1. Africa’s Geography

2. The Sahara Desert

3. Largest desert in the world Consists of basically two sub-climates, a dry subtropical climate in the north and a dry tropical climate in the south One characteristic of the vegetation found in the Sahara is that these species must be able to adapt to unreliable precipitation and excessive heat Covers over 3.5 million square miles and has only 2.5 million inhabitants - roughly 1 person per square mile (0.4 sq km)- which is one of the lowest population densities on earth The Sahara is one of the harshest environments known to man

4. The Nile River

5. Longest river in the world Used for irrigation, food, transportation, drinking water Flows through 9 countries Source/originates in Burundi Mouth/empties in the Mediterranean Used for hydroelectricity

6. The Sahel

7. One of the poorest regions in the world Continuous soil erosion, insufficient irrigation, deforestation, overpopulation, and drought cause this area to be one of the most environmentally damaged places on Earth Covered mostly in grasses, shrubs, and small trees Terrorism is increasing in this region

8. The Serengeti Highly popular for tourism…safaries Flat land mainly used for migration and grazing of wild animals such as giraffe, zebra, deer, lions, small rodents, hyena, elephants, cheetah Has areas of dense population

9. The Congo Low elevation land, 2 nd largest river basin Used to drain the rainforest and central western Africa Major conflict area in Africa, children often abducted and made to become military or slaves 2 nd largest rain forest in the world

10. Mt. Kilimanjaro 4 th largest mountain in the world Inactive volcano that has 3 volcanic cones It is the tallest freestanding mountain in the world

11. Great Rift Valley This is a geologic system that extends from Syria to central Mozambique The valley ranges in elevation from 1,300 feet below sea level to 6,000 feet above sea level At the lowest elevation you will find the Dead Sea As the two tectonic plates move away from each other the Atlas mountains and Ethiopia highlands are created

12. Directions Cardinal Directions-North, South, East, West Intermediate Directions-Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest