Geography

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.

Africa’s tropical rain forest is located along the central coast of Africa, near the Equator, and lies in the Congo River Basin.

The Nile is credited as the longest river in the world. Its main source is Lake Victoria in east central Africa. From its farthest stream in Burundi, it extends 6,695 km (4,160 miles) in length.

The southernmost country of the African continent, South Africa is bordered by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Eswatini. South Africa entirely surrounds Lesotho in the east. A large plateau dominates the centre of the country, with rolling hills falling to plains and the coast.

Located in Tanzania, Mount Kilimanjaro is the African continent’s highest peak at 5,895 meters (19,340 feet). The majestic mountain is a snow-capped volcano.

Niger River, principal river of western Africa. With a length of 2,600 miles (4,200 km), it is the third longest river in Africa, after the Nile and the Congo. The Niger is believed to have been named by the Greeks. Along its course it is known by several names.

The Ethiopian Highlands began to rise 75 million years ago, as magma from Earth’s mantle uplifted a broad dome of ancient rock. This dome was later split as Africa’s continental crust pulled apart, creating the Great Rift Valley system. Today, this valley cuts through the Ethiopian Highlands from the southwest to the northeast. The Ethiopian Highlands are home to 80 percent of Africas tallest mountains.

A rift valley is a lowland region that forms where Earth’s tectonic plates move apart or rift. A rift valley is a lowland region that forms where Earth’s tectonic plates move apart, or rift. Rift valleys are found both on land and at the bottom of the ocean, where they are created by the process of seafloor spreading.

The Sahara is the hottest desert in the world – with one of the harshest climates. The average annual temperature is 30°C, whilst the hottest temperature ever recorded was 58°C. The area receives little rainfall, in fact, half of the Sahara Desert receives less than 1 inch of rain every year.

The Sahel is a narrow band of semi-arid land that forms a transition zone between the Sahara to the north and the savannas to the south. It is made up of flat, barren plains that stretch roughly 5,400 kilometers (3,300 miles) across Africa, from Senegal to Sudan.