African geography

Africa is connected with Asia by the isthmus of Suez, and separated from Europe by the Mediterranean Sea. The continent is an enormous plateau with terraced tablelands rising one above the other, terminating in the rugged mountains of the east, where the Nile and the Congo rivers rise. The interior plateau is bordered by mountain ranges which run parallel with the coast and descend in terraces to it. The Sahara is shut in between the Atlas Mountains on the north and the southern plateau, and the Congo basin occupies the western part of the peninsula. The southern plateau is much higher than the northern, having average elevations of nearly 1,220 m/4,000 ft.

Relief Africa is bounded north by the Mediterranean Sea, west by the Atlantic Ocean, and east by the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Its greatest length from north to south is 8,000 km/5,000 mi and its breadth from Cape Verde to Ras Hafun is 7,440 km/4,623 mi. Its area, including Madagascar and the other adjacent islands, is 30,097,000 sq km/11,620,451 sq mi, or three times that of Europe. The coastline is regular, with no deep seas, bays, or river estuaries of any size to afford climatic or commercial advantages; so that in proportion to its size Africa has less coastline than any other continent, its total length being about 25,600 km/15,900 mi.

Mountains The mountains of Africa may be divided into three distinct systems: (1) the Atlas; (2) the west coast; and (3) the east coast. The Atlas Mountains occupy the northern portion between the sea and the Sahara, from Wadi Daa to Cape Bon. The eastern Atlas, 1,830–2,440 m/6,000–8,000 ft high, consist of two parallel ranges enclosing a plateau where salt lakes called chotts are found. The western Atlas, known as the Great Atlas of Morocco, have an average elevation of 3,050 m/10,000 ft, and the highest peaks are over 4,275 m/14,025 ft. The west coast system consists of the Cameroon Highlands, 4,000–4,300 m/13,123–14,107 ft high, and the highlands of Lower Guinea, known as the Kong Mountains. The east coast system, which is the most important, consists of:

(a) the southern section, containing the Drakensberg with Thabane Ntlenyana, 3,482 m/11,424 ft; and the Sneeuberge with Kompasberg, 2,504 m/8,215 ft; in Eastern Cape Province is the enormous plateau called the Great Karoo, a region of arid plains, the total area of which is 260,000 sq km/100,386 sq mi.

(b) the section between the Zambezi and Ethiopia, containing the highest peaks in Africa and the Great Lakes; Kilimanjaro, 5,895 m/19,340 ft, and Mount Kenya, 5,199 m/17,056 ft, are extinct volcanic peaks. The Livingstone Range, near Lake Nyasa, is 3,355 m/11,000 ft high; the Ruwenzori Range (‘Mountains of the Moon’), between Lake Albert and Lake Edward, is 4,880–6,100 m/16,010–20,000 ft high; and Mount Mfumbiro, between Lake Albert and Lake Victoria, is 4,507 m/14,786 ft high.

(c) the Ethiopian system rises abruptly from the coast and gradually descends towards the Nile, and contains Ras Dashan and Abba Yared, both 4,620 m/15,157 ft.

Deserts There are three great deserts: the Sahara, the largest in the world, in the north, and the Kalahari and Namib, both sandy regions with low rainfall, in the south. The Libyan and Nubian deserts are continuations of the Sahara. As well as extensive areas of sand, the Sahara, Kalahari, and Namib deserts have thousands of square kilometres of rocky expanses with scrubland that can support small antelopes, ostriches, and camels.

Rivers Considering its size, and compared with other continents, Africa has relatively few rivers, and its commercial prosperity has been greatly retarded by the want of navigable rivers with good harbours. Most rivers are impeded by cataracts. The most important are the Nile, Congo , Zambezi, and Niger.

The Nile is of political, historical, and commercial importance, and its overflow is of vital importance to Egypt. This flow is now controlled by the Aswan High Dam. The great lakes connected with the Nile are Victoria, Albert, and Edward.

The Congo, which drains an equatorial rains region, has a constant water supply, and between Boyoma Falls and Pool Malebo the river is navigable for 1,600 km/995 mi. Lake Tanganyika supplies the Congo River with a considerable volume of water.

The Zambezi is the chief river in the east, and though navigable in some parts, its course is impeded by cataracts and rapids. The Victoria Falls, the largest in the world, are situated on this river.

The Niger is of great commercial importance, being navigable almost entirely from its source to its mouth in the Gulf of Guinea.

The Orange River is not useful for navigation, though imaginative schemes have been embarked upon to use the water for irrigation and industrial purposes; but the Limpopo, with its mouth just north of Delagoa Bay, is navigable for about 100 km.

The Senegal, Gambia, and Ogooué flow into the Atlantic on the west, and provide navigable waterways for some distance from their mouths.

Islands Africa has very few islands, and they are all small with the exception of Madagascar (590,500 sq km/228,000 sq mi) which is one of the largest in the world. In the North Atlantic are the Madeira Islands, the Canary Islands, and the Cape Verde Islands. Bioko and Annobón are two volcanic islands in the Gulf of Guinea; other nearby islands are São Tomé and Príncipe. St Helena and Ascension are solitary rocks in the Atlantic. To the east in the Indian Ocean are Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, the Seychelles, British Indian Ocean Territory, Comoros, and Zanzibar. Further north are Socotra and Kamaran, and in the Red Sea are Perim and Dahlak.

Climate Nearly three-quarters of the total area of Africa lies within the tropics, so that there is almost perpetual summer with definite seasons of rain and drought. The variations in climate are caused by prevailing winds and height. Mounts Ruwenzori and Kenya, almost on the Equator, are covered with perpetual snow for 600–900 m/1,960–2,950 ft downwards from their summits, and there is also perpetual snow on many peaks in Ethiopia. Many mountain slopes are very fertile, yielding different vegetation according to altitude. The prevailing winds are from the northeast and the southeast. The northeasterly winds, having come across Asia, bring no rain to North Africa. The southeasterly winds bring moisture to coastal districts, but it falls as rain on the mountains and does not reach the interior, hence the Kalahari Desert. The region of the tropical rains extends from 18° N to 20° S.