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Africa – the political view RS G IE AL MOROCCO Agadir Béchar ALGERIA Adrar GHANA D'IVOIRE M É O- OV N Political O SÃO TOMÉ & PRÍNCIPE City Inhabitants Lagos Johannesburg Casablanca Aswân Lubango Bondo ABUJA 10-20m 5-10m 1-5m 250,000 - 1,000,000 100,000 - 250,000 CA RT Abidjan ACCRA ABUJA Lagos PO LIBERIA LO MONROVIA NIGERIA Ibadan SÃO TOMÉ MALABO M International boundary State boundary BANGUI EQUATORIAL GUINEA LIBREVILLE GABON CABINDA (Ang.) Matadi LUANDA Gonder Wau DJIBOUTI Berbera ADDIS ABABA SOUTH SUDAN ETHIOPIA JUBA Bondo UGANDA Kisangani KAMPALA Mbandaka KINSHASA Kananga Kismaayo NAIROBI Mombasa TANZANIA MbujiMaya MOGADISHU KENYA DEM. REP. RWANDA OF THE KIGALI BUJUMBURA CONGO BURUNDI DODOMA VICTORIA SEYCHELLES Dar es Salaam Malanje ANGOLA Lobito Huambo Mongu Lubango Kitwe LUSAKA Walvis Bay Keetmanshoop LILONGWE Nampula HARARE Antalaha Blantyre Maevatanana ANTANANARIVO Bulawayo BOTSWANA PRETORIA/ TSHWANE GABORONE SOUTH AFRICA MADAGASCAR Beira Morombe MOZAMBIQUE Johannesburg Antsira!ana Mahajanga ZIMBABWE BLOEMFONTEIN CAPE TOWN MORONI MALAWI Ndola Z A M BI A NAMIBIA WINDHOEK COMOROS Lubumbashi Luena Disputed/Undefined boundary Map of tectonic plates Massawa DJIBOUTI Bumba BRAZZAVILLE Namibe ASMARA Nyala CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC YAOUNDÉ Less than 100,000 National capitals are shown in CAPS. ERITREA Maiduguri O SIERRA LEONE Tamale CÔTE YAMOUSSOUKRO Port Sudan N CONAKRY FREETOWN Kano CO NG FASO GUINEA NDJAMENA OO U BENIN TOGO GUINEA-BIS S A KHARTOUM Abéché Maradi OUAGADOUGOU UDAN SOmdurman CHAD ER BISSAU NIAMEY BURKINA Aswân Faya Agadez Mopti BAMAKO Al Uqsur W‹dfi $alf‹ Delgo Kareimo N I G E R Bourem As Suways EGYPT Bilma M A L I Tombouctou GA L CAIRO Al Kufrah Toummo Tamanrasset Taoudenni MAURITANIA BANJUL B’r Sa’&d Al Iskandar&yah Gh‹t NOUAKCHOTT THE GAMBIA ˛ubruq Sabh‹ Fdérik CAPE VERDE Bangh‹z& Sirte LIBYA In Salah WESTERN SAHARA DAKAR SENE TRIPOLI Mi¿r‹tah Laayoune PRAIA TUNISIA Touggourt IA Meknès Marrakech AL Oran Fès RABAT Casablanca TUNIS Constantine SO M Tanger PORT LOUIS MAURITIUS Fianarantsoa Toliara MAPUTO A MBABANE M B SWAZILAND LOB A MASERU LESOTHO Durban East London Port Elizabeth Above: Political map of Africa. At this scale, national boundaries are only indicative. Political boundaries are only indicative. (LJ); Inset: Map showing the extent of the African plate and associated tectonic elements. (USGS); Below: A map of the major river basins of Africa. Many river basins have no outlet to the sea. (JRC) From a geological perspective, the African tectonic plate is significantly larger than the visible continental land mass (see inset above). Originally the Arabian plate was part of the African plate but it is now separated by the Red Sea Rift. Red arrows on the map indicate the current direction of tectonic movement. The northward collision of the African plate with the Eurasian plate is responsible for the formation of the Alps, volcanoes in Italy and earthquakes in southern Eurasia. For the purposes of this atlas, soil information is provided for the entire continental land mass of Africa and all islands located on the African plate (see map spreads on pages 80-127 and summary texts on pages 158-161). This includes Malta, parts of France (Réunion, Mayotte and a small number of uninhabited islands around Madagascar), Italy (Lampedusa and Lampione), Portugal (Madeira and surrounding islands) and Spain (the Canary Islands, the Autonomous Cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and small islands off the coast of Morocco). No information is provided for the volcanic Mid-Atlantic Ridge islands of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Socotra (administrated by the United Kingdom) nor for the island of Soqotra, which is part of the Asian state of Yemen. Although the Sinai peninsula is considered geologically as part of 22 Soil Atlas of Africa | Introduction Asia, it is included in the atlas as it is part of the Egyptian state. In terms of geographic area, Africa is the planet's second-largest continent covering an area of 30.3 million km2. Africa's largest country is Algeria while the smallest is the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Seychelles. The smallest country on the continental mainland is The Gambia in West Africa. With just over a billion people, it is the second-most populous continent in the world and accounts for just over 14% of the world's human population. Politically, Africa consists of the fifty-four states that are fully recognised by the United Nations and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic which is a member of the Africa Union (Morocco is not currently a member of the AU). Of these fifty-five states, forty-nine are found on the actual continent while six are island nations. Nigeria is by far the most populous state with 166 629 000 inhabitants while the Seychelles are home to only 87 000 people spread over 115 islands. The population of most African countries is growing by more than 2% per year, with Niger at 3.6% (all population estimates are from the UN for 2012).