KBsIAS

PRELIMS 2024
GEO+MAPPING PART- I
POINTERS 4 PRELIMS (P4P) 2024
WORLD MAPPING (STATIC) NOTES

Follows Us On
Facebook/ Instagram/ Twitter / Telegram
https://t.me/KBsIAS
pg. 2
 INDEX
Continents Section

1. NORTH AMERICA……………………………………..…………………………........04
2. SOUTH AMERICA……………………………………………………………………….09

3. EUROPE……………………………………………………………………………......15

4. AFRICA…………………………………………………………………………………..20

5. ASIA……………………………………………………………………………………..30

6. OCEANIA

a. AUSTRALIA…………………………………………………………………….38
b. NEW ZEALAND………………………………………………………………...42

7. ANTARCTICA…………………………………………………………………………..44

pg. 3
 1. NORTH AMERICA
\

North America, third largest of the world’s continents, lying for the most part between the Arctic Circle and the
Tropic of Cancer. North America is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, east by the North Atlantic Ocean,
south by the Caribbean Sea, and west by the North Pacific Ocean.

PHYSICAL FEATURES

 Western Region: Young mountains like the Rockies rise in the west.
 Great Plains: Iie in the middle of the continent. Deep, rich soil blankets large areas of the plains in Canada
and the United States. Grain grown in this region, called the “Breadbasket of North America”.
 Canadian Shield: It is a raised but relatively flat plateau.
 Eastern Region: Includes the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic coastal plain.
 Caribbean Region: The coral reefs and cays of the Caribbean Sea are biomes in North America. Some coral
reefs surround islands, such as the Bahamas, Antigua, and Barbados.

pg. 4
RIVERS

 The Mississippi River: It is the second-longest in North America (Missouri River- Longer). It begins at Lake
Itasca, Minnesota, and flows 2,340 miles to a vast delta on the Gulf of Mexico, forming portions of ten state
borders and the world’s third-largest drainage basin.
 The Colorado River: Beginning in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, the Colorado River runs
southwest to the Gulf of California in Mexico. Most notably Canyon the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
 The Ohio River: Historically seen as the border between the northern and southern United States, the Ohio
is formed in downtown Pittsburgh by the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers,
 The Columbia River: It flows through Lake Revelstoke before entering Washington state. Grand Coulee Dam
(largest hydroelectric plant in the world) along the Columbia in Washington forms Lake Roosevelt.
 The St. Lawrence River: It drains the Great Lakes and serves as a major waterway of eastern Canada.
 The Hudson River: Named after English explorer Henry Hudson, it flows through eastern New York state.
After receiving the Mohawk River, the Hudson flows past New York’s capital, Albany, and West Point before
forming the boundary between Manhattan and New Jersey.
 The Missouri River: It is formed in western Montana by the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison, and
Gallatin Rivers.
 The Red River: It forms most of the border between Oklahoma and Texas.
 The Mackenzie River: Itis the longest river of Canada. Also the largest river flowing into the Arctic Ocean
from North America.
 The Snake River: Rising in Yellowstone National Park. It was a vital route for travelers headed west on the
Oregon Trail, who followed the river most of the way to its mouth on the Columbia River.

GULFS

 Gulf of Mexico: It is an important economic

site for three countries and surrounded by
the United States, Mexico, and the island
nation of Cuba. As one of the biggest gulf, it
has a coastline of 5000 kilometers.
 Gulf of Alaska: It is situated in the
northwestern part of North America where
two types of water run into each other, a
light, almost electric blue merging with a
darker slate-blue.
 Gulf of California: It separates the Baja
California Peninsula from the Mexican
mainland. It has a coastline of 4000 km( 2600
miles). It is considered to be one of the most
diversified seas on the planet and is home to
more than 5,000 species of micro
invertebrates.
 Gulf of St. Lawrence: It is a water outlet of
the North American Great Lakes via Saint
Lawrence river. It’s a semi-enclosed sea that

pg. 5
 covers 236,000 square kilometers (91,000 sq mi) and containing about 35,000 cubic kilometers (8,400 cu mi)
of water, which results in an average depth of 148 meters (486 ft).

LAKES

 Great Salt Lake/ America's Dead Sea: Great Salt

Lake, lake in northern Utah, U.S., the largest
inland body of salt water in the Western
Hemisphere and one of the most saline inland
bodies of water in the world. The lake is fed by
the Bear, Weber, and Jordan rivers and has no
outlet.
 Lake Huron: Second largest of the Great Lakes
of North America. Its northern parts include
the North Channel and Georgian Bay. Saginaw
Bay is located in the southwest corner of the
lake. The main inlet is the St. Marys River, and
the main outlet is the St. Clair River.
 Lake Erie: Fourth largest of the five Great Lakes
of North America. Situated on the International
Boundary between Canada and the United States, Lake Erie's northern shore is the Canadian province of
Ontario. Situated below Lake Huron, Erie's primary inlet is the Detroit River.
 Lake Ontario: It is surrounded by Ontario (Canada), New York whose water boundaries meet in the middle of
the lake. Its primary inlet is the Niagara River from Lake Erie. The Moses-Saunders Power Dam regulates the
water level of the lake.
 Lake Superior: It is the largest and northernmost of the Great Lakes of North America, and among
freshwater lakes, it is the world's largest by surface area and the third-largest by volume. It is shared by
Ontario, Canada, states in the United States. The Caspian Sea, while larger than Lake Superior in both
surface area and volume, is brackish.

ISLANDS

 Vancouver Island: It is situated on Canada’s Pacific Coast, is known for its mild climate and thriving arts
community. It is separated from British Columbia mainland by the Strait of Georgia and Queen Charlotte
Strait and from Washington by the Juan De Fuca Strait.
 Greenland: It is situated between Atlantic and Arctic oceans and 80% of its land is covered by ice.
 Prince of Wales Island: It is one of the islands of the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle. This
ranks four among the island in size.
 Hawaii Island: It is otherwise known as the Big Island provides a vast canvas of natural environment and it is
the largest island of the Hawaiian archipelago in the Central Pacific.
 Cuba Islands of Antilles: It is known as the sugar bowl of the World and its vast source of metallic resources
include cobalt, nickel, iron ore, chromium, and copper. Other resources include timber, petroleum, silica, salt,
and arable land.
 Bermuda Island: It is the territory of the British Islands in North Atlantic and famous for its pink sand beaches
such as Elbow and Horseshoe Bay.

pg. 6
SEAS

 Caribbean Sea: It is a sub-oceanic basin

bordered by coasts of Venezuela,
Colombia, and Panama, Costa Rica,
Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize,
and Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, the
Greater Antilles islands of Cuba,
Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico and
north-south chain of the Lesser Antilles,
consisting of the island arc that extends
from the Virgin Islands in the northeast to
Trinidad.
 Beaufort Sea: Outlying sea of the Arctic
Ocean situated north of Canada and
Alaska. The coasts along the Beaufort Sea
are low-lying and almost entirely covered
with tundra. The Beaufort Sea is under ice
almost the year round; only in August and
September does the ice break up.
 Hudson Bay: Inland sea indenting east-central Canada. It is connected with the Atlantic Ocean via the
Hudson Strait and with the Arctic Ocean via the Foxe Channel. The bay is relatively shallow and is considered
an epicontinental sea. Hudson Bay is often considered part of the Arctic Ocean.
 Labrador Sea: It is an arm of the North Atlantic Ocean between the Labrador Peninsula and Greenland. It
connects to the north with Baffin Bay through the Davis Strait.
 Bering Sea: It is the northern most part of the Pacific Ocean. It is separated from the Gulf of Alaska by the
Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands. The boundary between the United States and Russia passes through
the sea and the strait. To the north the Bering Sea connects with the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait.

IMPORTANT STRAITS

 Nares Strait: It is a waterway between Ellesmere

Island and Greenland that connects the northern
part of Baffin Bay in the Atlantic Ocean with the
Lincoln Sea in the Arctic Ocean.
 Davis Strait: It is a northern arm of the Atlantic
Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea.
 Hudson Strait: It links the Atlantic Ocean and
Labrador Sea to Hudson Bay in Canada.
 Straits of Florida: Passage connecting the Gulf of
Mexico with the Atlantic Ocean. The straits mark
the area where the Florida Current, the initial
part of the Gulf Stream, flow seastward out of
the Gulf of Mexico.

pg. 7
IMPORTANT MOUNTAINS RANGES

 Rocky Mountains/Rockies:
o A major mountain range
and the largest mountain
system in North America.
o The ranges included from
northern Alberta and
British Columbia to New
Mexico.
o The Rockies are bordered
Great Plains, Interior
Plateau and Coast
Mountains of Canada
and the Columbia
Plateau and Basin and
Range Province of the
United States.
 Brooks Range: In the United States, these mountains are considered a sub range of the Rocky Mountains,
whereas in Canada they are considered separate.
 Alaskan Mountains: Three principal mountain groups of far northwestern North America- the Brooks Range,
Alaska Range, and Aleutian Range- found in the U.S. state of Alaska.
 Cordillera Mountains: In North America the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevadas, and the mountains
between them are collectively known as the Cordilleras, and the entire area has been termed the Cordilleran
region.

pg. 8
2. SOUTH AMERICA

pg. 9
PHYSICAL FEATURES

The Pacific Coastal Strip:

o It lies in the west, between the ocean and the Andes. It is the longest coastal plain in the Atlantic world.
o In most places, it is about 80 kilometers wide but in some, it is as narrow as 8 meters. The coastline of South
America is smooth and regular. At the river mouths, there are inlets that are used as harbors.
o The south-western coast of the continent has fiords or deep inlets of the sea.

Guiana Highlands:

o An abundance of rain, tropical rainforest, gold, diamond, and iron ore reserve. World’s highest fall- Angel’s
fall on the Caroni River.
o Comprising a heavily forested plateau, they cover the southern half of Venezuela, all of the Guianas except
for the low Atlantic coastal plain, the northern part of Brazil, and a portion of southeastern Colombia.
o They are geologically similar to the Brazilian Highlands, from which they are separated by the eastern part of
the Amazon lowland.

Plateau of MatoGrosso: Ancient erosional plateau, savannah, cattle raising, gold, and diamond reserve.

Plateau of Borborema: Borborema Plateau plateau of northeastern Brazil. It extends across central Paraíba and
southern Rio Grande do Norte states.

Brazilian Highlands: Brazilian Highlands, Portuguese Planalto Central, eroded plateau region of central and
southeastern Brazil. These are geologically similar to the Guiana Highlands to the north, across the eastern
Amazon River basin.

The Central Lowlands: The central lowlands of South America consists of all the Orinoco river basin, Amazon river
basin, and La Plata basin. The Orinoco Basin has dense tropical forests. The northern part is a plain covered with
savanna grass called the Llanos.

The Eastern Highlands: It consist of the Guyana Highlands in the north and the Brazilian Highlands in the south.
The highest waterfall in the world, the Angel falls, is in the Guyana Highlands.

RIVERS- Check Main Map

 The Amazon: The greatest river of South America and the largest drainage system in the world in terms of
the volume of its flow and the area of its basin. Its westernmost source is high in the Andes Mountains.
 Río de la Plata: It is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at
Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and forms a funnel-shaped indentation on the southeastern
coastline of South America.
 The Orinoco: It is one of the longest rivers in South America. Throughout most of its course it flows through
Venezuela, except for a section that forms part of the frontier between Venezuela and Colombia
 The Sao Francisco: It is a large river in Brazil. It is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and
the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil.
 Paraguay–Paraná–Plata river: The Paraguay-Paraná-Plata is the second of the great river systems of Brazil. It
also drains large parts of Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay. In Brazil the system rises in the highlands
of MatoGrosso, Goiás, and Minas Gerais states and flows southward in two sections—the Paragua.

pg. 10
 Magdalena River:It is the main river of Colombia. The Magdalena River is the largest river system of the
northern Andes.
 Tocantins River: It is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. It rises in the mountainous
district known as the Pireneus, west of the Federal District, but its western tributary, the Araguaia River, has
its extreme southern headwaters on the slopes of the Serra dos Caiapós.

GULFS- Check Below Map

 Gulf of Venezuela: It is a gulf of the Caribbean Sea bounded by the Venezuelan states of Zulia and Falcón and
by La Guajira Department, Colombia. The western side is formed by the Guajira Peninsula.
 The Gulf of Guayaquil: It is a large body of water of the Pacific Ocean in western South America. Its northern
limit is the city of Santa Elena, in Ecuador, and its southern limit is Cabo Blanco, in Peru.
 The San Jorge Gulf: It is a bay in southern Patagonia, Argentina. It is an ocean basin opening to the Atlantic.
 The San Matias Gulf: It is an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Patagonia, Argentina. It is bordered
by the Río Negro Province to the north and west, and the Valdes Peninsula of the Chubut Province to the
south.
 The Gulf of Penas: It is a body of water located south of the Taitao Peninsula, Chile. It is open to the westerly
storms of the Pacific Ocean, but it affords entrance to several natural harbours.

LAKES

 Lake Maracaibo: Large inlet of the

Caribbean Sea, lying in the
Maracaibo Basin of northwestern
Venezuela. Some sources consider
the water body to be the largest
natural lake in South America.
 Lake Titicaca: It is a large, deep,
freshwater lake in the Andes on
the border of Bolivia and Peru,
often called the "highest navigable
lake" in the world. By volume of
water and by surface area, it is the
largest lake in South America.
 Lake Poopó: It is a large saline lake
in a shallow depression in the
Altiplano Mountains in Oruro
Department, Bolivia. It is made up
the eastern half of the
department, known as a mining
region in southwest Bolivia.
 Galapagos Islands: It is island
group of the eastern Pacific Ocean,
administratively a province of

pg. 11
 Ecuador. The Galápagos National Park, and the Galápagos Marine Reserve. The principal language on the
islands is Spanish.
 Pantanal Wetlands: It is a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area, and the
world's largest flooded grasslands. It is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but it
extends into Mato Grosso and portions of Bolivia and Paraguay.

ISLANDS- Check Main Map

 Galapagos Islands: It is island group of the eastern Pacific Ocean, administratively a province of Ecuador. The
Galápagos National Park, and the Galápagos Marine Reserve. The principal language on the islands is
Spanish.
 Chiloé Island: Also known as Greater Island ofChiloé is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the
west coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean. It is located in southern Chile, in the Los Lagos Region.
 Blanquilla Islands: It is an island, one of the Federal Dependencies of Venezuelal. Located in the
southeastern Caribbean Sea about 293 km northeast of Caracas.
 Navarino Island: It is a Chilean island located between Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, to the north, and
Cape Horn, to the south.

SEA- Check Main Map

 Caribbean Sea: It is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by
Mexico and Central America, Greater Antilles starting with Cuba, Lesser Antilles, and north coast of South
America.
 Atlantic Ocean: It is the second-largest of the world's five oceans. It occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin
extending longitudinally between Europe and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west.
 The Pacific Ocean: It is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic
Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia
in the west and the Americas in the east.

STRAITS- Check Main+ Below Map

 The Strait of Magellan: It is a navigable sea route in

southern Chile separating mainland South America to the
north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is
considered the most important natural passage between the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
 The Drake Passage: The Drake is the body of water between
South America's Cape Horn, Chile and the South Shetland
Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of
the Atlantic Ocean (Scotia Sea) with the southeastern part
of the Pacific Ocean and extends into the Southern Ocean.

IMPORTANT MOUNTAINS

 The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains are the longest continental mountain range in the
world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The Andes extend from

pg. 12
 north to south through seven South
American countries: Venezuela,
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia,
Chile, and Argentina.
 Cordillera Blanca: The Cordillera
Blanca is a Peruvian mountain range
that is part of the wider Andes. The
range is around 200km long and is
home to many 6000m peaks,
including the highest mountain in
Peru.
 Serra do Mar: The Serra do Mar
runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean
coast from the state of Espírito
Santo to southern Santa
Catarinaalthough some literature
includes Serra Geral in the Serra do
Mar, in which case the range would
extend to northeastern Rio Grande
do Sul.
 Cordillera Paine: The Cordillera
Paine is a mountain group in Torres
del Paine National Park in Chilean
Patagonia. It is located south of the
Chilean capital Santiago.

DESERTS- Check Above Map

 Patagonian Desert:
o The Patagonian Desert, also known as the Patagonian Steppe, is the largest desert in Argentina and is
the 8th largest desert in the world by area.
o It is located primarily in Argentina and is bounded by the Andes, to its west, and the Atlantic Ocean to its
east, in the region of Patagonia, southern Argentina.
o To the north the desert grades into the Cuyo Region and the Monte.

 La Guajira Peninsula
o La Guajira Peninsula, Spanish Península de La Guajira, Guajira also spelled Goajira, peninsula on the
northwestern coast of South America.
o It is bounded by the Caribbean Sea to the north and west, the Gulf of Venezuela to the southeast, and
the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Sierra de Perijá to the south.
o Much of the peninsula lies in northeastern Colombia; the rest is in northwestern Venezuela, where it is
known as La Goajira Peninsula.

 Atacama Desert: It is the driest non polar desert in the world. It lies mainly between the south bend of the
Loa River and the mountains separating the Salado-Copiapó drainage basins.

pg. 13
 Sechura Desert: The Sechura Desert is a coastal desert located south of the Piura Region of Peru along the
Pacific Ocean coast and inland to the foothills of the Andes Mountains. El Sechura is the home of the widest
area of desert in coastal Peru.
 Monte Desert:
o The Monte Desert is a South American desert, lying entirely within Argentina and covering
approximately the sub- montane areas of Catamarca, La Rioja, San Juan, San Luis and Mendoza
Provinces, plus the western half of La Pampa Province and the extreme north of Río Negro Province.
o The desert lies southeast of the Atacama Desert in Chile, north of the larger Patagonian Desert, east of
the Andes and west of the Sierra de Córdoba.

LATIN AMERICA

 It is the portion of the Americas comprising countries and regions where Romance languages- languages that
derived from Latin—such as Spanish, Portuguese, and French are predominantly spoken.
 The term is used for those places once ruled under the Spanish, Portuguese, and French empires.
 Latin America consists of 20 countries and 14 dependent territories that cover an area that stretches from
Mexico to Tierra del Fuego and includes much of the Caribbean.

LITHIUM TRIANGLE

 It is a region of the Andes rich in lithium reserves around the borders of

Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.
 The lithium in the triangle is concentrated in various salt pans that exist along
the Atacama Desert and neighboring arid areas, the largest ones including
Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, Salar de Atacama in Chile and Salar del Hombre
Muerto in Argentina.

pg. 14
3. EUROPE

pg. 15
PHYSICAL FEATURES- Check Main Map

Western Upland:

 It is also known as the Northern Highlands, delineates the western edge of Europe and defines the physical
landscape of Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark), Finland, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, the Brittany
region of France, Spain, and Portugal.
 These landforms are result of glaciations of hard rock in ancient times. Distinct physical features such as
marshlands, lakes, and fjords have been emerged with the recession of glaciers form the highland areas.

North European Plain:

 It is the extensive low land spread along the bank of various mighty rivers such as Rhine, Weser, Elbe, Oder,
and Vistula. These river valleys are favorable for growing seasonal crops.
 It covers all most half of Europe. Bordered by Baltican White sea from north and Black and Azov from the
south the plain is gradually narrowed down towards the west.
 The northern part of the land is characterized by diversified glacial landforms such as Pipet Marshland, Valdai
hills of western Russia, glacial lakes, etc.

Central Uplands or Plateau:

 These are the collection of distinctive landscapes of summits, steep slopes, valleys, and depression which
stretches across central Europe.
 It extends from Belgium in the East to France in the West and from the Czech Republic and south Germany in
south to Switzerland and Austria in the North.
 Except for some river valleys such as the Rhine, Rhone, Elbe, and Danube river valleys all other areas of this
division is sparsely populated.

Alpine Mountain Systems:

 These are located in south-central Europe, immediately north of the Mediterranean Sea.
 They extend for almost 700 miles in a crescent shape from the coastline of southern France (near Monaco)
into Switzerland, then through northern Italy and into Austria, and down through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro – then ending in Albania on the rugged coastline of the Adriatic
Sea.

RIVERS- Check Main Map

 Don: It is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia,
it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire.
 Dnieper: It is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing
through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and Belarus and the fourth-
longest river in Europe, after Volga, Danube and Ural.
 Dniester: River of southwestern Ukraine and of Moldova, rising on the north side of the Carpathian
Mountains and flowing south and east for 840 miles (1,352 km) to the Black Sea near Odessa. It is the second
longest river in Ukraine and the main water artery of Moldova.

pg. 16
 Rhine: The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps, forms part of the
Swiss-Liechtenstein, Swiss-Austrian, Swiss-German and then the Franco-German border, then flows in a
mostly northerly direction through the German Rhineland and the Netherlands and eventually empties into
the North Sea.
 Volga: It is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia
and into the Caspian Sea. It is also Europe's largest river in terms of discharge and of drainage basin.

GULFS - Check Main Map

 The Gulf of Finland: It is situated in the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea and extends between Finland (to
the north) and Estonia (to the south) all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains
into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn.
 The Gulf of Bothnia: It is situated in the northernmost part of the Baltic Sea and bordered by Sweden at its
western side and Finland at the eastern side.
 The Gulf of Riga: It is a brackish water body which is considered as a sub-basin of the Baltic Sea. The areal
extent of the Gulf of Riga is approximately 16,300 km².
 The Gulf of Lions: The Gulf of Lions extends from the easternmost spurs of Pyrenees and covers various
lagoons, the Rhone River delta, limestone hills of Marseille. It’s an embayment of the Mediterranean
coastline in France.

LAKES- Check Main Map

 Lake Ladoga: It is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern
Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg.
 Lake Onega: It is a lake in northwestern Russia, on the territory of the Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast
and Vologda Oblast. It belongs to the basin of the Baltic Sea.
 Lake Como: It is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It is the fifth deepest lake in Europe, and the
deepest outside Norway.
 Lake Vänern: It is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the European Union and the third-largest lake
of all Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia.

ISLANDS OF EUROPE- Check Main Map

 Great Britain: Great Britain, also called Britain, island lying off the western coast of Europe and consisting of
England, Scotland, and Wales. The term is often used as a synonym for the United Kingdom, which also
includes Northern Ireland and a number of offshore islands.
 Iceland: It is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and the most sparsely populated country in
Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík.
 Ireland: It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's
Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the
twentieth-largest on Earth.
 Cyprus: It is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea south of the Anatolian Peninsula. It is the
third-largest and third-most populous island in the Mediterranean.

pg. 17
SEA OF EUROPE- Check Main Map

 The Mediterranean: It is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and
almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the
south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant.
 The Black Sea: The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe
and Asia. It lies to the east of the Balkans in Southeast Europe, south of the East European Plain in Eastern
Europe; and north of Anatolia and west of the Caucasus, both in Western Asia.
 The Baltic Sea: It is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean, enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia,
Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
 The Caspian Sea: It is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or
a full-fledged sea
 The North Sea: It is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium
and Hauts-de-France (in France). An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the ocean
through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north.

STRAITS

 Strait of Gibraltar: It is a narrow strait that

connects the Atlantic Ocean to the
Mediterranean Sea and separates the
Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco
in Africa.
 Strait of Dover: It is the strait at the
narrowest part of the English Channel,
marking the boundary between the
Channel and the North Sea, separating
Great Britain from continental Europe.
 Danish straits: The Danish straits are the
straits connecting the Baltic Sea to the
North Sea through the Kattegat and
Skagerrak.
 Strait of Baltiysk: It is a strait enabling passage from the Baltic Sea into the freshwater Vistula Lagoon,
located in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. The constructed strait separates the Sambian Peninsula and the Vistula
Spit, and is at the northeastern side of the lagoon.

MOUNTAINS

 The Ural Mountains: These are a mountain range that forms part of the natural boundary between Europe
and Asia. The mountains run through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River
and Kazakhstan.
- Several islands, such as Vaygach Island and the islands of Novaya Zemlya, are a continuation of the Ural
Mountains that run below the sea and emerge again on the islands.

pg. 18
 The Scandinavian
Mountains:
Scandinavia consists
of Norway, Sweden,
and Denmark. In
fact, Scandinavia
exists or Fenno-
Scandia which
continues into the
east through Finland
to the Kola
Peninsula in Russia.
 The Old Mountain
Blocks: These are
Hercynian and
Caledonian
mountain chains. In
the west, the
Meseta of Spain,
the Central Plateau
of France, the
Britanny Peninsula,
the Rhine Upland, the Block Forest, Vosges, Bohemian Plateau, and Rhodope Mt, etc, are examples of these
old mountains.
 The Alpine Mountain Ranges: The highest peak is (Mount Blanc 5,000 m). The mountain range runs in many
branches.
 Apennines: The Apennine Mountains are a range consisting of several sub-ranges that run parallel to each
other for approximately 1,200 km, along the length of peninsular Italy. Como Grande is the tallest peak in the
Apennines, with an elevation of 2,912 m.
 The Pyrenees: The Pyrenees are half as Long and broad as the Alps and separate broadly France from Spain.
The highest peak is Pice de Aneto (3,404 m).
 Balkan Mountains:
o The Balkan Mountain are a mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula,
from the Vrashka Chuka Peak near the Bulgaria-Siberia border to Cape Emine along the coast of the
Black Sea.
o Several protected areas, such as Central Balkan National Park and Bulgarka Nature Park, help
conserve the ecosystem and landscapes within the Balkan Mountains.
 Caucasus Mountains: Like the Urals, the Caucasus Mountains also form part of the boundary between
Europe and Asia. The mountain range has a length of approximately 1,200 km and stretches between the
Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.
o Europe’s highest peak, Mount Elbrus, which has an elevation of 5,642 m, is located in the Caucasus
Mountains. Additionally, all 10 of the tallest peaks in Europe are located in the Caucasus Mountains,
particularly in Russia, Georgia, or along the Russia-Georgia border.

pg. 19
4. AFRICA

pg. 20
pg. 21
PHYSICAL FEATURES- Check Main Map

 Africa, the second-largest continent, is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean,
and the Atlantic Ocean. It is divided in half almost equally by the Equator
 Africa has eight major physical regions: the Sahara, the Sahel, the Ethiopian Highlands, the savanna, the
Swahili Coast, the rain forest, the African Great Lakes, and Southern Africa.

1. Sahara

 It is the world’s largest hot desert, covering 8.5 million square km, about the size of the South American
country of Brazil.
 Physical Features: Ergs (sand dunes), regs (salt), hamadas, and oases.
- Oasis is a hub of water in the desert, often in the form of springs, wells, or irrigation systems.
 The Atlas Mountains, which stretch from SW Morocco to NE Tunisia; The Tibesti Mountains of southern
Libya and northern Chad; and The Ahaggar Mountains in southern Algeria.

2. Sahel

 It is a narrow band of semi-arid land that forms a transition zone between the Sahara to the north and the
savannas to the south.
 The Sahel contains the fertile delta of the Niger, one of Africas longest rivers.
 Animal communities: Are constantly scavenging for scarce water and vegetation resources.

3. Ethiopian Highlands

 The Ethiopian Highlands are home to 80 percent of Africas tallest mountains.

 The highlands craggy landscape is perfect for nimble animal species.
 The most emblematic highlands species is Ethiopian wolf, now on the brink of extinction.

4. Savanna or grasslands

 It cover almost half of Africa, more than 13 million square km.

 These grasslands make up most of central Africa, beginning south of the Sahara and the Sahel and ending
north of the continents southern tip.
 Most well-known savanna regions: The Serengeti (or Serengeti Plains).
- The Serengeti is home to one of the continents highest concentrations of large mammal species, including
lions, hyenas, zebras, giraffes, and elephants.

5. Swahili Coast

 It stretches about 1,610 kilometers along the Indian Ocean, from Somalia to Mozambique.
 The nearby coral reefs and barrier islands protect the coast from severe weather.
 Inhabitant of vegetated areas: A small, primitive species of primate known as the bush baby
 Most common vegetation: Mangrove forests

pg. 22
6. Rain Forest (RF)

 Most of Africas native RF has been destroyed by development, agriculture, and forestry.
 Today, 80 percent of Africas RF is concentrated in central Africa, along Congo River basin.
 Africas rain forests have a rich variety of animal life.
 Important mammals: African forest elephants, gorillas, the okapi, a donkey-like giraffe.
 The driver ant is one of Africas most aggressive rain forest species.

7. African Great Lakes

 The Great Lakes are located in nine countries that surround the Great Rift Valley. As the African continent
separated from Saudi Arabia, large, deep cracks were created in the Earths surface.
 Seven major African Great Lakes: Lake Albert, Lake Edward, Lake Kivu, Lake Malawi, Lake Tanganyika, Lake
Turkana, and Lake Victoria.
 Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa, is the southern source of the Nile River, the longest river in the
world.

8. Southern Africa

 The region of Southern Africa is dominated by the Kaapvaal craton, a shelf of bedrock that is more than 2.6
billion years old.
 Rocky features of Southern Africa include plateaus and mountains, e.g Drakensberg range.
 Southern Africa is the epicenter of Africas well-known reserves, which protect animal species such as lions,
elephants, baboons, white rhinos, and Burchells zebras.
 Southern Africas Cape Floral Region is one of the richest areas for plants in the world.

Regional divisions of Africa: The physiographic divisions of Africa are into the following six regions:

 Northern Africa, Northeast Africa, Eastern Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, Western Africa

PLATEAUS- Check Main Map

The vast African continents are famous for its saucer-shaped and steep-edged plateaus that are facing towards
the coast and extending from Guinea coast to Somali Land and north Sahara to the Cape Province. These are
divided into three groups:

1) South African plateau: The South African plateau as far as about 12°S and is connected towards the
northeast with the East African plateau.
2) East African plateau: The East African plateau, with probably a slightly greater average elevation, and marked
by some distinct features.
3) Ethiopian Highlands: A rugged mass of mountains forming the largest continuous area of its altitude in the
whole continent.

MOUNTAINS- Check Main Map

 Africa is famous for its newly formed folded mountains.

 Specialty: Prominent mountain ranges with some of the very high raised mountain peaks.

pg. 23
 Atlas Mountains: Countries: Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Highest Pick Mountain: The Jebel Toubkal
(Height- 4165 m from sea level) Physical separator: b/w coasts of the Mediterranean and Atlantic Sea and
Sahara Desert.
 Ruwenzori Mountains/ Mountains of the Moon: Country borders: Uganda and DR of Congo. Highest Pick
Mountain: Mount Stanley at Margherita Peak (5,119 m)
 Mount Elgon: Country borders: Uganda and Kenya. The height is about 4,321 km from the mean sea level. It
is an extinct volcanic mountain. it has a crater which is 610 m deep and 8 km across.
 Tibesti Mountains: Countries: Chad, Niger and Libya. They have a volcanic origin. The highest peak is 3,415
m. from mean sea level.
 Ahaggar/ Hoggar Mountains: Country: Central Sahara, or southern Algeria. It has a volcanic formation.
Highest Pick Mountain: Mount Tahat (2, 918 m).
 The Drakensberg: Country: South Africa. Highest Pick Mountain: Thabana Ntlenyana (3,482 m). It is also the
highest peak of Lesotho.
 Mount Kenya: Country: Kenya Highest Pick Mountain: Batian (5,199m), Nelion (5, 188m) It is second-highest
in Africa (after Mount Kilimanjaro).
 Mount Kilimanjaro: Country: Tanzania Kilimanjaro + three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawensi, and Shira, is an
inactive stratovolcano. Kilimanjaro is the tallest free-standing mountain rise in the world rising 4,600 m
(15,100 ft) from its base and includes the highest peak in Africa at 5,895 meters.

DESERTS- Check Main Map

Sahara Desert

 The largest hot desert in the world, stretches across the entire width of North Africa.
 The major countries contributing their land to Sahara deserts are Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Chad,
Morocco, Eritrea, Niger, Mauritania, Mali, and Sudan.
 Topographical features: Shallow, seasonally inundated basins, large oasis depressions; extensive gravel-
covered plains (serirs or regs); rock-strewn plateaus (hammadas); abrupt mountains; and sand sheets, dunes,
sand seas (ergs) and Oases( lush green area).

Namib Desert

 Namib is a cool coastal desert in southern Africa.

 One of the oldest and largest deserts, the Namib stretches inland from the Atlantic Ocean, covering large
swathes of Namibia and parts of Angola and South Africa.
 The high sand dunes of the Namib Desert and the point where the desert meets the sea are the key
attractions of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kalahari Desert

 It lies in the south and the Namib Desert is along the south-west shore of Africa.
 It covers encroaching parts of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Angola, and Zimbabwe.
 Drainage of the desert is by dry valleys, seasonally inundated pans and the large salt pans of the
Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana and Etosha Pan in Namibia.
 The only permanent river, the Okavango (Kavango), flows into a delta in the northwest, forming marshes
that are rich in wildlife.
 Famous for Dimond mining.

pg. 24
Okavango Delta:

 It is one of the very few major interior delta systems that do not flow into a sea or ocean.
 This delta comprises permanent marshlands and seasonally flooded plains.
 It covers part of the Kalahari Desert and owes its existence to the Okavango River.
 It is home to some of the world’s most endangered species of large mammal, such as the cheetah, white
rhinoceros, black rhinoceros, African wild dog and lion.
 Nubian Desert: It is the eastern region of the Sahara desert, between the Nile and the Red Sea. There is
virtually no rainfall here, and there are no oases. It is in Egypt. Major Rivers of Africa

Horn of Africa:

 Horn of Africa, region of eastern Africa.

 It is the easternmost extension of African land and region that is home to the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, and Somalia.
 Part of the Horn of Africa region is also known as the Somali peninsula; this term is typically used when
referring to lands of Somalia and eastern Ethiopia.
 Its coasts are washed by the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Ocean, and it has long been in contact
with the Arabian Peninsula and southwestern Asia.

RIVERS- Check Main Map

Nile River

 The Nile is a major south-to-north flowing river in northeastern Africa.

 It flows into the Egypt’s Mediterranean Sea where it forms a prototypical delta.
 It has historically been considered the longest river (About 6,650 km) in the world.
 It is amongst the smallest of the major world rivers by measure of cubic metres flowing annually.
 Its drainage basin covers eleven countries: Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Republic of the Sudan, and Egypt.
 Major tributaries : White Nile, Blue Nile & Black Nile (Atbara River)

White Nile River

 "White Nile" refers to all the stretches of river draining from Lake Victoria through to the merger with the
Blue Nile.
 The "Victoria Nile" from Lake Victoria via Lake Kyoga to Lake Albert, then the "Albert Nile" to the South
Sudan border, and then the "Mountain Nile" or "Bahr-al-Jabal".
 It is traditionally considered to be the headwaters stream.
 It join the Blue Nile at Khartoum and form the Nile proper.

Blue Nile River

 Over 80% of the Nile’s flow comes from the shorter Blue Nile headstream.
 The Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and flows into Sudan from the southeast. The two rivers meet
at the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.

pg. 25
 At the first of the Nile’s six cataracts is the Aswan High Dam, which forms Lake Nasser and greatly reduces
the annual floods.
- Aswan High Dam (World's largest embankment dam) built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between
1960 and 1970. Its ability to better control flooding, provide increased water storage for irrigation and
generate hydroelectricity
- Lake Nasser is the man-made lake formed by the construction of the Aswan Dam.

Atbarah River/ Black Nile

 It rises in NW Ethiopia, approximately 50 km north of Lake Tana and 30 km west of Gondar.

 It then flows about 805 to the Nile in north-central Sudan, joining it at the city of Atbarah.
 The Atbarah is the last tributary of the Nile before it reaches the Mediterranean.

The Zambezi River

 It rises in eastern Angola. It is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and
the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa.
 The Zambezi includes along its course the Victoria Falls, one of the world’s greatest natural wonders, and
the Kariba and Cahora Bassa dams, two of Africa’s largest hydroelectric projects.
 The river either crosses or forms the boundaries of six countries—Angola, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana,
Zimbabwe, and Mozambique and the use of its waters has been the subject of a series of international
agreements.

Congo River

 It is the continent’s second longest river, after the Nile.

 Congo River, formerly Zaire River, river in west-central Africa.
 It rises in the highlands of northeastern Zambia between Lakes Tanganyika and Nyasa (Malawi) as the
Chambeshi River.
 With its many tributaries, It forms the continent’s largest network of navigable waterways.

Niger River

 It is the third longest river in Africa, after the Nile and the Congo.
 Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border.
 It runs in a crescent through Mali, Niger, on the border with Benin and then through Nigeria, discharging
through a massive delta, known as the Niger Delta.
 Its main tributary is the Benue River.

Orange River

 One of the longest rivers on the continent and one of the longest south of the Tropic of Capricorn.
 The river flows to the Atlantic Ocean in a generally westerly direction for some 1,300 miles.
 The Orange traverses the veld region of South Africa.
 The Orange River- together with the Vaal, its principal tributary- forms a drainage basin.

Limpopo River

 Rising as the Crocodile (or Krokodil) River in South Africa’s Witwatersrand region, it forms the Transvaal’s
border with Botswana and Zimbabwe, then crosses through Mozambique.

pg. 26
 Deforestation in Mozambique contributed to massive flooding of the Limpopo in 2000.
 Perhaps the most famous description of the Limpopo comes from Rudyard Kipling, who in “The Elephant’s
Child” referred to it as “the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees.”

Okavango River

 The Okavango flows for about 1,000 miles from central Angola, through Namibia’s Caprivi Strip, and into the
Kalahari Desert of Botswana.
 There, rather than flowing into the sea, it terminates in a massive inland swamp known as the Okavango
Delta, an area that- especially during the wet season- teems with wildlife in an otherwise inhospitable
region.

Western Rift Valley

 The western branch, or Western Rift Valley, extends from the northern end of Lake Nyasa in a great arc,
taking in Lakes Rukwa, Tanganyika (after Lake Baikal in Siberia the deepest lake in the world), Kivu, Edward,
and Albert.
 Subsidiary branches of this valley include the basins in which lie Lakes Mweru and Upemba.
 Lake Victoria, the largest of all African lakes, which occupies a shallow depression on a plateau 3,720 feet
above sea level between the major branches of the rift valley.

The East African Rift System

 The Ruwenzori (Rwenzori) Range- sometimes called the Mountains of the Moon.
 It constitutes the most striking and distinctive relief feature of the continent.
 Associated with its formation was the volcanic activity responsible for most of the higher peaks of East
Africa, including Kilimanjaro.
 The rift valley extends for about 4,000 miles, its course being clearly marked by many of the lakes of East
Africa as well as by the adjacent volcanic peaks.
 From the Gulf of Aqaba it can be traced southward along the Red Sea and into the Ethiopian Plateau to
Lakes Rudolf, Naivasha, and Magadi in Kenya.
 The lakes of this area are generally smaller, not in line & some are only waterless salt beds.
 Largest lakes: Natron and Manyara, with Eyasi in a side branch of the main rift.

LAKES- Check Main Map

 African Great Lakes: The African Great Lakes are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley
lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the third-largest fresh water lake in the
world by area, Lake Tanganyika, the world's second-largest freshwater lake by volume and depth, and Lake
Malawi, the world's eighth-largest fresh water lake by area.

 Lake Victoria/ Victoria Nyanza:

o It is one of the African Great Lakes. Largest lake in Africa and chief reservoir of the Nile, lying mainly in
Tanzania and Uganda but bordering on Kenya.
o Among the freshwater lakes of the world, it is exceeded in size only by Lake Superior in North America.

pg. 27
 o Its waters fill a shallow depression in the centre of the great plateau that stretches between the
Western and Eastern Rift Valleys.
o It has more than 200 species of fish, of which the Tilapia is the most economically important.

 Lake Tanganyika: Lake Tanganyika, second largest of the lakes of eastern Africa. It is the second longest
freshwater lake in the world [660 km] and the second deepest [1,436 m] after Lake Baikal in Russia. It
occupies the southern end of the Western Rift Valley.
 Lake Malawi/ Lake Nyasa: Lake Malawi is the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system. It is located
between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the second deepest lake in Africa, after Lake Tanganyika.
 Lake Edward: One of the great lakes of the Western Rift Valley in eastern Africa. It lies astride the border of
Congo (Kinshasa) and Uganda. On the northeast it is connected to the smaller Lake George. Lake Edward
empties northward through the Semliki River to Lake Albert (after 1973, also called Lake Mobutu Sese
Seko), the waters of which empty as the Albert Nile.
 Lake Chad: It is afresh lake water, the twelfth largest lake in the world and the fourth in Africa. Lake Chad is
located mainly in the far west of Chad and shared with Nigeria.
 Lake Turkana (Lake Rudolf): It is a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley and shared by Kenya and Ethiopia. It is the
world’s largest permanent desert lake and the world’s largest alkaline lake. By volume it is the world’s
fourth-largest salt lake after the Caspian Sea, Issyk-Kul and Lake Van.
 Lake Albert: It is located in the Rift Valley. It is Africa’s sixth-largest lake, 13th in the world, 27th largest lakes
by volume in the world. It is shared by Uganda and the DR Congo and is part of the upper Nile system.
 Lake Mweru: It is a freshwater lake on the longest arm of Africa’s second-longest river, the Congo. Located
on the border between Zambia and DR of the Congo. Mweru is mainly fed by the Luapula River which
comes in through swamps from the south and the Kalungwishi River from the east.
 Lake Kyoga: It is a large shallow lake complex in Uganda. Victoria Nile flows through the lake on its way from
Lake Victoria to Lake Albert. The main inflow from Lake Victoria is regulated by the Nalubaale Power
Station in Jinja.
 Lake Kivu: Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the DR of the Congo and
Rwanda and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift Valley.

GULFS

 Gulf of Guinea: It is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon,
north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf.
 Gulf of Aden: It is a deepwater gulf between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the
west, and the Guardafui Channel, Socotra (Yemen), Somaliland and Somalia.
 Winam Gulf: Winam Gulf is a significant extension of northeastern Lake Victoria into western Kenya.
Formerly known as Kavirondo Gulf, Nyanza Gulf, and Lake Nyanza Gulf, it is a shallow inlet and is connected
to the main lake by Rusinga Channel.
 Gulf of Gabes: Contrasting with the Greater Syrtis in Libya, is a gulf on Tunisia's east coast in the
Mediterranean Sea, off North Africa. The gulf roughly spans the coast from Sfax to Djerba.

ISLANDS

 Mahé: Mahé is the largest island of Seychelles. Lying in the northeast of the Seychellean nation in the Somali
Sea part of the Indian Ocean.
 Unguja: It is the largest and most populated island of the Zanzibar archipelago, in Tanzania.

pg. 28
 Djerba: It is a Tunisian island and the largest island of North Africa at 514 square kilometers.
 Sal: It is an island in Cape Verde. Sal is a tourist destination with white sandy beaches and over 350 days of
sunshine a year.

SEA - Check Main Map

 The Mediterranean: It is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and
almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the
south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant.
 The Black Sea: It is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia. It lies
to the east of the Balkans in Southeast Europe, south of the East European Plain in Eastern Europe; and north
of Anatolia and west of the Caucasus, both in Western Asia.
 Red Sea: It is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean
is in the south, through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden.
 The Arabian Sea: It is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the
Gulf of Oman, the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Peninsula, the Laccadive Sea and the
Maldives, Somalia and India.

STRAITS - Check Main Map

 Strait of Gibraltar: It is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and
separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa.
 Bab-el-Mandeb: It is a strait between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn
of Africa. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
 Bab Iskender: Also variously known as the Eastern strait, the small strait, the narrow pass or the small pass,
is the eastern section of the Bab-el-Mandeb straits, which separates RasMenheli, Yemen, on the Arabian
Peninsula from RasSiyyan, Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa.

FACTS ABOUT AFRICA

 Location: latitudes 37° North and 35° South and the longitudes 50° East and 20° West.
 It is the only continent which is traversed by the equator, the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer.
 The Greenwich Meridian passes through the western part of Africa.
 It is the only continent where the 0° latitude meets the 0° longitudes. These lines meet at the Gulf of
Guiana.
 The equatorial forests which are found on both sides of the equator receive high temperatures and daily
rainfall.
 In this area, clouds form around noon and heavy rains occur every evening.
 The differences in temp. b/w day and night are greater than that b/w winter and summer.
 The Equator, the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer pass through this continent. So when it is
winter in South Africa, it is summer in the North of Africa
 Africa records high temperatures throughout the year as it lies in the tropical zone.
 World’s highest temperature in Al Azyziyah in Lybia has recorded at 58° C.
 The types of vegetation found in the African continent are the equatorial forests, desert vegetation, Savanna
grasslands, Mediterranean vegetation, and temperate grasslands
 Trees found equatorial forests: Mahogany, ironwood, rosewood, oil palm, and rubber.

pg. 29
5. ASIA

pg. 30
 PHYSICAL FEATURES - Check Main Map

Asia is the largest of the world’s continents, covering approximately 30 percent of the Earth’s land area. It is also
the world’s most populous continent, with roughly 60 percent of the total population.

Mountain Systems: Extend for about 2,500 kilometers, separating the Indian subcontinent from the rest of Asia.
The Tien Shan mountain system 2,400 km, border between Kyrgyzstan and China. The Ural Mountains 2,500 km
in an indirect north-south line from Russia to Kazakhstan.

Regional Divisions of Asia:

Asia can be divided into six physiographic divisions

1. Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

2. Eastern Asia: China, Hong Kong, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Macau, Mongolia, Taiwan
3. Northern Asia: Russia
4. South-eastern Asia: Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,
Timor-Leste, Vietnam.
5. Southern Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
6. Western Asia: Armenia, Azerbaijana, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Oman, State of Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

MAJOR PHYSICAL DIVISIONS OF ASIA- Check Main Map

 The Northern Lowlands

 The Central Mountains
 The Central and Southern Plateaus
 The Peninsulas
 Deserts
 The Great River Plains
 Island Groups

The Northern Lowlands: The extensive plain areas that comprise of several patches of lowlands of this large
continent.

The major lowlands are:

 Great Siberian Plain: It extends between the Ural Mountains in the west and the river Lena in the east. It is
the largestlowland in the world.
 Manchurian Plain: It is the area adjoining Amur river and its tributaries in China.
 Great Plains of China: It is contributed by two major rivers of China, Hwang Ho and Yangtze river which covers
an area of 158,000 square miles approx.
 Tigris-Euphrates Plains: Great river system of southwestern Asia. It comprises the Tigris and Euphrates rivers,
which follow roughly parallelcourses through the heart of the MiddleEast.
 Ganga Plains: It is a major part of the GreatPlains of north India which comprise the Rajasthan plain, the
Punjabplain and the Gangaplain and have been formed through the process of alluviation by the Satluj, the
Ganga and the Brahmaputra drainage systems during late Tertiary and Quaternary periods.

pg. 31
 Irrawaddy Plains : The plain and basin of the middle and lower course of the Irrawaddy River in Burma,
between the ArakanYoma on the west and the Shan Upland on the east.

The Central Mountains:

 These are the prominent and extensive mountain ranges that cover the parts of Central Asia.
 They consist of Pamir and Tian Shan ranges and extending across portions of Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
 These mountain ranges are designated as biodiversity hot spots by Conservation International which covers
several montanes and alpine eco regions of Central Asia.
 A mountain knot is a junction of two or more mountain ranges. The two main mountain knots in Asia are:
o The Pamir Knot is the junction of five mountain ranges they are the Sulaiman, the Hindu Kush, the
Kunlun, the Karakoram, and the Himalayan ranges.
o The Armenian Knot is connected to the Pamir Knot by the Elburz and the Zagros Ranges that originate
in the Armenian Knot. The Tien Shan and the Altai are other mountain ranges in Asia.

PEAKS OF ASIA- Check Main Map

 Mount Everest (8848 m), Nepal-Tibet, China border

 K2 (8,61,1 m), Pakistan-China
 Kangchenjunga (8,586 m), Nepal-Sikkim (India).
 Lhotse (8,516 m), Nepal-Tibet, China
 Makalu (8,462 m), Nepal-Tibet, China
 Cho Oyu (8,201 m), Nepal

THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PLATEAUS- Check Main Map

 Plateaus are the land areas having a relatively that surface considerably raised above adjoining land on at
least one side, and often cut by deep canyon.
 Major Plateaus of Asian Continent-

Ladakh Between Karakoram and Himalaya mountain ranges

Tibet Between Kulun and Himalayan Mountain range
Situated on the southeast of the Tibet Plateau and separated from Szechuan Basin extensive
Yunan
fertile land by the range of Mountains
Well connected to the range of mountains such as The Himalayas with the Tian Shan, Karakoram,
Pamir
Kunlun, and the Hindu Kush ranges on all sides
Armenian Present in between Caspian and the Black Sea
Iranian Present in between Zagros Mountains, Caspian Sea, Turkmen-Khorasan Mountain Range
Surrounded by the Greater Hinggan Mountains, the Yin Mountains, the Altai Mountains, and the
Mongolian
Sayan and Khentii mountains
Shan Stretched in the PeguYoma and Arkan Yoma in the eastern part of Myanmar,
Extended in between the Western Ghats in the west and the Eastern Ghats in the east of Indian
Deccan Subcontinent, it almost touches the southern tip of India and in north covered by the Satpura
and Vindhya Ranges
Anatolian Enclosed between Pontic mountain ranges in the South and Taurus in the southwest

pg. 32
Peninsulas: A peninsula is a mass of land surrounded by water but attached to the mainland. The Deccan plateau
region is also a peninsula. The major peninsulas of Arabia, India, and Malay are in southern Asia. The Kamchatka
peninsula lies in northeastern Asia.

Deserts: Asia has some big deserts such as the Gobi, the TaklaMakan, the Thar, the Kara-Kum, and the Rub-al-
Khali Deserts. The Rub’ al Khali desert, considered the world’s largest sand sea, covers an area larger than France
across Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

Islands of Asia: Asia also has a cluster of islands, also called an archipelago. An archipelago sometimes called an
island group or island chain, which is formed close to each other in large clusters. Indonesia, Philippines, Japan,
Andaman, and Nicobar are some examples of archipelagos.

Drainage of Asia:

 The drainage of Asia consists of mighty oceans, extensive seas, lengthy rivers, and their tributaries and
distributaries, major lakes, etc.
 Oceans: Asian continent is surrounded by three major ocean from three sides such as
 The Pacific Ocean: It covers the eastern part of Asia where major rivers of eastern Asia drain, such as Menam
Mekong, Xi Jiang, Chang Xiang, Huang Ho, and Amur.
 The Indian Ocean: It covers the southern part of Asia and the major rivers that flow into the Indian Ocean are
Tigris, Euprates, the Indus, the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween.
 The Arctic Ocean: It covers the Noth east part of Asia and consists of three major rivers such as Ob, Yenisey,
and Lena.

SEAS- Check Main Map

 As the continent is covered by sea from its three sides, It has also characterized by the long stretch of bay
and gulf.
 Major seas contributing to Asian Drainage are Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Banda Sea, Barents Sea, Bering
Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, East Siberian Sea, Java Sea, Kara Sea, Laccadive Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk.
The South China Sea and the Yellow Sea.

RIVER- Check Main Map

The Yangtze River:

 Longest river in both China and Asia and third longest river in the world, length of 6,300 km.
 It flows for 6,300 kilometersfrom the glaciers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and emptying into the East China
Sea at Shanghai.
 The river is the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country.
 The Yangtze is also one of the biggestrivers by discharge volume in the world.
 It’s basin is a big granary of China.

Yellow River/ Mother River of China:

 Originates at an elevation above 15,000 feet (4,600 metres) in the Bayan Har Mountains, in the eastern
Plateau of Tibet.
 The river rises in southern Qinghai province on the Plateau of Tibet.

pg. 33
 The Yellow River is yellow because of the great amount of yellow silt suspended in the river. The yellow silt
(loess) mainly comes from China’s Loess Plateau.
 It is also called "China's Sorrow".Each year, over 1.6 billion tons of soil flow into the Yellow River, which
causes the continual rise and shift of its riverbed.

Mekong River:

 It is the longest river in Southeast Asia.

 The Mekong begins at a height of more than 16,000 feet (4,900 meters) in the mountains of the Tibet
Autonomous Region of China.
 Among Asian rivers, only the Yangtze and Ganges have larger minimum flows.
 The river divides into two branches below Phnom Penh: the Mekong proper and the Bassac (Basak).

Brahmaputra River:

 Source is the Chemayungdung Glacier, which covers the slopes of the Himalayas about 100 km southeast of
Lake Mapam in southwestern Tibet.
 It passes through the Tibet, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, and Bangladesh.
 The three headstreams that arise there are the Kubi, the Angsi, and the Chemayungdung.
 In Tibet the Tsangpo receives a number of tributaries.
 The most important left-bank tributaries are the RakaZangbo (RakaTsangpo).
 It enters the plains of Bangladesh after mother river of China around the Garo Hills below Dhuburi, India.
 After flowing past Chilmari, Bangladesh, it is joined on its right bank by the Tista River and then follows a
240-kmcourse due south as the Jamuna River.
 Ganges-Brahmaputra system has the third greatest average discharge of the world’s rivers.

Indus River:

 It rises in the southwestern Tibet near Lake Mapam elevation 18,000 feet (5,500 metres).
 A short way beyond Leh, Ladakh, it is joined on its left by its first major tributary, the Zaskar River.
 Continuing for 240 km in the same direction into the Pakistani-occupied Kashmir (PoK) region, the Indus is
joined by its notable tributary the Shyok River on the right bank.
 Below its confluence with the Shyok, it is fed by mighty glaciers on the slopes of the Karakoram Range, the
Nanga Parbat massif, and the Kohistan highlands.
 The Shyok, Shigar, Gilgit, and other streams carry glacial melt water into the Indus.
 The Kābul River joins the Indus just above Attock.
 The Indus receives its most-notable tributaries from the eastern Punjab Plain. These five rivers- the Jhelum,
Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej- give the name Punjab (“Five Rivers”) to the region divided between Pakistan
and India.

Ganga River:

 It is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through India and Bangladesh.

 The river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.
 The main stem of the Ganges begins at the town of Devprayag the confluence of the Alaknanda.
 The Ganges rises in the southern Great Himalayas on the Indian side of the border with the Tibet
Autonomous Region of China.

pg. 34
 Its five headstreams- the Bhagirathi, the Alaknanda, the Mandakini, the Dhauliganga, and the Pindar- all rise
in the mountainous region of northern Uttarakhand state.

LAKES- Check Main Map

 Lake Baikal: Located in the eastern Siberia, Russia. It is the oldest existing freshwater lake on Earth. Into Lake
Baikal flow more than 330 rivers and stream. The influx of water into the lake is primarily from rivers, chiefly
the Selenga. The only outflow is through the Angara River, a tributary of the Yenisey.
 Lake Balkhash/ Balqash: Southeastern Kazakhstan and sits in an endorheicbasin. It is one of the largest lakes
in Asia and 15th largest in the world. The lake's western part is fresh water Like the Aral Sea, it is shrinking
due to diversion and extraction of water from its feeders.
 Caspian Sea: It is world’s largest inland water body. Also it is the largest salt lake in the world. It is bordered
in the northeast by Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia.
 Lake Poyang: Largest freshwater lake in China. It lies in a structural depression south of the Yangtze River
and is fed by various rivers from Jiangxi, the most important being the Gan River. Lake Poyang itself drains
into the Yangtze at Hukou.
 Lake Urmia: It is in northwestern Iran that is the largest lake in the Middle East. Like the Dead Sea, it is
remarkable for the extreme salinity of its waters. Because Lake Urmia’s waters have no outlet, they are
highly saline.
 Dead Sea/ Salt Sea: It is landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan in southwestern Asia. The Jordan
River, from which the Dead Sea receives nearly all its water. The Dead Sea has the lowest elevation and is
the lowest body of water on the surface of Earth.
 Chilika Lake: It is a brackish water lagoon. Spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Odisha, at
the mouth of the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal. This lake is the largest coastal lagoon in India
and the largest brackish water lagoon in the world.

MOUNTAINS- Check Main Map

Mount Everest:

 It is the highest mountain in the world (8,849 m). Lies on the border between Nepal and the Tibet.
 The Himalayan ranges were thrust upward by tectonic action as the Indian-Australian Plate moved
northward and was subducted (forced downward) under the Eurasian Plate following the collision of the
two plates between about 40 and 50 million years ago.
 Higher up are found sedimentary rocks of marine origin (remnants of the ancient floor of the Tethys Sea that
closed after the collision of the two plates).
 Notable is the Yellow Band, a limestone formation that is prominently visible just below the summit
pyramid.

Ural Mountains:

 Mountain range forming a rugged spine in west-central Russia and the major part of the traditional
physiographic boundary between Europe and Asia,
 Karst topography is highly developed on the western slopes of the Urals, with many caves, basins, and
underground streams.
 Highest peak, Mount Payer, 4,829 feet (1,472 metres).

pg. 35
Kanchenjunga:

 World’s third highest mountain, with an elevation of 28,169 feet (8,586 metres).
 It is situated in the eastern Himalayas on the border between Sikkim and eastern Nepal.
 The mountain is part of the Great Himalaya Range.
 The individual summits connect to neighbouring peaks by four main ridges, from which four glaciers flow—
the Zemu, Talung, Yalung, and the Kanchenjunga.

K2: The world’s second highest peak (28,251 feet [8,611 m]), second only to Mount Everest. K2 is located in the
Karakoram Range and lies partly in a Chinese-administered enclave of the Kashmir region and partly in the Gilgit-
Baltistan portion, PoK. The glacier- and snow-covered mountain rises from its base at about 15,000 feet (4,570
metres) on the Godwin Austen Glacier, a tributary of the Baltoro Glacier.

Karakoram Range:

 It is a mountain range spanning the borders of China, India, and Pakistan, with the northwest extremity of
the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
 It begins in the Wakhan Corridor (Afghanistan) encompasses the majority of Gilgit-Baltistan (controlled by
Pakistan), and extends into Ladakh and Aksai Chin (controlled by China).
 It is the second highest mountain range in the world and part of the complex of ranges including the Pamir
Mountains, the Hindu Kush and the Himalayan Mountains.

Nanga Parbat/ Diamir:

 One of the world’s tallest mountains, 26,660 feet (8,126 metres) high, situated in the western Himalayas.
 Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus river in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of
Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Nanga Parbat is the westernmost major peak of the Himalayas, and thus in
the traditional view of the Himalayas as bounded by the Indus and Yarlung Tsangpo/Brahmaputra rivers, it is
the western anchor of the entire mountain range.
 Nanga Parbat is known to be a difficult climb, and has earned the nickname Killer Mountain for its high
number of climber fatalities.
 To the south, Nanga Parbat has what is often referred to as the highest mountain face in the world: the
Rupal Face rises 4,600 m (15,090 ft) above its base.

DESERTS- Check Main Map

 Arabian Desert: Great desert region of extreme southwestern Asia that occupies almost the entire Arabian
Peninsula. Its large part lies within the modern kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
 Gobi Desert: Great desert and semi-desert region of Central Asia. It stretches across huge portions of both
Mongolia and China. It is defined as lying between the Altai Mountains and Hangayn Mountains.
 Thar Desert/ Great Indian Desert: Arid region of rolling sand hills on the Indian subcontinent. It is located
partly in Rajasthan and partly in Punjab and Sindh (Sind) provinces, eastern Pakistan. It is bordered by the
irrigated Indus River plain, the Punjab Plain, the Aravalli Range, Rann of Kachchh.
 Karakum Desert/ Gara Gum (“Black Sand”): Great sandy region in Central Asia. It occupies about 70 percent
of the area of Turkmenistan. It is bordered by the Sarykamysh Basin, Amu Darya (ancient Oxus River) valley,
and Garabil uplands and Badkhyz steppe region.

pg. 36
 6. OCEANIA
 Oceania is a geographic region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.[5][6]
Spanning the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
 When compared with the continents, the region of Oceania is the smallest in land area and the second
smallest in population after Antarctica.

pg. 37
6.1 AUSTRALIA

pg. 38
PHYSICAL FEATURES- Check Main Map

Eastern Highland: This is a chain of hills and mountains which interrupts the leveled landform of Australia. These
are also known as the Great Dividing Range.

Great Dividing Range:

 Great Dividing Range, also called Great Divide, Eastern Highlands, or Eastern Cordillera, main watershed of
eastern Australia.
 It comprises a series of plateaus and low mountain ranges roughly paralleling the coasts of Queensland, New
South Wales, and Victoria.
 The headwaters of a number of Australia’s principal rivers are located in the Great Dividing Range.

The Western Plateau:

 The Western Plateau is Australia's largest drainage division and is composed predominantly of the remains of
the ancient rock shield of Gondwana.
 It includes large parts of Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory. For comparison, it
is roughly the same size as the whole of continental Europe from Poland to Portugal.

RIVERS- Check Main Map

 Murray River: It is a river in south-eastern Australia. It flows some across southeastern Australia from the
Snowy Mountains to the Indian Ocean.
 Darling River: It is longest member of the Murray–Darling river system in Australia. It rises in several
headstreams in the Great Dividing Range (Eastern Highlands). The main source of the Darling is considered
to be the Severn, which becomes successively the Dumaresq, Macintyre, Barwon, and, finally, the Darling.
 Murrumbidgee River It is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the
second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian
Capital Territory. The river itself flows through several traditional Aboriginal Australian lands, home to
various Aboriginal peoples.
 Cooper Creek: It is one of the most famous rivers in Australia because it was the site of the death of the
explorers Burke and Wills in 1861. It is sometimes known as the Barcoo River from one of its tributaries and
is one of three major Queensland River systems that flow into the Lake Eyre basin.

GULFS- Check Main Map

 Cambridge Gulf: Cambridge Gulf is a gulf on the north coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Many rivers flow into the gulf, including the Ord River, Pentecost River, Durack River, King River and the
Forrest River, making the environment an estuarine one.
 Gulf of Carpentaria: It is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on
the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea).
 The Spencer Gulf: The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets (the other being Gulf St
Vincent) on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight.
 Gulf St Vincent: It is the eastern of two large inlets of water on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of
South Australia, the other being the larger Spencer Gulf, from which it is separated by Yorke Peninsula.

pg. 39
LAKES- Check Main Map

 Lake Eyre: It is an endorheic lake in east-central Far North South Australia, some 700 km north of Adelaide.
The shallow lake is the depo centre of the vast endorheic Lake Eyre basin, and contains the lowest natural
point in Australia.
 Lake Hillier: Lake Hillier is a saline lake on the edge of Middle Island, the largest of the islands and islets that
make up the Recherche Archipelago in the Goldfields-Esperance region, off the south coast of Western
Australia.
 Pink Lake: Pink is a salt lake in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. Although historically the
water in the lake was visibly pink.
 The Blue Lake: The Blue Lake is a large, monomictic, crater lake located in a dormant volcanic maar
associated with the Mount Gambier maar complex.
 Lake Torrens: It is a large ephemeral, normally endorheic salt lake in central South Australia. After sufficiently
extreme rainfall events, the lake flows out through the Pirie-Torrens corridor to the Spencer Gulf.

ISLANDS OF AUSTRALIA- Check Main Map

 Melanesia: It is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from the island of New
Guinea in the west to Tonga in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four
independent countries of Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea.
 Micronesia: It is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of thousands of small islands in the western Pacific
Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west,
Polynesia to the east, and Melanesia to the south—as well as with the wider community of Austronesian
peoples.
 Polynesia: Polynesia is otherwise known as Many Lands which expand from islands of Midway in the north to
New Zealand in the south and include the series of islands such as the American Samoa Cook Islands, French
Polynesia, Niue, Pitcairn, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Wallis and Futuna Islands.

SEA OF AUSTRALIA- Check Main Map

 The Coral Sea: The Coral Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and
classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The sea contains numerous islands and reefs, as well as the
world's largest reef system, the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), which was declared a World Heritage Site by
UNESCO in 1981.
 Tasman Sea: It is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand.
 The Arafura Sea: The Arafura Sea lies west of the Pacific Ocean, overlying the continental shelf between
Australia and Western New Guinea (Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea.
 Timor Sea: It is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the
Arafura Sea, to the south by Australia. The sea contains a number of reefs, uninhabited islands and significant
hydrocarbon reserves.

STRAITS- Check Main Map

 Torres Strait: The Torres Strait also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian
island of New Guinea. It is 151 km wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the
northernmost extremity of the Australian mainland.

pg. 40
 Bass Strait: Bass Strait is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland , The
strait provides the most direct waterway between the Great Australian Bight and the Tasman Sea, and is also
the only maritime route into the economically prominent Port Phillip Bay.
 Clarence Strait: Clarence Strait in northern Australia separates Melville Island from the mainland of Australia.
It also connects the Beagle Gulf in the west to the Van Diemen Gulf in the east.
 Endeavour Strait: The Endeavour Strait is a strait running between the Australian mainland Cape York
Peninsula and Prince of Wales Island in the extreme south of the Torres Strait, in northern Queensland,
Australia.

MOUNTAINS- Check Main Map

 Mount Kosciuszko: It is located in New South Wales of Australia. It is the highest mountain in Australia.
 Mount Bogong: It is located in the Alpine National Park and part of the Victorian Alps of the Great Dividing
Range, is the highest mountain in Victoria, Australia.
 Mount Zeil: It is a mountain in the Northern Territory of Australia located in the locality of Mount Zeil in the
western MacDonnell Ranges. It is the highest peak in the Northern Territory, and the highest peak on the
Australian mainland west of the Great Dividing Range.
 Bimberi Peak: It is located within the Brindabella Ranges is the highest mountain in the Australian Capital
Territory (ACT).

DESERT- Check Main Map

 Gibson Desert: It is arid zone in the interior of Western Australia. The desert lies south of the Tropic of
Capricorn between the Great Sandy Desert (north), the Great Victoria Desert (south), the Northern Territory
border (east), and Lake Disappointment (west).
 Great Sandy Desert: The Great Sandy Desert (GSD) is an interim Australian bioregion. Located in the north
west of Western Australia straddling the Pilbara and southern Kimberley regions.
 Great Victoria Desert: It is the largest desert in Australia, and consists of many small sandhills, grassland
plains, areas with a closely packed surface of pebbles (called desert pavement or gibber plains), and salt
lakes. A vast expanse of sand hills, partly fixed by Triodia (Spinifex) grass and salt marshes, it lies in Western
Australia and South Australia.
 Simpson Desert: It is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia
and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Australian desert.
 Little Sandy Desert: The bioregion is located to the east of Great Northern Highway south of Newman and
north of Wiluna. To the north the nearest large area identifiable is the Karlamilyi National Park.
 Western Desert: It is a cultural region in central Australia. It includes the Gibson Desert, the Great Victoria
Desert, the Great Sandy and Little Sandy Deserts in the Northern Territory, South and Western Australia.
 The Central Lowland: The extensive patch of plain or low land has its existence between the Eastern
Highlands and Western Plateau. The patch is drained by two rivers such as Murray and Darling which also
facilitate the land with irrigation facilities for farming and other essential activities.

The Great Barrier Reef: This is the largest coral reef in the world. It lies along the east coast of Queensland,
Australia, in the Pacific Ocean.

pg. 41
 6.2 NEW ZEALAND

 New Zealand is an island country located in the south-western Pacific Ocean, near the centre of the water
hemisphere.
 It consists of a large number of islands, mainly remnants of a larger land mass now beneath the sea. The land
masses by size are the North Island and the South Island, separated by the Cook Strait.
 The third-largest is Stewart Island / Rakiura, located off the tip of the South Island across Foveaux Strait.
 New Zealand is the sixth-largest island country in the world.

MOUNTAINS, VOLCANOES AND GLACIERS

 The South Island is much more mountainous than the North, but shows fewer manifestations of recent
volcanic activity.
 The closest mountains surpassing it in elevation are found not in Australia, but in New Guinea and
Antarctica. Southern Alps include huge glaciers such as Franz Josef and Fox.

pg. 42
 The country's highest mountain is Aoraki / Mount Cook; its height since 2014 is listed as 3,724 metres
(12,218 feet). The second highest peak is Mount Tasman, with a height of 3,497 metres (11,473 ft).
 The North Island Volcanic Plateau covers much of central North Island with volcanoes, lava plateaus, and
crater lakes. The three highest volcanoes are Mount Ruapehu (2,797 metres (9,177 ft)), Mount Taranaki
(2,518 metres (8,261 ft)) and Mount Ngauruhoe (2,287 metres (7,503 ft)).
 The lower mountain slopes are covered in native forest. Above this are shrubs, and then tussock grasses.
Alpine tundra consists of cushion plants and herbfields; many of these plants have white and yellow flowers.

RIVERS AND LAKES

 The mountainous areas of the North Island are cut by many rivers, many are swift and unnavigable.
 Rivers such as the Wairau, Waimakariri and Rangitātā; formed from glaciers, they fan out into many strands
on gravel plains.
 The Waikato, flowing through the North Island, New Zealand's longest river, length of 425 kilometres.
 New Zealand's rivers feature hundreds of waterfalls; the most visited set of waterfalls are the Huka Falls that
drain Lake Taupō.[
 Lake Taupō, located near the centre of the North Island, is the largest lake by surface area in the country. It
lies in a caldera created by the Oruanui eruption, the largest eruption in the world in the past 70,000 years.
 Coastal Wetlands: New Zealand has six sites that are included in the List of Wetlands of International
Importance (Ramsar sites), including the Whangamarino Wetland.

CLIMATE

 The main geographic factors that influence New Zealand's climate are the temperate latitude, with
prevailing westerly winds; the oceanic environment; and the mountains, especially the Southern Alps.
 January and February are the warmest months, July the coldest. New Zealand does not have a large
temperature range, apart from central Otago, but the weather can change rapidly and unexpectedly. Near
subtropical conditions are experienced in Northland.

ZEALANDIA

 It is a newly discovered geological continent submerged

beneath the south-west Pacific Ocean.
 Zealandia is around 4.5-million square km land mass and is
94% under water. Only its highest points- New Zealand and
New Caledonia are visible.
 Zealandia is two-thirds the size of Australia and spreads out
over 4.9-million-square kilometres of continental crust. It
was once a part of Australia
 It is believed that it had broken off from Antarctica about
100 million years ago, and then from Australia about 80
million years ago as part of the breakup of super-continent
Gondwanaland and sank beneath sea.
 Sea-floor samples show that Zealandia consists of light
continental crust and not the dark volcanic rocks that make
up nearby underwater plateaus.

pg. 43
 7. ANTARCTICA

ANTARCTICA AND CONTINENTAL DRIFT

 It is the fifth-largest continent.

 It is larger than Europe and is twice the size of Australia.
 The continent is a high plateau that is frozen throughout the year.
 There is no coastal plain.
 There are mountain ranges, peaks, a rift valley, and volcanoes.
 Two broad inlets, the Weddell Sea and the Ross Sea and the Trans- Antarctic Mountains that cross the
entire continent divide the land into West Antarctica and East Antarctica.
 The former faces the Pacific Ocean. The Antarctic Peninsula points towards South America. It is the
continuation of the Andes Mountain range.

pg. 44
CLIMATE OF ANTARCTICA

 It is frozen cold because of its distance from the Equator and because of the great height of the plateau.
 In the winter months of May, June, and July the sun never rises and the temperature at the South Pole falls
to minus 90°C.
 In the summer months of December, January, and February, the sun never sets and their continuous
daylight. The summer temperature is about 0°C.
 Extremely cold and icy winds blow throughout the year.
 There is a marked difference between the summer and winter temperatures.

AURORA

 In winter, there is a continuous night for 3 months in the polar regions. Curtains of brilliant colored lights
appear on these dark nights. They are caused by magnetic storms in the upper atmosphere.
 They are called Aurora Australis in the south and Aurora Borealis in the north.

THE ANTARCTIC TREATY

 It was signed in Washington on 1 December 1959 by the twelve nations that had been active during the IGY
(Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, United Kingdom,
United States, and USSR).
 The Treaty, which applies to the area south of 60° South latitude, is surprisingly short, but remarkably
effective. Through this agreement, the countries active in Antarctica consult on the uses of a whole
continent, with a commitment that it should not become the scene or object of international discord.

CONTINENTS WITH MAXIMUM AREA & POPULATION

pg. 45
pg. 46