium, manganese, cobalt, zinc, copper.

10. Climate & Vegetation Three tropical latitudes cross sub-Sahara Africa. T of Cancer crosses south of Sahara Desert T of Capricorn extends through southern tip. Equator runs through center. (All Africa within 35 degrees of equator) B/C sub-Sahara is all in the tropics makes for diverse climate and vegetation.

11. Deserts Deserts cover a larger percentage of Africa than any other continent. Sahara covers north. Namib desert, coast of Namibia. Kalahari desert most of Botswana.

12. The Sahel Sahel means “border.” Lies between the desert and fertile grassland to the south. Long, dry seasons & wet seasons. Drought has brought famine, misery, & hardship. Countries: Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and the “Horn.” “Desertification” happening in the Sahel. Sahara taking over. Looking south Looking north

13. Tropical Savanna & Tropical Rain Forests T.S. more rain than Sahel, supports livestock and game. T.S. Holds the Serengeti plains and Nairobi national park. T.R.F. covers only 8% of Africa, on the equator. T.R.F. faces destruction from logging companies. T.R.F. make poor farmland. T.R.F. cocoa, rubber, palm-oil.