Physical Africa
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   1. Physical Africa.

   Africa is placed at the South-East of the Old World. The continent limits at the West with the Atlantic Ocean; at East with the Indicus Ocean and the Red Sea; and at North with the Straits of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is 30.272.922 square kilometres, which is three times Europe’s extension. Its population is 910.844.133 inhabitants.

   African continent is deteriorated by the erosion. Its average high is 600 metres.In general terms we could consider it as a plateau, where climate has eroded certain regions: in the North, the Sahara desert; in the center, the Congo Basin; in the South, the Kalahari desert.


   Answer if the following statements are true or false:

Africa is in the South of Europe

 

It limits at East with the Atlantic Ocean

 

It limits at North with the Straits of Gibraltar

 

It limits at South with the Red Sea

 

Its extension is four times Europe’s

 

It is deteriorated by erosion

 

Its average high is 600 metres

 

 

    3. Africa topography

   Africa is constituted by large plateaus and some mountain ranges which arises over the vast plains extended troughout the continent.

   - In the North the Atlas mountains can be founded. It is an arid and rugged massif.

   - In the center we can distinguish:

      + The Sahara desert, with the Ahaggar and Tibesti mountains.

      + The Congo Basin, with equatorial climate.

      + In East Africa there are the Abisinian range and the Kenia and Tanzania mounts, which surrounded Lake Victoria. The highest are mount Kilimanjaro–5.895 metres–, Mount Kenia– 5.194 metres–, and the Ruwenzori,– 5.119 metres–.

   - In the South we can distinguish:

        +The Kalahari desert.

        + The Drakensberg mountains, which highest peak is over the 3.600 m.


   4. Answer if the following geographical features are in the North, center or South of Africa:

The Abisinian mountain range

 

The Atlas mountain range

 

The Sahara desert

 

The Kalahari desert

 

The Congo Basin

 

The Kilimanjaro mountain

 

The Drakensberg mountains

 

The mount Kenia

 

    5. The coasts

   They are mild and we can separate them in three groups:

   - Mediterranean coasts. The Straits of Gibraltar separate Europe and Africa. Here, the Gulf of Gabes and Sirte and the Nile Delta are founded.

   - Indian Ocean shores. In the Suez Isthmus the Suez Canal was built. It allows the crossing from the Mediterranean sea to the Red Sea, and separates Africa and Asia. On these coasts there are also Cape Guardafui and y Madagascar island.

   - Atlantic shores. We can differentiate between Madeira and Canarias islands, in the North; and Cape Blanc and Cape Verde, from Guinea Gulf to the Cape of Good Hope, in the South.


   6. Write the correct shore: Mediterranean, Indian or Atlantic.

Canarias islands

 

The Red Sea

 

The Straits of Gibraltar

 

Gabes Gulf

 

Madagascar island

 

The Nile Delta

 

Guinea Gulf

 

Cape Guardafui

 

    7. Rivers and lakes

   According to their mouth we can classify them into three groups:

   - In the Mediterranean Sea flow the Nile river, the longest of the world.

   - In the Atlantic flow the Senegal river, the Niger, the Orange and the Congo or Zaire, the greatest one after the Amazonas.

    - In the Indian flow the Zambeze and the Limpopo river (in the South).

   The great African lakes are: Victoria, Alberto, Tanganica and Niasa.


   8. Write the name of the seas where the folllowing rivers flow: Mediterranean, Atlantic or Indian.

The Niger river

 

The Nile

 

The Senegal

 

The Zambeze

 

The Congo

 

The Limpopo

 

    9. Weather and vegetation

   Due to the passing of the equator, this continent is the warmest on Earth. The main climatic zones are:

   The main climatic zones are:

   - The equatorial area, at the Equator, with high temperatures and heavy rains all the year.

   - Two tropical areas, a dry season and a rainy one. The vegetation is typical of the savannah (isolated trees and tall grass)

   - Two desert areas, one in the North with the Sahara and the other in the South with the Kalahari. Rain here is very rare and vegetation flourishes in oasis.

   - Two areas with warm weather, one in the North corner and the other in the South corner of the continent. The climate is a mediterranean one, with hot, dry Summer and mild, rainy Winter. The vegetation is brush and steppe.


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