Give two words that you think describes Africa.. Why do geographers say Africa is centrally located?Why do geographers say Africa is centrally located?

Give two words that you think describes Africa.

•Why do Why do geographers say geographers say Africa is centrally Africa is centrally located?located?

•World’s Second largest continent

•Contains the most independent nations

•Straddles the Equator•Extends thousands of miles North and South of the Equator

•Stands between the ATLANTIC & INDIAN OCEANS

•NORTH AFRICA• Stretches from Morocco in the West to Egypt in the East

• Close contact with Europe and the Middle East

•WEST AFRICA•South of the Sahara Desert and bulges into the Atlantic Ocean

•From Mauritania to Nigeria

•CENTRAL AFRICA

•Includes Nigeria

•EAST AFRICA•Largest nations•Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania

•SOUTHERN AFRICA•From Atlantic to Indian Ocean

•Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa

•Slices through the Eastern part of the country

•A giant fault, or break, in the earth’s crust

•From Red Sea to Zambezi River

•Longest river in the World

•Played a key role in human development

•Floods each year

• What does the lines of latitude measure? What is another name for the lines of latitude?

• What does the lines of longitude measure? What is another name for longitude?

•Rainfall determines climate

•People of Botswana call their money, PULA, which means rain

• Alternating wet and dry seasons• Rains south of equator, north is

in dry season• Less than an inch in desert areas • 80 inches a year near equator

•Tropical Wet•Rain Forests•Along equator – 8% of Africa

•Tropical Wet and Dry•Largest Climate Zone•Warm all year•Savanna - grassland

•Desert•40% of Africa•Sahara means desert in Arabic

•Kalahari & Namib in South

LARGER THAN CONTINENTAL UNITED

STATES

•Moderate Mediterranean

•Summers hot and dry•Winters are cooler and moist

•Equator runs through middle

•80% in Tropics•Tropics between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn

•Coolest regions in Africa

•Temperature drops as elevation increases

•APPROACHING APPROACHING 680 MILLION AND 680 MILLION AND GROWINGGROWING