Africa: Landforms

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Africa Landforms Resources
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• A huge plateau covers most of Africa.
• It rises inland from narrow lowlands along the
  coasts.
• Except for the coasts of Mozambique Somalia,
  much of the continent lies at least 1,000 above
  sea level.

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• This plateau is Africas most prominent feature.
• Geographers sometimes refer to Africa as the
  plateau continent
• Africa is the 2nd largest continent.

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• Throughout the plateau lie several large basins
  or depressions.
• Each basin spans more than 625 miles across and
  as much as 5,000 feet deep.
• Water collects in the Chad Basin rivers flow
  through the Sudan, Congo, Djouf basins.

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• Worlds longest river is the Nile River.
• Flows more than 4,000 miles through Uganda
  Sudan into Egypt.
• Its water has provided irrigation for the region
  for thousands of years.

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• Africas rivers contain many waterfalls, rapids,
  gorges.
• These features make the rivers less useful for
  transportation than shorter rivers on other
  continents.

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• The 2,900 mile long Congo River forms the
  continents largest network of waterways.
• BUT a series of 32 cataracts or waterfalls make
  large portions of the river impassable.

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• The continents most distinctive landforms are in
  East Africa.
• As the continental plates pulled apart over
  millions of years, huge cracks appeared in the
  earth.
• The land then sank to form long, thin valleys
  called rift valleys.

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• A cluster of lakes formed at the bottoms of some
  of these rift valleys.
• These African lakes are unusually long deep.
• Lake Tanganyika, the longest freshwater lake in
  the world, stretches about 420 miles reaches a
  depth of more than 4,700 feet.

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• Africas largest lake, Lake Victoria, sits in a
  shallow basin between 2 rift valleys.
• It is the worlds second largest freshwater lake
  but it is only 270 feet deep.

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• Africa contains many volcanic mountains.
• Mount Kenya Mount Kilimanjaro, Africas
  highest mountain, are both volcanoes.

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• Volcanic rock covers the Great Escarpment in
  Southern Africa.
• An escarpment is a steep slope with a nearly flat
  plateau on top.
• The Great Escarpment marks the edge of the
  continents plateau in Southern Africa.

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• Africa is rich in minerals.
• African nations contain large amounts of gold,
  chromium, cobalt, copper, phosphates, diamonds,
  many other minerals.

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• South Africa is the worlds largest producer of
  chromium.
• Chromium is an element used in manufacturing
  stainless steel.
• Cobalt is used in high-grade steel for aircraft
  industrial engines.

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• Africas great mineral wealth has not meant
  economic prosperity for most of its population.
• In the 19th 20th centuries, European colonial
  rulers developed Africas natural resources for
  export to Europe to manufacture goods there.
• Resulting in many African nations being slow to
  develop the infrastructure industries that
  could turn these resources into valuable
  products.

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• Libya, Nigeria, Algeria are among the worlds
  leading petroleum producers.

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• After oil, coffee is the most profitable
  commodity in Africa.
• Even though few Africans drink coffee, the
  continent grows 20 of the worlds supply.

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• Lumber is another important commodity.
• Nigeria leads African nations in lumber exports
  ranks 8th worldwide in that area.
• Logging is depleting Africas forests.

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• Other major commodities include sugar, palm oil,
  cocoa.
• Cote dIvoire is the worlds largest exported
  cocoa beans, the main ingredient in chocolate!

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• Agriculture is the single most important economic
  activity in Africa.
• About 66 of Africans earns their living from
  farming.