Landforms and Resources Africa

I. A Vast Plateau Most of Africa is covered by a huge plateau. Most of the continent is at least 1,000 feet above sea level, except for coastal areas near Somalia and Mozambique. Throughout the plateau are several depressions, called basins, that collect water and have rivers running through them.

I. A Vast Plateau The world’s longest river, the Nile, flows more than 4,000 miles from Uganda through Egypt into the Mediterranean Sea. 95 percent of people throughout Egypt depend on the Nile for water. Rivers in Africa have many waterfalls, rapids, and gorges, making them hard to travel on. The rivers also follow meandering courses that make it difficult to use them as transportation.

II. Distinctive African Landforms There are no long mountain ranges in Africa like in Europe or North America. The mountains in Africa are mostly volcanic. Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest mountain, and it is a volcano. Mount Kenya, the Ethiopian highlands, the Tibesti Mountains in the Sahara, and the Great Escarpment in Southern Africa all were formed by volcanic activity.

II. Distinctive African Landforms The most distinctive landforms are in East Africa. The rift valleys formed when continental plates pulled apart and the land sank between them. Lakes formed at the bottom of some rift valleys. These lakes are unusually long and deep.

II. Distinctive African Landforms The worlds longest freshwater lake is lake Tanganyika, and is the second deepest lake in the world. The largest lake in Africa is Lake Victoria, but it sits in a basin between two rift valleys and is only 270 ft deep.

III. Africa’s Wealth of Resources Africa has a huge amount of the world’s resources, but the countries lack the industrial base and money to develop them. The minerals make Africa one of the world’s richest continents. There are large amounts of gold, platinum, diamonds, cobalt, chromium, and many others.

III. Africa’s Wealth of Resources 80 percent of the world’s platinum and 30 percent of the gold comes from South Africa. Ores account for more than half of Africa’s exports. But Europeans exploited the wealth in the 19 th and early 20 th centuries, sending the ore out to be processed. This did not allow the African countries the opportunity to develop their own industries to benefit from the ores.

III. Africa’s Wealth of Resources Many of the countries have large oil reserves as well. But the money from oil and other resources does not always benefit the people of the country. In Angola, oil money is used by the government to fight its civil war, caused by ethnic divisions made during colonial times. No money is spent on education, hospitals, or other public works.

IV. Diversity of Resources Agriculture is the most important economic activity in Africa. Nearly 66 percent of Africans earn their living by farming. One third of Africa’s exports are farm products. Commercial crops are also important. Coffee, lumber, cocoa beans, sugar, and salt are all important exports for Africa.

In your notebook Create a mosaic on the landforms and resources of Africa. You must have at least 5 tiles and use at least 5 different colors. The tiles should be rectangles and should have symbols and a few key words or phrases in each tile. The tiles should illustrate the topics covered in the lecture.