Africa

·         Africa constitutes 20% of the total landmass of the earth. Mediterranean Sea separates Africa from Europe and Arabian Sea separates it from Asia; in fact, Africa is very well connected to Eurasia through Gibraltar Strait in north-west, through Suez Canal in north-east and through Bab-al-Mandab strait in east.

·         Africa has Atlas mountain range in its north-western part, the mountain range is one of the youngest folded mountains of the world in its south-eastern part Drakensberg Mountain is found, which has perhaps a volcanic origin.

·         The Atlas Mountains is a mountain range which stretches across northwestern Africa extending about 2,500 km (1,600 mi) through Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The highest peak is Jebel Toubkal, with an elevation of 4,167 metres (13,671 ft) in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert.

·         Africa extends from 34°50’ southern latitudes to 37° 14’ northern latitudes and so bulk of its part is tropical.

·         In the northern part of the continent, we find the SaharaDesert, the largest single stretch of desert, which is 3,200 miles from east to west and nearly 1,000 miles from north to south owes its aridity to the effects of off-shore trade winds.

·         The other hot deserts of the continent include Kalahari in South and Namibia in south-west.

·         The longest rift valley of the world, the Great Rift Valley in east Africa, stretches from the south of the Malawi Lake in east Africa through the Red Sea to the Dead Sea.

·         Victoria Lake is the largest lake of Africa and it doesn’t fall in the line of Great Rift Valley. Some of the lakes falling in the line of the rift valley are: Edward, Albert, Tanganyika, Nyasa etc.

·         White Nile rises from Victoria lake and Blue Nile rises from Tana lake in the Abyssinian mountains Blue Nile and White Nile meet each other near Khartoum and finally fall into Mediterranean Sea crossing a long stretch of Sahara desert. The Zaire River carries the maximum volume of water with it in Africa and falls into the Atlantic Ocean.  It is also known as the Congo in its lower parts. Zaire or Congo is the only river in the world which crosses the equator twice.

·         Niger flows in the western part of Africa and falls into GiniBay.  Canzi dam has been built on this river.

·         Limpopo and Zambezi are the two prominent African rivers which fall into Indian Ocean. World Famous Victoria Falls are on the river Zambezi. Kariba Dam has been made across Zambezi which provides more hydro-power in Africa than any other project does.

·         Aswan Dam on Nile is also big and Egypt has major share of the power generated. Sennar Dam on Nile is located in Sudan.

·         Sengal and Orange are the two other rivers which flow into Atlantic Ocean.Augrabies falls are situated on the river Orange

·         Livingstone falls one of the world’s largest waterfalls, is situated on the Congo River.

·         Most of the African rivers descend steeply to the surrounding low-land and coast-land from the elevated uplands and invariably make waterfalls and which is why except Nile and some parts of Zaire, no other African river is navigable.

·         In central and south-central Africa, a transitional type of climate is found between the equatorial forests and the trade wind hot deserts. 

·         It is confined within the tropics and is best developed in Sudan, where the dry and wet seasons are most distinct, hence it is also called ‘Sudan Climate’.In north-westand south-west Africa, Mediterranean climate is found,  i.e. the  countries in the north likeMorocco,Algeria and Tunisia andin the south area around Cape Town of South Africa experiences this type of climate.

·         The equatorial hot and wet climate is found in the lowlands of the Congo

·         Only 10% of the African land is cultivable. The volcanic  lava-soil of the East Africa, the alluvial soil of Nile-valley and the soil of some areas in Savanna are fertile.

·         The tropical regions of Africa have the cultivation of banana, pine-apples, papayas etc. and in the eastern part, cashewnut and coffee are cultivated.

·         Zanzibar and Pemba islands are the largest producers and exporters of clove in the world.

·         Coconut trees are found generally in the islands of Zanzibar and pemba and I the coastal regions of Tanzania.

·         Nigeria is a big exporter of Palm oil.

·         Nigeria and Ghana are the leading exporters of Cocoa.  Criollo is the best quality of Cacoa.

·         Africa leads in the export of Sisal in the world and Tanzania is the largest producer of Sisal in Africa

·         Rice is heavily cultivated in the delta region of Nile in Egypt tanks to the layer of new soil every year and well-managed irrigation. Egypt is much better in rice production than India.

·         Wheat is mainly cultivated in north-west Africa (Mediterranean region) and in South African veld-region.

·         Apart from Egypt, Malagasy, East Africa,Sudan and Natal region of South Africa too produce rice.

·         Cotton producing countries inAfrica are Egypt, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and Kenya, but Egypt is th leading producer. Egyptian cotton, having long fibre, is famous in the world market for its quality.  Nile  valley is the main region where the land is always wet due to the river. Sudan is also a good quality cotton producer and managed it with planned irrigation.  Sugarcane in Africa is mainly cultivatged  in Natal reigon of South Africa.

·         The main coffee  producing  African countries  are Ivory Coast, Uganda, Angola, Congo, Kenya, Malagasi and Ethopia, they are the main exporters too.

·         Maize is the main crop in Savanna region of Africa

·         Caol is rarely mined in Africa but still Transvaal and Natal provinces of South Africa are the main coal producing  regions of Africa.

·         Algeriawas the first producer of mineral  oil in Africa in 1958. The main oil regions of Algeria are Hasilasud (450 km south of  sea) and Edzali (almost in Sahara) where water is scarce and dust storm common but still oil found inSinai Peninsula and in the coastal regions of Red Sea.

·         In Libya, there are two main oil producing regions Zeltgon and Dahra.

·         Nigeria is the largest oil producer of Africa.

·         Mineral oil is also found in Angola.

·         Zaire and Zambia have one of the largest reserves of copper in the world but due to the dense forests, facilities of transportation have not been developed and proper mineral exploitation has not been undertaken.

·         Besides copper, diamond, cobalt, tin, zinc, manganese and uranium are also found in the Shabaprovince of Katanga in Zaire.

·         Manganese is also found in Ghana and South Africa

·         Kimberley in South Africa is the main diamond producing region

·         Wet waters and ridge, situated between Limpopo and Vaal rivers, is famous for gold.  More than half of the world’s gold is found in South Africa. Practically all the world’s diamonds are found in Africa:  Congo (62%) South Africa (15%) Ghana (10%) Augola (5%) and south-west Africa and Sierra Leone.

·         In South Africa, Iron-ore (haematite) is mined in Crocodile River valley, Vereeniging in South Africa is the centre of iron and  steel industry in Africa.

·         High grade iron-ore deposits are being exploited in Liberia and Mauritania, South Africa and Morocco are ahead in commercial fishing in Africa. 

·         Zaire got independence from Belgium in 1960. Kinshasa is its  capital and Matadi on the river Zaire, is the main port of the country

·         In Zaire, copper is mainly found in Katanga, diamonds in Kasia and gold in Kilo-Moto.

·         In Zaire, industries are mainly located in Lukasi and Lubumbasi.

·         Nigeria has the highest population in the African countries and the density of population is higher in the south-east and south-west part of the country than any other region.

·         Nigeria has the better transportation and communication network than any other African country.

·         Jos plateau is found in northernNigeria, where they have four hydro-power stations.

·         The river of north-eastern part of Nigeria fall into Chad lake and so the area around Chad lake has inland drainage.

·         Coastal regions of Nigeria have equatorial climate. They have rains all through the year.

·         The interior part of Nigeria is dry in summer and experiences severe hot  dustsrooms from the north-eastern part, this dry dusty wind is called ‘Harmattan’.

·         Lagos is the Nigerian capital, and Ibadan is the biggest city.  Lagos and Port Harcourt are the main ports.  Kano, Kasduna and Jos are the main industrial cities in the northern Nigeria.

·         A very small partof Egypt is in Asia.

·         Only 3% of the land in Egypt is inhabited.  Most of the population lives near Nile.

·         Near Cairo or Al-Kahila, Nile starts flowing in branches and these branches extend the Nile water to a very large area and are called ‘distributaries’.

·         Only 3% of the land in Egypt is cultivated

·         The Egyptian farmers are called ‘Fellah’.

·         Cotton is the main cash crop of Egypt

·         Cotton industry and industries related to food products are the main and the oldest industries of Egypt.

·         The average population density of Egypt is near 50 persons/sq.km, but in the Nile valley, it is around 900 persons/sq.km.

·         Port Said is situated on Suez Canal.

·         Suez canal connects Red Sea with Mediterranean Sea. After its construction in 1868 the distance between Mumbai and London has lessened by more than 7,000 km.

·         In Egypt a hot, dry and dusty wind blows formthe south in summer, that is called ‘Khamsin’.

·         From the perspective of industries, South Africa is the most developed country in Africa.

·         In South  Africa, the temperate grasslands are sandwiched between the Drakensberg mountain and the KalahariaDesert, these  grasslands are called ‘veld’

·         Limpopo flows at the northern border of South Africa

·         Orange and Vaal rivers rise in DrakensbergMountain in South Africa.

·         Maize is the main crop of South Africa

·         At the western coast of South Africa, Benguela current, a cold current of Atlantic Ocean, flows from south to north.

·         Mixed farming is done at a good level in South Africa.

·         Marino Sheep of South Africa is famous for its wool worldwide.

·         South Africa ranks second after Australia among the wool-exporting countries of the world.

·         Johannesburg is the biggest city of South Africa.

·         Pretoria is the capital of South Africa, but legislative and official capital is the Cape Town, Cape Town is the biggest port here.

·         The distant southern tip of South Africa is called ‘Cape of Good Hope’.

·         Karoo is dry treeless plateau in South Africa.Hausa is the settled cultivator tribe, which inhabits the Savannah lands of the Bauchi plateau of northern Nigeria. 

·         Fulani is the is the tribe in Nigeria which domesticates animals.

·         Pygmy tribe is found in the lowlands of Zaire, Pygmies are very short-heighted. Some of them live on trees too.

·         In East Africa, mainly in Kenya and Tanzania, Masai, a nomadic cattle pastoralistic tribe is found. The cattle kept by the Masai are the ‘Zebu’

·         Kikuyu of Kenya is an agricultural tribe.

·         Bushmen of Kalahari desert are primitive hunters.This tribe is, in fact, a relic of the old stone age in the modern world.The people  of this tribe live together in open ‘sherms’, which is a hollow dug beneath a thorn tree surrounded by bushes. The Bindibu of Australian desert live in almost the same way as the Bushmen.

·         The Tuaregs of the Sahara are mainly camel riders.

·         In the Kalahari desert,  the discovery of diamond and copper has brought many white men to the ‘thirstland’, as it is called.

·         Two third of the population of South Africa is black

·         Uganda and Kenya generate hydro-power from the Owen fall Nile.

·         Akosombo dam is  built on River Volta in Ghana to provide power to smelt local resources of bauxite.

·         The hydro-power potential of River Congo is greater than any other river in the world

·         0° longitude in Africa passes through Algeria, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana.  In fact, in Ghana, this imaginary line pases through VoltaLake.

·         The main volcanoes and volcanic mountains of Africa are Kilimanzaro, Meru Algan, Birunge and Rangvi.

·         The highest peak of Africa is in Kilimanzaro, which is 5,895 metre high.  Kilimanzaro is a dead volcano

·         The only active volcano  of West Africa is Mt.Cameroon.

·         There are some volcanic zones in Madagascar, but active eruption has not been known so far.

·         The average population density of whole African continent is 15-25 person/sq.kilometre. But if we consider the average population densities of Zaire, Egyt, South Africa and Nigeria, then in descending order, we find Nigeria first, followed by Egypt, South Africa and Zaire.

Surface Features

·         NorthwestRanges of the Atlas Mountains, which belong to the Alpine Mountain system of southern Europe and are folded mountains.

·         Southern part-older fold mountains – the Swart Bergen and Lange BergenMountains

·         The Tibesti and AhaggarMountains of the Sahara.

·         The volcanic cones such as Kalimanjaro, Mt.Kenya and Mt.Elogan are located in EastAfricaRiver and Drainage.

a)     The Nile,  Northward into the the Mediterranean Sea.

b)     The Sengal

c)      The Niger

d)     The Congo              Drain into the Atlantic Ocean

e)     The Orange

f)       The Limpopo          Flow into the Indian Ocean.

g)     The Zambezi

Climate

Ocean Currents

a) The cold Canaries and Benguela Currents along the West coast of Africa have a cooling effect on neighbouring coasts.

b) The warm Mozambique currents tend to warm South East Coast.

Winds: Greater part of Africa lies in the belt of the N.E. and S.E. trade winds.

Local Winds

a)  The Harmattan, a hot dry north east wind, which sometimes blows over the Guiena coast of West Africa in winter. It originates in the high pressure area of Sahara. Harmattan is also known as the Doctor.

b) The Sirocco originates in the Sahara and blows over North West Africa in winter.  It is a hot, dry, scorching wnd.

c) The Berg, experienced on the coast of South Africa is a hot dry wind and similar to Foehn of Switzerland and Chinook of the  Canadian Prairies.

d) Simook, located in Sahara desert, is a strong wind which fills the air with a whirling mass of sand.

People of Africa

a)  North Africa – Arabs, Berbers, Tuareg of desert                

b) The pigmies – CongoBasin

c)  The Bushman – Kalahari desert                                            

d) The Hottentots – South West Africa

e) The Ovambo tribes – South West Africa                              

f) The Herero – South WestAfrica.

Important information about Africa

Kenya – MajorSafariCenter

Katanga-Rich Mineral district of Zaire

Witwarerstrand – Chief gold  mining area of S. Africa

Country that is Coptic Christian and Muslim-Ethopia

Chad-Large lake in Sahara

Kilimanjaro – Highest Mountin Africa

The coasts of N.W. Africa, Algiers and S. West Africa(Cape Town) has Mediterranean type of climate

Somalia-Country having highest percentage of Nomadic Herders

Johannesburg – Largest African city south of Equator

Congo – Principal river of Equatorial Africa which crosses the Equator twice.

Zauzibar – Island noted for Spice exports.Bantus are the native Africans living largely south of equator.

Swahili is the common Lingua franca across Eastern Africa.

The Congo River of Africa is considered as the greatest potential H.E.P. in the world.

Zaire is the leading producer of diamond and gold.

Natives of Madagascar are called Malagasay and are related to the Malayas and Polynesians

Africa is the “Most Tropical Continent”  as  ¾ of the continent falls between tropics.

Nigeria is the most populated  country of Africa.

‘Esparto grass’, found in North Africa is used for papermaking.

‘Port Said’ is the Northern Entrance to Suez Canal

The White Nile and the Blue Nile meets at Khartoum

Nigeria is known as ‘Land of Palm Oil’. Ghana was formerly known as ‘Gold Coast’(British Colony)

Lake Tanganyika a rift-valley lake is world’s deepest lake (Kenya)

Zanzibar and Pemba are known for cloves

Tanzania is famous for ‘Sisal-hemp’ to all over the world.

Oriba dam, built on Zimbawe and Zambia

The Victoria Falls –known to Africans as The Smoke That Thunders on Zambezi

Mozambique  Channel separates Madagascar from Africa. Mozambigue has the widest coastal plain in Africa