Africa A Satellite View. The Peters Projection The Relative Size of Africa The second largest continent after Asia (11,700,000 sq. mi.) Two and a half.

Africa A Satellite View

The Peters Projection

The Relative Size of Africa

• The second largest continent after Asia (11,700,000 sq. mi.)

• Two and a half the times the size of the United States

5000

MILES

4 6 0 0 M I L E S

Major Bodies Of

Water

Nile River

Congo River

Zambezi River

Niger River

Orange River

Limpopo River

Mediterranean Sea

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Indian Ocean

Red Sea

L. Victoria

L. Chad

L. Tanganyika

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den

L. Nyasa

Africa Fun River Facts

• The Nile is the longest river in the world and flows for 4,160 miles. It originates near the equator and flows northward into the Mediterranean. The White Nile flows from Lake Victoria through Uganda and into Sudan where it joins the Blue Nile at Khartoum. At the confluence it flows into Egypt and on to the sea

The Congo River Basin

• The Congo is 2,720 miles long and extends over nine countries. It covers 10% of the continent

• The second-largest flow in the world, trailing the Amazon. It is the deepest river in the world (depths greater than 750 ft)

• Ninety-nine percent of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is in the river basin

The Niger River Basin

The Niger River is 2,600 miles long. Covers 8% of the continent and extends over ten countries

Dra

kensb

urg M

ts.

Ruwenzori M

ts.

Δ Mt. Kenya

Δ Mt. Kilimanjaro

Mountains

and

Peaks of Africa

Atlas Mts.

Africa’s Great Lakes Region

Africa Fun Lake Facts

• Lake Chad large, shallow at edge of Sahara. Huge variatons in size. Extremely important to cultures in area

• Great Lakes

– Tanganyika - longest and second largest by volume freshwater lake in world. Flows into Congo east to Atlantic

– Nyasa (Malawi) – Third largest in Africa. It’s tropical waters reportedly are the habitat of more species of fish than any other lake on the Earth

– Victoria - Africa’s largest lake, and the largest tropical lake in the world (3rd). Receives most of its water from direct precipitation. Enormous biodiversity

The Great Rift Valley

• A continuous geographic trench over 3,700 mi in length that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in East Africa

• The Western Rift is edged by some of the highest mountains in Africa, including the Virunga and Ruwenzori Range. It contains the Rift Valley lakes, which are some of the deepest lakes in the world

The Great Rift Valley

Major Mountains

• Ruwenzori Range (Margherita Peak)

• Kilimanjaro

• Mount Kenya

The Deserts of Africa

Sahara Desert

Sahel

Kalahari

Desert

Nam

ib D

esert

Libyan Desert

The Sahara Desert

• From Arabic for desert (sahra) it is the world's largest hot desert. At over 3,500,000 sq mi, it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States

• Varied topography and ecological history

The Sahel

Desertification

• Recent drought and changes in climate and have made the Sahel hotter and more arid

• High human activity puts pressure on the marginal land which leads to overuse (overgrazing, deforestation, overfarming) which degrades the land and makes it susceptible to desertification

The African Savannah13 Million Square Miles

African Rain Forest

• Covers 37 countries and over 15% of the land surface of Africa

•Annual rainfall can exceed 17 feet