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:
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.
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.
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.
®Arturo Ramo García.-Record of intellectual property of Teruel (Spain)
No 141, of 29-IX-1999
