A recap of the introductory material in the beginning of the chapter.

1. AFRICA: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Chapter 20

2. GENERAL INFORMATION
 Second largest continent
 Atlantic Ocean = West Coast
 Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea = North Coast
 Made up of 4 subregions
 North Africa
 East Africa
 West Africa
 Central and Southern Africa

3. PHYSICAL FEATURES
 “Plateau Continent”
 Plateau: Large flat area
 Basins on the plateau
 Basin: low-lying area
 North Africa
 Sahara: the world’s largest desert
 Atlas Mountains in the northwest part of the region
 West Africa
 Sahel: dry grassland
 Niger River: 3rd longest river in Africa
 Runs through the western Sahel
 Lake Chad

4. PHYSICAL FEATURES CONT’D
 East Africa
 Great Rift Valley
 Lake Tanganyika: longest freshwater lake in the world
 Lake Victoria: second largest freshwater lake
 Lake Malawi: ninth largest freshwater lake
 Mount Kilimanjaro
 East of Lake Victoria
 Highest point in Africa
 Ethiopian Highlands
 North of Lake Victoria
 Covers 2/3 of Ethiopia

5. PHYSICAL FEATURES CONT’D
 Central and Southern Africa
 Congo basin: At the center of the continent
 Congo River: goes through the Congo Basin and
empties into the Atlantic
 Zambezi River: Many waterfalls, including Victoria Falls
 Two deserts
 Namib desert
 Kalahari desert

6. CLIMATE
 Equator runs through middle of Africa
 Climate is warm all year
 Some regions wet
 Others very dry
 North Africa
 Mediterranean climate: warm all year with dry summers
and short, rainy winters.
 West Africa
 Northern part: arid and semi-arid
 Southern part: tropical wet and dry
 Near the equator
 Coastal areas: tropical wet

7. CLIMATE CONT’D
 East Africa
 Close to the Sahara: arid or semi-arid
 Ethiopian Highlands/Mt. Kilimanjaro
 Highlands-higher land is cooler and wetter, lower land is
warmer and drier
 Southern part: tropical wet and dry
 Central and Southern Africa
 Near equator: tropical wet
 Farther south: tropical wet and dry → arid or semi-arid
 Southernmost part
 Coastal areas near Indian Ocean = marine west coast: warm
summers, cool winters, rainfall year-round

8. CLIMATE CONT’D
 Central and Southern Africa cont’d
 Other coastal areas: humid subtropical = hot summers
with heavy rain, mild winters with some rain
 Madagascar (island)
 Eastern half: tropical wet
 Northwestern and central: tropical wet and dry
 Southwestern: semiarid
 Vegetation
 2/5 of land is tropical grassland: also known as savanna
(short and tall grasses, shrubs, trees)

9. VEGETATION CONT’D
 North Africa
 Desert scrub: small trees, bushes and other plants
adapted to a dry climate
 Along the Mediterranean Sea = chaparral: small trees
and bushes are adapted to long, dry summers.
 Broadleaf evergreen forest runts along the Nile River
through Egypt.
 Tropical grasslands in the southern edge of the Sahara.
 West Africa
 Mostly tropical grassland
 Some desert

10. VEGETATION CONT’D
 West Africa cont’d
 Southern part = broadleaf evergreen forest (rainforest)
 East Africa
 Tropical grassland
 Some coastal lands = broadleaf evergreen forests
 Ethiopia = highlands: plants change with altitude
 Central and Southern Africa
 Congo basin = broadleaf evergreen forest
 Namib and most of the Kalahari = desert/desert scrub
 Eastern Kalahari = tropical grassland
 Mountain ranges in Southern Africa = highlands
 Southern tip = chaparral