AFRICA

©Carole Marsh/Gallopade International • www.gallopade.com • Page 7

~ This book is not reproducible. ~

SSeeccttiioonn 11

AFRICA

Chapter 1

Physical Features of Africa

The vast continent of Africa has a variety of landforms. Keep reading to learn about some of the

physical features that make Africa such an interesting place!

• The Sahara is the world’s largest hot desert, covering most of Northern Africa. It

stretches from the Red Sea to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean. In the south, it

stretches to the Sahel.

• The Sahel is the transition zone south of the Sahara and north of the equator that separates the Sahara

from tropical rain forests. It has become more of a desert in recent years. Djenne and Timbuktu are

part of the Sahel.

• The savanna is the picture of Africa you see in the movies, with rolling grassland and

scattered trees and shrubs. The most famous savanna is the Serengeti, straddling the

borders of Kenya and Tanzania. There are 4.5 million square miles of savannas in Africa.

• The central African tropical rainforest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the

second largest rainforest in the world. About 90 percent of the African

rainforests have been deforested because of logging, road building, and poor farming.

• Flowing through west central Africa, the Congo River is the second longest river in Africa,

and the fifth longest river in the world. It crosses the equator twice and is surrounded by

rain forest.

©Carole Marsh/Gallopade International • www.gallopade.com • Page 8

~ This book is not reproducible. ~

Geographical

Understandings

SS7G1 The student will locate selected features of Africa.

a. Locate on a world and regional political-physical map: the Sahara, Sahel, savanna, tropical

rainforest, Congo River, Niger River, Nile River, , Lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, Atlas Mountains,

and Kalahari Desert.

b. Locate on a world and regional political-physical map the countries of Democratic Republic of

the Congo (Zaire), Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, and South Sudan.

• The Nile River is the world's longest river (4150 miles). It flows northward out

of the mountains of central Africa through eastern Africa into the

Mediterranean Sea.

• The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa. It flows into the

Atlantic Ocean. Five west African nations depend on it for their water.

•The Atlas Mountains are a range in northern Africa between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara

Desert. They are located in Morocco, Northern Algeria and Tunisia.

•The Kalahari Desert is a large, arid to semi-arid sandy area in southern

Africa covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South

Africa. Its dunes range from 20 to 200 feet high and can be 50 miles long.

• Lake Tanganyika is the longest lake as well as the second-deepest lake in the world. It lies in central

Africa between Tanzania and Congo in the Great Rift Valley.

• Lake Victoria is a headwaters reservoir for the Nile River and the largest lake in Africa. It’s the second

largest freshwater lake in the world and is quite shallow. Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda border it.

Map Skills

Study the map of

African

landforms and

answer the questions.

1. What is the major landform

of northern Africa?

2. What landform covers most

of central and southern Africa?

3. What landform lies along the

Atlantic coast near the equator?

4. Use the map scale to

determine about how many

miles the Kalahari Desert covers

from north to south.

5. Use the map scale to measure

the length of Lake Tanganyika.

©Carole Marsh/Gallopade International • www.gallopade.com • Page 9

~ This book is not reproducible. ~

African Landforms

Map Skills

Look at the map of Africa with the major physical features identified. Follow the directions below.

1. Draw a brown box around the Sahara Desert and make brown dots for sand.

2. Draw an orange box around the Sahel.

3. Draw a green box around the savanna.

4. Draw both green and red boxes around the tropical rainforest.

5. Trace the Congo River in blue.

6. Trace the Nile River in blue.

7. Trace the Niger River in blue.

8. Draw purple peaks for the Atlas Mountains.

9. Draw a brown box around the Kalahari Desert and make brown dots for sand.

10. Color Lake Tanganyika blue.

11. Color Lake Victoria blue.

©Carole Marsh/Gallopade International • www.gallopade.com • Page 10

~ This book is not reproducible. ~

Sahara

Desert

Sahel

Niger River

Nile River

Lake Victoria

Lake Tanganyika

Kalahari

Desert

Atlas Mountains

savanna

tropical

rainforest

savanna

tropical

rainforest

©Carole Marsh/Gallopade International • www.gallopade.com • Page 11

~ This book is not reproducible. ~

Map Skills

Draw and label the following physical features on the map of Africa below.

Sahara Desert Sahel savanna tropical rainforest

Congo River Nile River Niger River Atlas Mountains

Kalahari Desert Lake Tanganyika Lake Victoria

©Carole Marsh/Gallopade International • www.gallopade.com • Page 12

~ This book is not reproducible. ~

Map Skills

Draw and label the following physical features on the world map below.

Sahara Desert Savanna Sahel Tropical rainforest

Congo River Nile River Niger River Atlas Mountains

Kalahari Desert Lake Tanganyika Lake Victoria

©Carole Marsh/Gallopade International • www.gallopade.com • Page 13

~ This book is not reproducible. ~

Map Skills

Look at the political map of Africa with the countries identified. Follow the directions below.

1. Draw a red circle around South Africa.

2. Draw a purple box around Sudan.

3. Draw a black box around Egypt.

4. Draw a green circle around Kenya.

5. Draw a brown box around Nigeria.

6. Draw a blue circle around the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire).

KENYA

ETHIOPIA

ERITREA

SUDAN

EGYPT

NIGER

MAURITANIA

MALI

NIGERIA

SOMALIA

NAMIBIA

LIBYA

CHAD

SOUTH AFRICA

TANZANIA

ANGOLA

ALGERIA

MADAGASCAR

MOZAMBIQUE

BOTSWANA

ZAMBIA

GABON

CENTRAL

AFRICAN REPUBLIC

TUNISIA

MOROCCO

UGANDA

SWAZILAND

LESOTHO

MALAWI

BURUNDI

RWANDA

TOGO

BENIN

GHANA

IVORY

COAST

LIBERIA

SIERRA LEONE

GUINEA

BURKINA

GAMBIA

CAMEROON

ZIMBABWE

CONGO

DEM.REP.

OF CONGO

EQUATORIAL GUINEA

WESTERN

SAHARA

DJIBOUTI

SENEGAL

GUINEA

BISSAU

SOUTH

SUDAN

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

INDIAN

OCEAN

~ This book is not reproducible. ~

Map Skills

Label the following countries on the map of Africa below:

South Africa Sudan Egypt Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire)

Kenya Nigeria South Sudan

~ This book is not reproducible. ~

Map Skills

Label the following countries on the world map below.

Egypt Nigeria Sudan South Sudan Kenya South Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo

~ This book is not reproducible. ~

Quick Review

Now see how much you’ve learned about African geography. Write the letter for the correct answer on

the line beside the question.

1. What is the southernmost country in Africa?

A. Botswana B. South Africa C. Rwanda

2. What is the world’s largest hot desert?

A. Kalahari B. Sahara C. Mohave

3. What African lake is the longest and second-deepest in the world?

A. Lake Victoria B. Lake Chad C. Lake Tanganyika

4. The world’s longest river is:

A. Niger River B. Nile River C. Congo River

Chapter 2

Polluted Water—Unfit to Drink

Pesticides, fertilizers, human waste, storm water runoff,

mining, and manufacturing byproducts all contribute to

water pollution in Africa. Fully half of the patients in

hospital beds are there because of unclean drinking water,

impacting the economy by reducing the workforce. In rural

areas, an estimated one million children die each year from

contaminated water. Many humanitarian organizations

provide clean water and help rebuild the infrastructure to

maintain a clean water supply. However, as the population grows in some countries, the amount of

clean water is actually decreasing.

Polluted water directly harms the fishing industry by either killing the fish or making them unfit to

eat. On average, there are two oil spills a day in Nigeria. This affects trade by ruining the land for

SS7G2 The student will discuss environmental issues across the continent of

Africa.

a. Explain how water pollution and the unequal distribution of water impact irrigation, trade,

industry, and drinking water.

b. Explain the relationship between poor soil and deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

c. Explain the impact of desertification on the environment of Africa from the Sahel to the

rainforest.

Word Definition

infrastructure: the basic

physical systems of a

country's population, including

healthcare, roads, utilities, water, and

sewage

landlocked: enclosed, or nearly

enclosed by land