15 Facts About Africa: Rivers, Mountains, Deserts, Valleys, and Animals of the African Continent
1. Deserts in Africa:
1. Sahara desert:
The Sahara Desert is the hottest, not to mention the largest desert in the world. It is located between the Atlas Mountain Range and the Ethiopian plateau
2. Kalahari desert
3. Namib desert
2. Valley in Africa:
Long rift valley:
This valley is located in the Eastern part of Africa. It extends for 6400 km, from the Ethiopian Plateau to LAke Malawi, ending at Beira on the Mozambican coast.
3. Lakes in Africa:
1. Lake Tanganyika
2. Lake Malawi (formed in Rift valley)
3. Lake Rudolf (On the Ethiopian plateau)
4. Rivers in Africa:
1. The River Nile:
The longest river in the world-6690 km-rises in the Victoria lake and ends in the Mediterranean sea. It is known as White Nile, and Blue Nile in the tributaries means stream of the river. Both white and blue Nile meets near Khartoum in Northern Sudan-Khartoum is the capital of Sudan.
2. The river Zaire :
River Congo-the central part of the African continent, The Stanley Falls is a tourist attraction.
3. The river Zambezi
The Victoria falls is a tourist attraction, and Kariba dam is built on it.
4. The river Limpopo :
South of Zambezi, ends into Indian ocean- Limpopo means “Crocodile” in the local language hence there are larger numbers of crocodiles.
5. The river Niger:
located in the western part of Africa.
6. The river Orange:
rises in the Drakensberg Mountains.
5. Mountains in Africa:
1. Atlas Mountains
N-w side of Africa continent, Toubakal peak raises to 4165km
2. Ahaggar and Tibesti mountains
Volcanic mountains and they are within Sahara desert)
3. Kilimanjaro and Kenya mountains
Volcanic mountains and located towards the east of Rift valley-Kilimanjaro is the highest peak and rises to 5895 m above the sea level-covered with ice
4. Great Karoo and Drakensberg mountains:
located in the south of Africa.
6. Islands in Africa:
1. Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles (from the Indian ocean),
2. Sao Tom, Malabo islands(from the Atlantic ocean)
7. Oceans and seas surrounding Africa:
1. The Indian ocean-in the east
2. The Atlantic ocean- in the west
3. Mediterranean Sea: in the north
and separates Africa from the Europe. Sinai Peninsula: joins Africa and Asia.
4. The Southern ocean-lies to the south of Africa
southern ocean is made by the merging of the 3 main oceans-Pacific, Atlantic and the Indian oceans. Canaries and Benguela currents -ocean currents-keeps the Sahara Desert little mild
8. Different Types of Forests of Africa:
Equatorial evergreen, Temperate evergreen, Mixed and dry Savanna grasslands, Marshes, Semi-arid and arid, Nile river and Oases forest.
9. Natural/Mineral resources in Africa
1. Gold mines: Located at Witwatersrand
2. Diamond mines: Located at Kimberley
3. Copper: From Congo
4. Manganese: from Ghana
5. Cobalt: From Zambia
10. Animals in Africa:
Different types of monkeys- gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants, zebras, rhinos, cheetahs, crocodiles, fox, wolves, snakes and deer. In birds, there are flamingos, ostriches in the Savanna grassland, others are kites, eagels, parrots
11. Africa is referred as :
1. Dark Continent
2. Last Explored Continent
3.Hottest Continent
4. Plateau Continent
12. Number of Countries in the Africa: 54
Smallest country: The Seychelles
Largest country: Sudan
13. Civilizations:
Egyptian civilization -One of the ancient civilizations in the world history had flourished in Africa.
14. Plateaus:
South African Plateau-it height is between 1500 and 2000 m.
15. Trees and Plants in Africa:
Baobab trees, Mangrove, creepers, tall trees like mahogany, Rosewood, Ironwood, Oil Palm, elephant grass and other different type of grasses. In Sahara desert there are thorny bushes, papayas, palm and date while in the Temperate evergreen forest, there are pine, Oak, spruce trees are widely seen.
