South Africa

AFRICA
Location, Area and Physical

Features
Introduction:
• Africa is the Second largest continent
in the world after Asia.
• It occupies one-fifth of the world’s

total land area.
• It is given different names like “the

Dark Continent”, “the hottest
continent”, “the Plateau Continent”
and “the Last Explored Continent”.
Discovery &
Exploration:
Dark Continent:
Africa was called “The Dark Continent”
because it remained unexplored for a long time
due to the following reasons:
• The vast Sahara desert in the North was a
natural barrier for the Europeans.
• There were few harbors along the coast
making it difficult for explorers to land.
• Steep plateaus make it difficult to enter the
interior.
• Rivers formed high waterfalls and could not
be used to travel to the interior.
• Hot and humid climate, dense forests, fear of
wild animals and disease discouraged
explorers.
• After remaining unknown to most of the
world for a very long period, the
discoveries by European explorers
opened up Africa to the rest of the
world.
• Dr David Livingstone was one of the
most important explorers to Africa. He
went on various missions to Africa,
exploring and discovering many parts of
the continent. He discovered Victoria
Falls in 1855.
• Henry Morton Stanley, a journalist, in
his mission to find Dr. Livingstone,
traced the course of the river Congo
upto Lake Tanganyika
• Mungo Park followed the course of the
Niger river.
Location:
Location:
• Africa occupies a central position in the
world.
• It is divided into almost two equal parts by
the Equator running across the middle
of the continent.
• It lies in all the four hemispheres of the
Earth.
• Latitudes: Africa lies between 37oN and
35oS latitudes.
• Longitudes: Africa lies between 18oW
and 51oE longitudes.
• The Prime meridian passes through
Accra, the capital of Ghana.
Location:
• Africa is bounded by:
➢ Indian Ocean to the East
➢ Atlantic Ocean to the West
➢ Mediterranean Sea to the North
➢ Southern Ocean lies to the South
• Strait of Gibraltar in the north-east,
separates Africa from Europe
• It is connected to Asia by the Isthmus of
Suez and the Sinai Peninsula. The Suez
canal has been constructed over there to
connect the Mediterranean Sea to the Red
Sea.
• The southern most tip of Africa is called the
Cape of Good Hope.
It is called the hottest continent because the
Hottest Continent: equator passes through the middle of the continent
and most of the continent lies in the tropical region.
The world’s largest desert - The Sahara desert is

also found in this continent.
Physical Divisions:
PHYSICAL
DIVISIONS
• Mountains and Plateaus
• The Desert Areas
• The Great Rift Valley
• The River Basins
• The Coastal Plains
Plateau
Continent:
• A large part of Africa is made
up of plateaus.
Central Lake
• These plateaus are made up
Plateau
of ancient, hard and
crystalline rocks.
• Most of Africa is a Plateau.
The Plateaus are higher
towards the south and lower
towards the north
Mountains and Plateaus: .
The High Plateau of the South:
Low Central Plateau:
• The Low central Plateau is It is divided into-
a part of the Sahara a. Ethiopian Highlands in Eastern
Desert. Africa
b. The central lake plateau in Central
Atlas Mountains • The Tibesti Mountain and
Ahaggar Plateau is a part Africa
• Lies in North Western Africa c. The south African Plateau
of this region
• Young fold Mountains • The Plateau ends with the
• Has 3 Parallel Ranges-Tell Atlas is Drakensberg mountains to the
the tallest, High Atlas in the middle south-east.
and Sahara Atlas to the south. • The Namib and Kalahari Desert are
• Remains snow covered throughout parts of the South African Plateau.
the year. • Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest peak of
• Mt. Toubkal is the highest peak Africa lies in the Central lake plateau.
• The Sahara Desert is the world’s
largest hot desert covering an area
of 8.6 million sq km.
The Desert Areas: • It covers 12 countries of Northern
Africa.
• It extends from the Atlantic Coast in
• The Namib desert is in the
• The Kalahari desert lies in the west to the red sea in the East.
country of Namibia.
the southern part of the
• It runs along the coast of • It is a sandy and rocky area with
continent in the countries of
South-western Africa oases in between.
Botswana and Namibia
The Great Rift Valley:
• What is a rift valley?

An elongated valley formed by the
depression of a block of the earth's crust
between two faults or groups of faults
when two tectonic plates move apart.
The Great Rift Valley:
• The Great Rift Valley of Africa or the East

African Rift valley is a narrow valley formed
as a result of vertical cracks developed on the
African Plate.
• It extends for a distance of 5000 kms from
Lake Malawi in Mozambique to the Dead Sea
in Jordan, through the Red Sea and Gulf of
Aquaba.
• Many freshwater lakes like lake Malawi, lake
Tanganyika, lake Turkana are found in this
valley.
River Basins:
• The rivers of Africa mostly flow over the
plateau in the upper courses, where they
are navigable.
• In the lower courses where they descend
into the coastal plains, the have a lot of
rapids and waterfalls, which make
navigation difficult.
• The Nile and the Congo rivers are the two
most important rivers in Africa.
• Other major rivers include Niger, Zambezi,
Limpopo and Orange.
River Basins:
The Nile Basin:
The Nile is the longest river in the world.
Its source is Lake Victoria in East-Central Africa and flows

northwards to drain into the Mediterranean Sea.
The Nile basin is mostly flat and dry as it passes through a

desert for the greater part of its length.
The land bordering the river is very fertile and

agriculturally productive.
The river also flows through a huge swamp called SUDD,

located below the flat, dry desert region.
The Nile makes the 2nd largest delta in the world.

River Basins:
The Congo Basin:
The Congo Basin is located in West-Central Africa.
It is formed by the River Congo and its numerous

tributaries.
It lies in the equatorial region and therefore

receives a lot of rainfall leading to large volume of
water.
Tropical rainforests cover much of the Congo Basin.

It drains into the Atlantic Ocean.
Coastal Plains:
• Since most of Africa is a
plateau, there is very little
plain land
• The coastal plains are very
narrow as the plateaus
drop down to the sea
abruptly.
• The coastal plains are more
prominent towards the
north and west of Africa.
Victoria Falls, Zambezi River
Thank You

South Africa

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AFRICA

Location, Area and Physical

• It occupies one-fifth of the world’s

• It is given different names like “the

The world’s largest desert - The Sahara desert is

a part of the Sahara a. Ethiopian Highlands in Eastern

• What is a rift valley?

• The Great Rift Valley of Africa or the East

The Nile is the longest river in the world.

Its source is Lake Victoria in East-Central Africa and flows

The Nile basin is mostly flat and dry as it passes through a

The land bordering the river is very fertile and

The river also flows through a huge swamp called SUDD,

The Nile makes the 2nd largest delta in the world.

The Congo Basin is located in West-Central Africa.

It is formed by the River Congo and its numerous

It lies in the equatorial region and therefore

Tropical rainforests cover much of the Congo Basin.

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