Geography of Africa Flashcards
What is almost all of Africa, south of the Sahara, lie on?
A series of plateaus
What is the largest island of Africa and fourth largest in the world?
Madagascar
What are escarpments?
Steep, jagged cliffs
What is the highest peak in Africa?
Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania
What is the eastern side of Africa called?
“barrier of pointed spears”
Where is the Drakensberg Range?
In Eastern Africa
What cuts through the landscape in eastern Africa?
The Great Rift Valley
What is the longest freshwater lake in the world?
Lake Tanganyika
What are the four large river systems?
Nile, Congo Niger, and Zambezi
What causes Victoria Falls in southern Africa
The Zambezi River
What mineral resource is found along the Atlantic coast from Nigeria to Angola?
Oil deposits
South Africa has half of the worlds _____.
Gold
South Africa is a major producer in which gemstone?
Diamonds
Where is the tropical wet climate found?
Along the equator in central and west Africa
To preserve rain forests and boost economies, what are some African countries encouraging?
Ecotourism.
What are savannas?
Grasslands with scattered woods
Where does the rainfall become scarcer farther from the equator?
In the steppe climate
What is the steppe climate threatened by?
Desertification
Where are the Kalahari and Namib deserts located?
In the south of the desert climate
What kind of climate does Southern Africa have?
Mediterranean climate
What is a threat of the rainforest of central and west Africa?
Cutting down trees for wood to use for fuel
What are used to make drills, saws, and grinding tools?
Industrial diamonds
What are periods of time when there is no rain?
Drought
What is a dense stand of trees and other plants that receive Hugh amounts of precipitation each year?
A rain forest
What are the tops of the highest trees that form an umbrella covering called?
A canopy
What are plants such as cacti with thick, fleshy leaves that can conserve moisture?
Succulents
