Download Africa`s Natural Resources

Sub-Saharan Africa
Section 1
Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
savannah
plateau
A grassland with
scattered trees
SAHARA
Sub
high flat land
delta
fertile area
of a river
Gold
Towering trees
climbing vines
Salt
Mediterranean
Rainforest
Desert
Iron
Natural
Resources
copper
Rainforest
Savannah
Diamonds
The African Landscape
• Africa is the second-largest continent
in the world.
– triple the area of the United States.
– extremes, from sandy deserts to lush
tropical rain forests.
An Unusual Continent
• Most of Africa is a large plateau.
– A plateau is a highland area of fairly flat
land.
An Unusual Continent
• The rivers that flow
across the plateau fall
over waterfalls to a
narrow strip of coastal
plain.
• Africa’s coastline is
smooth and mostly
unbroken by natural
harbors.
A Vast Desert
• The Sahara covers most of
northern Africa
– 3.5 million square miles, the
world’s largest desert.
• Thousands of years ago,
this region had rivers,
trees, and grasslands.
The Sahel
• The Sahel is a fertile region
with limited and unpredictable
rainfall along the southern edge
of the Sahara.
– The word sahel is Arabic for
“shore,” as if the Sahara were a
great sea of sand.
• Grasslands cover the Sahel. It
also supports crops and herds
of animals.
– Droughts, or long dry spells, are a
constant threat to the people who
live in the Sahel.
Vegetation Zones
• Each zone has its own climate and
types of plants that fit its climate.
• A savannah is a broad grassland
with scattered trees. The African
savannah has wet and dry seasons.
• South of the savannah, along the
Equator, lies the rain forest, a zone
of towering trees, dense leaves, and
climbing vines.
– The rain forest is hot and wet yearround. Thousands of kinds of plants and
animals live in this steamy jungle.
– Some of the rain forest has been cut
down due to modernization and farming
The Niger River
• The main river of West Africa is the
Niger River. It flows east into the
Sahel from the rainy highlands of
West Africa. Then it curves northeast
through the desert. Finally, it flows
southeast across the savannah to the
Atlantic Ocean.
The Niger River
• reliable source of water in a
dry region.
– The river let farmers grow
crops in the Sahel and the
desert
– inland delta supported both
farmers and fishers.
– The Niger River also provided
a route for trade and travel
across the interior of West
Africa.
Checkpoint
• Where is the Sahel?
Africa’s Natural Resources
• Natural resources are those
products of nature that have
economic value.
• Traders brought some of these trade
goods across the desert by camel
caravan. Others came by way of Egypt
and the Red Sea.
• Trade brought Africa into contact with
other parts of the world.
Africa’s Natural Resources
• The most prized
resource of West
Africa was gold.
– It was the foundation
on which the trading
empires of Africa were
built.
Africa’s Natural Resources
• Other valuable minerals
included copper, iron,
diamonds, and salt. Plants
were other valuable
resources.
• The peoples of Africa’s
trading empires were skilled
and successful farmers.
Their agricultural wealth
was an important
foundation for the growth of
their trade networks.
Africa’s Natural Resources
• Like many other ancient
cultures—including Greece
and Rome—African empires
also enslaved people and
traded them.
• From ancient times,
enslaved Africans were sent
across the desert to be sold
in North Africa or across the
Indian Ocean to Asia.
Checkpoint
• What were Africa’s valued mineral
resources?