1. AFRICA 5 THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY

2. PLACE
A theme of geography that conjures up a mental picture of a place with people going about their everyday lives in their familiar environment.
PLACE is the personality of geography.

3. 2 things to consider about a place:
Physical characteristics – things determined by nature, such as climate, land forms, indigenous plants and animals, and types of soil.
Human characteristics – can be defined by the culture of a place, for example, the language, clothing, architectural styles, and government ideologies.

4. What features make Africa unique?
Wildlife
Physical characteristics
People
Where they live
Language they speak

5. Huge contrasts Large cities – small villages
Modern – old tribal customs
Living locations:
Coastal regions
Savanna regions
Grasslands and certain types of agriculture

6. Coastal Cities/Ports Northern – Europe Eastern – Asia
Western – North America and Western Europe
Suez Canal – shortcut from Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean

7. Physical Characteristics
Huge rainforests – equator
Plains in the East
Tell mountains
Deep valleys
Huge deserts – Sahara covering the north

8. REGION
A region is an area that is defined by certain similar characteristics. Those unifying or similar characteristics can be physical, natural, human, or cultural. 
A region is described by the features that make it unique, either small or large.

9. Regions can change over time due to changes in climate, economic conditions, accessibility of trade routes, and many other factors.

10. Well known regions: Nile Valley Region – long history
Longest river in the world
Has affected the lives of people, wildlife, and vegetation for thousands of years
Banks of river are rich, green, fertile strips of land.
People raise crops, relying on water from river
many town and cities are found along the river

11. Well known regions: Serengeti Plains Masai Mara National Reserve
Flat, grassy area filled with a variety of wildlife
Masai Mara National Reserve
Game reserve for endangered animals

12. HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
Human-environment interaction looks at the relationships between people and their environment; how people adapt to the environment and how they change it. 

13. How do people depend on the environment
How do people depend on the environment? (Example: In ancient times, the annual flooding of the Nile River produced good soil for growing crops.)
How to people adapt to the environment? (Example: The ancient Egyptians rebuilt their homes each year, after the annual flooding. As time went on, they built their homes above the flood plain.) 
How do people modify the environment? (Example: The ancient Egyptians built irrigation ditches to help water the crops. In modern times, Egypt built a dam to control the flood waters of the Nile River.) 

14. Nile river has flooded for thousands of years
Aswan High Dam – blocked the flow of the river and created lake Nassar
Abu Simbel – ancient Egyptian Temple
Taken apart and reassembled in a location away from the lake.

16. LOCATION
Where is it?
Absolute: A location can be absolute (specific) as in coordinates of a map using longitude and latitude
Relative: A location can be relative - examples: next door, nearby, a short drive, down the road a ways. Or, it can be in the same general location as another location - example: next to the post office.

17. Both the equator and Prime Meridian pass through Africa
Large size of Africa makes giving is absolute location very difficult
Huge size and location gives Africa many different climates.
Surrounded by bodies of water-
Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mediterranean Sea to the north, Indian Ocean to the East
Sinai Peninsula links Africa with Asia

18. MOVEMENT
Movement refers to the way people, products, information and ideas move from one place to another.

19. African Movement Travel for work, school, or recreational.
Many forms of travel-
Rural or remote locations may still use traditional forms of transportation (oxen pulling a cart)
Camels now used mainly to attract tourists.
Small airplanes and helicopters are used to fly tourists.
Urban – trains, bikes, cars, scooters, buses, trucks
Coastal – to travel to other locations