1. Physical Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa

3. Serengeti Plain Tropical Grassland Northern Tanzania
It’s dry climate and hard soil prevent the growth of trees and many crops, but they are perfect for growing grass
It is the place where the largest numbers of land mammals still make annual migrations

6. Mountains Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest mountain
Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro are both volcanoes
Volcanic activity also produced the Ethiopian Highlands and Mount Cameroon in West Africa
Volcanic rock covers the Great Escarpment in Southern Africa
An escarpment is a steep slope with a nearly flat plateau on the top

9. Rift Valleys East Africa
As continental plates pulled apart over millions of years, huge cracks appeared in the earth
The land then sunk to form long, thin valleys called rift valleys
Stretch over 4,000 miles

11. Great Lakes in Africa
Cluster of lakes formed at the bottoms of some of the rift valleys
Lake Tanganyika is the longest freshwater lake in the world
Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake and the world’s second largest lake

14. Kalahari Desert Located in Southern Africa
Does receive small amounts of rainfall
Temperatures in the summer are very hot

15. Sahel
A narrow band of dry grassland that runs east to west along the southern edge of the Sahara
People use the land for farming and herding

17. Rivers
The 2,900-mile-long Congo River forms the continent’s largest network of waterways
The Niger River begins in West Africa and flows north toward the Sahara, where it forms an interior delta and turns to the southeast
It then cuts through Nigeria and forms another huge delta as it empties into the Gulf of Guinea

20. Tropical Zone
Tropics - Africa has largest tropical area of any continent
- 90% of Africa lies between tropics of Cancer & Capricorn
- High temperatures year around

21. Rain Forest
The major rain forests of Africa sit on the equator in the area of the Congo Basin
One square acre of rain forest can contain almost 100 different kinds of trees
Because the canopy (upper layer of branches) is so thick with plants, leaves, and trees, the air below the canopy is so hot and humid that vegetation quickly decomposes