Africa

A. Regional/Geographical Divisions 1. North Africa  Algeria  Morocco 2. Western Africa  Benin  Guinea  Liberia  Niger  Sierra Leone  Guinea Bissau 3. Eastern Africa  Burundi > Comoros  Ethiopia > Kenya Madagascar  Malawi > Mauritius Mozambique  Rwanda > Seychelles > Djibouti > > > Somalia > Cape Verde > Coast > Mali > Nigeria > Togo > Gambia > Upper Volta > Mauritania > Senegal > Ivory > Egypt > Sudan > Libya > Tunisia

 Tanzania 4. Central Africa

> Uganda

> Zambia

 Angola > Cameron  Chad > Congo  Sao Tome and Principe  Equatorial Guinea  Central African Republic 5. Southern Africa  Bostwana > Lesotho  South Africa > Swaziland B. General Information Area

> Zaire > Gabon

>Namibia > Zimbabwe

30, 065, 107 sq km 11, 608, 156 sq mi

Population

778, 000, 000

Percentage of total land areas

20.3

Highest elevation Tanzania

Mt. Kilimanjaro, 19,340 ft. (5895 m)

Lowest land depression

Lake Assal, Djibouti 512 ft. below sea level (-156 m)

C. Current Issues (Problems and Issues)

D. General Description Africa is about three times the size of Europe. On the northern and western sides of the continent are the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The continent is consists of huge plateaus, deserts and semi-deserts, rugged mountains and jungle forests. About two-thirds of

the continent lies between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. In Northern Africa, the world s largest desert, the Sahara, blocks Africa s north border from the central and southern portions.

The large Congo Basin in the center runs from the Atlantic seaboard east to the foot of highlands of East Africa, marked by the Rift Valley which can be reached by a string lakes. The south end of Africa is the Kalahari Desert which divides the southernmost portion from the rest of the continent. The plateaus of southern Africa are much higher than the plateaus of northern Africa. They extend continuously from the mountains of Ethiopia (Abyssinia) through the East African plateau to South Africa. Through the plateau in east Africa is the lowland, from north to south, known as the East African Rift Valley.

Most of the high mountains in Africa like Mount Kilimanjaro-the highest peak of the continent, Kenya, Elgou and Cameron are of volcanic origin. Africa has many huge and famous rivers namely: the Congo, Niger, Zambe and the world s longest river, the Nile.

Africa has several lakes: Victoria, Tanganyika, Chad, Niger, Ngami, Rudolf and Kivu. Kivu in Rwanda is the highest lying-lake with an altitude of 4, 829 ft.

Dams were constructed for water reserves and for generation of hydroelectricity. The principals are Kariba, Aswan Owen falls and Volta.

Africa has several gulfs and inlets. The famous ones are the Gulf of Guinea in the west, Aden in the northeast and Tripoli in the north. Comparatively, there are few islands off shore. One of the few islands is Madagascar Island which is the fifth largest island in the world. Mozambique Channel separates it from the mainland.