Download Using Africa as a case study for regional divisions

Using Africa as a case study for regional divisions within a continent there are several ways to look at the regional
organization of Africa. Project a copy of the Africa/SW Asia Physical Map and use these notes to lead a discussion about
the Geography of Africa. Have students refer to their own copies of the map and highlight, mark or label the map, or
add text notes using the pdf tools in the Comment Section on the right.
Directional approach divides Africa by cardinal directions
 North Africa lies north of the Sahara and runs along the Mediterranean coast.
 West Africa is the portion roughly west of 10° east longitude, excluding Northern Africa and the Maghreb.
 East Africa stretches from the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa to Mozambique, including Madagascar but
excluding the southern and northern edges of the continent.
 Central Africa is the large mass at the center of Africa which either does not fall squarely into any other region
or only partially does so.
 Southern Africa consists of the portion generally south of -10° latitude and the rainforests of Congo.
Physiographic approach divides Africa by physical geography using features such as landforms, climatic, or vegetation
types:
 The Sahara Desert is the massive, largely empty region in North Africa, the world's largest desert.
 The Maghreb region of NW Africa encompassing coastlands & Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia.
 The Sahel region covers a belt of grasslands south of the Sahara from Senegal to Sudan.
 The Sudan region lies just below the Sahel but is slightly more humid and arable.
 The Guinea region is distinguished from Sudan region by rainforests and runs along the Atlantic coast from
Guinea to Nigeria.
 The Congo refers to the Congo River Basin rainforest.
 The Great Lakes region has a series of five lakes—Lake Albert, Lake Edward, Lake Kivu, Lake Tanganyika, and
Lake Victoria—located near the Great Rift Valley. It contains Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi as well as portions
of Kenya, Tanzania, and the DRC.
One example of Formal Regions in Africa is political divisions.
Africa is currently divided into 54 countries, but that number can vary depending on the date. For instance, in the late
18th and early 19th centuries, Africa had fewer countries that in the 21st century and many of those countries were
controlled by European powers.
One example of Functional Regions in Africa is the Nile River Valley
The Nile River Valley is a natural, functional region that spans several countries in Africa and serves as a major
transportation route and link through much of East Africa.
One example of Perceptual Regions in Africa is the “jungle”
The “jungle” is a perceptual region roughly related to the tropical rainforest regions of Western Africa but also carrying
the visual image of something out of an old Tarzan movie.
Africa’s Landforms.
Africa: Physical - Africa is referred to as the plateau continent
• A plateau is a broad, flat area of land higher than the surrounding land
• Much of Africa lies at least 1000 feet above sea level.
• Plateau areas: Ethiopian Plateau; or the Katanga Plateau.
Africa also has several huge basins, or depressions. Some basins are more than 625 miles across and 5000 feet deep, which
would have an impact on the movement of goods, animals and people.
• Major basin areas such as the Congo Basin; the Djouf, Chad, Sudan, or Khalahari basins
Rivers provide food, water, and transportation routes. They can connect regions with each other and the outside world.
• Major rivers include: Nile, Congo, Niger, Limpopa, Zambezi, and so on.
• Remember the importance of rivers as transportation routes.
• However, many rivers in Africa are blocked by cataracts, (a step-like series of waterfalls), that interrupt or block
river traffic. This part of Africa’s physical geography had a major impact on the development of resources
Africa also contains many rift valleys: A rift valley is formed when the continental plates pull apart, forming cracks in the
earth’s surface.
• The Great Rift Valley is in eastern Africa.
• The Red Sea on part of the eastern border is a rift valley filled with salt water.
Plate tectonics is shifting eastern Africa away from the rest of the continent. Some of Africa’s highest dormant volcanoes
are located here.
• Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, is an example of a dormant volcano located in Kenya.
Lakes and waterfalls also dot the landscape of Africa. Victoria Falls, Lake Victoria, and Lake Tanganyika are three examples.
1.
Africa’s Resources
People are dependent on natural resources to build their civilizations. A resource such as gold can be traded for food,
clothing or other products. Resources have a major impact on the level of economic development in a country. What are
Africa’s main resources?
2.
Africa’s Climates regions
Africa has many large deserts including the Sahara (in the north) and the Kalahari (in the south)
• How do deserts impact lifestyle and economic development?
The central region of Africa is dominated by tropical wet and topical wet and dry climates.
• The tropical wet areas are home to Africa’s rainforests.
• These tropical rainforests support a wide variety of dense plant and animal life.
Much of the rest of the continent is covered in grasslands that are used for grazing wild and domesticated animals.
3.
Human-Environment Interaction
Desertification
• The Sahara Desert is growing larger. This expansion of dry conditions into areas with adequate rainfall and
moisture near deserts is called desertification. The region south of the Sahara desert known as the Sahel
(edge of the desert), is going through a process of desertification where the desert is advancing into farming
areas at the rate of two- three feet a year. The Sahara desert is actually moving south. Human-environment
interaction is contributing to this.
Dams for hydroelectric power –
• The Aswan Dam was built on the Nile to produce hydroelectricity and provide cheap power to millions of
Africans, this project flooded historic areas. Controlling the yearly flooding of the Nile alters the historic
crop cycles.
Slaughter of animals and animal habitats –
• Killing wild animals for the tusk (black rhinos and elephants) or destroying animals’ habitats and food sources
for farming and urban development is affecting African tourism, ecological balance, and standing in the global
community.
Overproduction and unwise development of natural resources
• Another problem facing some regions of Africa is the wise development of natural resources. Governments
developing natural resources have not done it wisely and have produced great damage to the land, such as
the case of Nigeria and its oil industry or the mining of conflict Diamonds
4.