The major geographical features of Africa include the Sahara Desert, the largest desert in the world. The Atlas Mountains run along northern Africa between the Mediterranean Sea and Sahara. The Sahel is the transitional land between the desert and savanna regions that receives more rain than the desert. Lake Tanganyika is the deepest lake located in central Africa. The savanna grasslands contain scattered trees and receive enough rain to support drought-resistant plants. The Niger River runs through western Africa and is an important water source. The Congo River flows through the third largest rainforest in the world. The Drakensberg Mountains are the highest in southern Africa. The Nile River is the world's longest river and flows north into the Mediterranean.

1. Essential Question What are the major geographical features of Africa?

2. Africa’s geographical features!

3. Sahara desert in northern Africa largest desert in the world at 3,500,000 square miles from Arabic word Al-Sahra

4. Atlas Mountains mountain range in north Africa between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara desert extends from Morocco to Tunisia

5. Sahel “ Transitional Land” the transitional land between desert land and savanna semi arid land, which is still dry but gets more rain than the desert

6. Lake Tanganyika deepest lake in Africa located in central Africa divided between Burundi, Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia

7. Savanna tropical or subtropical grassland containing scattered trees receives enough rain to support drought resistant undergrowth but not enough to support “forest type” vegetation

8. Niger River principal river in western Africa runs through Guinea, Mali, Niger, Benin and Nigeria significant water source for the city of Timbuktu

9. Congo River largest river in western central Africa flows through the third largest rain forest in the world

10. Tropical Rainforest a forest that receives more water through precipitation than is loses through evaporation What are these processes? more than 80 inches of rain per year 1/5 of Africa is rainforest Africa contains 1 of the 3 major rainforests in the world.

11. Drakensberg Mountains highest mountains in southern Africa located in the eastern portion of South Africa and Lesotho

12. Nile River It’s the world’s longest river at 4,150 miles!!! located in eastern Africa depended upon for water Flows north into the Mediterranean sea!

13. Kalahari Desert located in south Africa and covers Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa not a “true” desert because it receives 3-10 inches of rain per year because of the precipitation can sustain some animal life

14. Lake Victoria largest lake in Africa 2 nd largest fresh water lake in the world vital in supporting the millions of people that live nearby

15. Zambezi River southeast African river flowing through Zambia and Angola, also along many of the borders of many countries empties into the Indian Ocean contains Victoria Falls

16. Victoria Falls It’s the largest and most unique waterfall in the world!

17. Mount Kilimanjaro It’s the tallest free standing volcanic mountain in the world! It is the highest peak in Africa at 19,340 feet!