1. Africa is _______(3-5 things) Africa isn’t _______ (3-5 things)
Partner/Share

2. Africa extends for thousands of miles north and south of the Equator.

3. A Vast Continent World’s second largest continent.
More than 3X the size of the United States.
~54 independent countries!

4. How big is Africa?
The following could fit within Africa : (Africa is 11,205,146 square miles) China   3,705,387 United States    3,615,102 India     1,269,338 Europe      1,306,176 Argentina    1,068,296 New Zealand         103,736                         Total   11,068,035 
137,111 square miles remain, or a little more than the size of Nevada.

6. Landforms
Most of Africa is a vast plateau—a flat area located at a high altitude.
As you move toward the coasts, the land drops sharply in escarpments or steep cliffs.
These changes in elevation create a series of cataracts, a series of waterfalls.

7. Sahara Desert 3rd largest desert in the world
Approximately 3,000 miles east to west and almost 1,000 miles north to south (growing)
Almost as large as the continental U.S.
Half of the Sahara receives less than 2cm of precipitation per year

8. Rivers
The Nile: 4,160 miles; flows from near the Equator to the Mediterranean Sea. The longest river in the world.
Congo: 2,720 miles; flows from central Africa to the Atlantic coast
Niger: 2,500+ miles; flows north from Guinea to Mali then south to the Atlantic ocean through Nigeria

9. Natural Resources

10. PARTNER/SHARE
Africa is incredibly rich in resources, but is the continent with the highest poverty rate.
How can we explain this paradox?

11. Rural and Urban Life Africa is mostly rural (farming and livestock).
Has some urban areas. (Lagos, Nigeria has a population of over 11 million; Kinshasa, DRC has 6 million).
However, most of Africa has not yet industrialized.

12. Nairobi, Kenya

13. Rural Kenya

14. Religion
Animism—The belief that living creatures and some non-living objects have connections to the spirit world.
Spirits are often prominent ancestors of the community.

15. Christianity

16. Islam

17. Language Approximately 1,200 different languages on the continent.
Most ethnic groups speak their own neighboring languages.
Most countries also have a national language left over from past conquests. The most common are Arabic, English and French.
What other imperial languages in Africa can you name?