1. What does the land look like 1. What does the land look like? Why, despite the beauty of the continent, is it “difficult”?

What does the land look like? MAJOR LANDFORMS 1. Plateaus 75% of Africa is plateau top of plateau is relatively flat to gently rolling 3,000-7,000 feet in elevation

What does the land look like? 2. Plains narrow band of coastal plain, and plains in the N and NW because of relationship between plain and plateau, Africa is in the best position in the world regarding hydroelectric power no money to develop water power leads to debt example: Aswan High Dam; Cahorabassa Dam on Zambezi River in Mozambique

Hydroelectric Power Cahorabassa Dam in Mozambique Power sold to South Africa

Physical Map of Africa

What does the land look like? 3. Mountains Atlas Mountains (13,600ft) – Morocco and Algeria Drakensburg Mountains – South Africa. Great Escarpment (6,000 ‘) East African Highlands – from Ethiopia to Mozambique. Often 1 mile high. Mt. Kilimanjaro. (19,340’) Kenya and Tanzania.

What does the land look like? 4. Great Rift Valley Long extended valley ranging from Lebanon to Mozambique. Caused by shifting plates. The valley is a mile wide in places with escarpments on either side. May reach 1,000’ in elevation. Many people live in this part of Africa – cooler, fresh water, fertile land.

Great Rift Valley

Why is the land/climate so difficult? With narrow coastal plains and interior plateaus, transportation from the coast to the interior is difficult because of abrupt changes in elevation – affects land and water transportation (cataracts) Africa’s smooth coastline causes few natural harbors, unlike Europe

Why is the land/climate so difficult? Africa is split in half by the equator – therefore, most of Africa has a tropical or dry climate. These are difficult conditions for farming. Rainfall patterns are inconsistent. When it rains, it pours and the soil is often eroded and roads are flooded. Also, in the tropical wet and dry climate zone, the amount and timing of the rainfall is inconsistent so crops can either dry up if the rains come late or become uprooted if the rains come early.

Climate Map of Africa

Why does Africa have a history of unstable governments since independence? A. Legacy ( anything passed on from an earlier era) of the colonial period. 1. Colonization by the Europeans devalued and undermined the social and cultural practices of the African people. 2. When the Africans received independence, many Africans were under educated and ill prepared to run a government. 3. The authoritarian take over by the colonial powers did not provide a model for democracy.

Civil war often erupted after independence creating instability. Why does Africa have a history of unstable governments since independence? B. Boundary Problems. European-created boundaries scattered ethnic groups and put historical enemies together in one country. Civil war often erupted after independence creating instability.

Colonial Africa

C. Corruption in the government. Why does Africa have a history of unstable governments since independence? C. Corruption in the government. 1. Political leaders robbed the state treasury for their own benefit. 2. There were few to no checks and balances without a free press or educated public.

2. Large quantities of weapons were brought to Africa. Why does Africa have a history of unstable governments since independence? D. Cold War. 1. The US and USSR supported corrupt dictators in order to spread democracy/communism. 2. Large quantities of weapons were brought to Africa.