Facts About Africa Part One.pdf

7/23/2019 Facts About Africa Part One.pdf

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Facts About Africa, Part IWhat do you know about Africa?

Barbara A. Worley, Ph.D.

Department of Anthropology

UMASS Boston

Not for external distribution:

Material in this slide show is for temporary classroom use only, and is subject to Copyright law



What is the world’s largest continent?

a. Asia

b.

North Americac. Africa

d. South America

e. Europe



The answer is … Asia!

Africa is the world’s second largest continent.



What is the world’s most tropical continent?

a. Asia

b.

North Americac. Africa

d. South America

e. Europe



The answer is … Africa!

Africa is the world’s most tropical continent.

Tropic of Cancer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tropic of Capricorn -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Equator -----------------



Which other continent is Africa connected to, by land?

a. Europe

b.

The Near Eastc. Both of the above

d. None of the above

e. All of the above



Answer: Africa is naturally attached to Asia by land, but they constructed the

Suez Canal through Egypt in 1869 to create a passage from the Mediterranean

to the Red Sea to connect international trade routes from Europe to Asia.

The Suez Canal from outer space. The Suez canal in the 1980s.

Mediterranean Sea

Red Sea

Egypt

Egypt

Asia

ASIA!



Africa is naturally

connected to Asia by

land, but artificiallyseparated from it by the

Suez Canal.



AFRICA AND ASIA: Before 1869 when the Suez Canal was completed, Egypt was

a major hub of world trade from areas of Africa south of the Sahara, through Egypt, to

Asia (the Near East) and parts of Europe. African peoples had valuable resources in

gold, ivory, copper and iron weapons, statues, jewelry, mirrors, beautifully crafted

beads, ostrich feathers and leopard skins to exchange for exotic woods (cedar and

ebony), precious stones, spices, and incense from the Near East (Asia).

Major trade routes 2000 years ago,

linking Africa with Europe and the

Near East, by land and by sea.

Major trade routes in 1235 AD,

when the Malian Empire dominated

trade from West Africa.

ASIA

AFRICA



Egypt: Construction on the Suez Canel, in 1869.



What other parts of Africa come close to other continents?



Africa comes close to Asia at the Mandeb

Strait (Bab-el-Mandeb), where Djibouti is

20 miles from Yemen. There are islands in

the middle that reduce the strategic distanceeven more. East Africa has had ancient

cultural and trade associations with the

Near East, since ancient times.

ASIA

ASIA

AFRICA

AFRICA

ASIA

AFRICA



Africa is very close to Europe (Spain) at the

Straits of Gibraltar -- 8 miles. This part of

Africa has had close cultural and tradeassociations with Europe since ancient times.

Morocco

Strait of Gibraltar

EUROPE

AFRICA



The Strait of Gibraltar8 miles wide



It’s pretty clear that northern Africa is very close to Europe (Spain, Italy,

Greece) and Asia (the Near East) by means of sea travel across the

Mediterranean. It’s no wonder that North Africa has had a long cultural andtrade association with European and Near Eastern peoples. Peoples further

south in Africa also had indirect connections with Europe and the Near East

through the trans-Saharan trade. Most African peoples and cultures have

always been well-connected with the rest of the world through trade.



What geographic feature can you find in

Africa that’s the largest one in the

world?

a.

River b. Desert

c. Mountain

d. Forest

e. Volcano



Answer:

The Nile is the longest river in the

world – over 4000 miles long!

Since there are numerous rivers,

streams and lakes in five different

countries that contribute water to the

Nile, it depends on which one of them

you want to count as the place where

the Nile “starts.” The Nile comes outlongest if you have it “start” at the

Kyaka river in Burundi, close to Lake

Tanganyika.

That makes it 4145 miles long!

Burundi

Lake Tanganyika



The banks of the Nile



The “Lower Nile” is called

the Lower Nile becauseit’s near sea level, even

though it’s “on top” in thepicture. The Lower Nile is

in Egypt.

The “Upper Nile” is in the

bottom of the picture, in

the high altitudes ofSudan, south of Egypt.

The Lower Nile is in the

north, and the Upper Nileis in the south.

One of the sources of theNile is as far south as

Burundi!

(Burundi)

Lower Nile(Egypt)

Upper Nile

(Sudan)

Sea Level

High Mountains

High Altitudes

Low Altitudes



The Nile

Source: J. M. W. Turner, early 1800s



This is just the northernmost part of

the Nile – including the Nile Delta

where it empties into the

Mediterranean.

Notice in this satellite photo how

everything around the Nile is dry and

desert-y. The Nile flows through the

Sahara. The green you see is the

actual greenery produced by the

floodwaters of the Nile. The earliestfarmers in Egypt depended on the

regular flooding activities of the Nile

to water their crops. Later, they built

irrigation canals to divert the water

farther away from the river, so that

more land could be cultivated.

In fact, Egypt is the *driest* area of

the world that’s inhabited by

people. The periodic flooding of the

Nile is what makes it possible for

people to live there and farm.

Mediterranean

Egypt

The Nile Delta Egypt

RedSea

Suez

Canal

*Driest* area

of the

inhabited

world

SAHARA



Farming inancient

Egypt

Farming

in Egypt

today



Where will you encounter the hottest part of the world?

a.

Brazil b. Panama Canal

c. Congo

d. Indonesia

e. Ethiopia



The *hottest* part of the world is in Africa – at Dallol, in the

Danakil Depression and Desert, in Ethiopia, where the

average annual temperature is 93.2 degrees!! This is what itlooks like from outer space, like sizzling, melted metal!

Danakil: In this picture, you cansee how dry the cracked earth is.The surface is so hot it glistens.

Ethiopia



Green sulphur liquids from a hot spring, in the region of the Dallol

volcano, the world’s only volcano beneath sea level (minus 157 feet). In

the Danakil Depression and Desert, Ethiopia.



Where will you find the world’s biggest desert?

a.

The Arabian Desert in Saudi Arabia

b. The Sahara in northern Africa

c. The Gobi Desert in China

d. The Patagonian Desert in Argentina

e. The Kalahari Desert in southern Africa



The Sahara is the world’s biggest

*hot* desert. It covers the top

THIRD of all Africa, from one

side to the other. The Sahel, asemi-arid zone, extends this harsh

climate even further south.

The Sahara would be the largest

desert on earth, but there is

another desert that’s much larger –

Antarctica (the South Pole).

The Sahara is a “hot” desert,

which is defined as an area where

the rate of evaporation exceeds

precipitation (it dries out faster

than it can accumulate rain).

Antarctica is a “cold” desert,

where there is no evaporation, so

that’s what makes it a desert. The

Sahara is only two-thirds the size

of Antarctica.

The Sahara

is the

largest *hot*

desert in

the world.



Sahara, the world’s

biggest “hot” desert Antarctica, the world’s

biggest “cold” desert



Where will you find the world’s tallestmountain?

a. Mount Everest, in Nepal

b. Mount McKinley, in the U.S.

c. The Vinson Massif, in Antarcticad. Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania

e. Mount Elbrus, in Russia



Africa has some enormous

mountains, especially in Tanzania.But the highest mountains in the

world are in Asia – Mt. Everest.

Peak Location Feet Meters

Mount Everest Nepal, Asia HIGHEST 29,035 8,850

Aconcagua Argentina, South America 22,841 6,962

Mount McKinley United States, North America 20,320 6,194

Mount Kilimanjaro Tanzania, Africa 19,563 5,963

Mount Elbrus Russia, Europe 18,510 5,642

Puncak Jaya Indonesia, Australia/Oceania 16,023 4,884

Vinson Massif Antarctica, Antarctica 16,066 4,897

Tanzania

Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Very high, but not the highest



Coffee and banana plantation, Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania



Did you know that

Africa has glaciers?

Mt. Kilimanjaro stillhas glaciers from the Ice

Age! With global

warming, the glaciers

are beginning to melt.

Photo sequence

documenting a recent

collapse of the glaciers

on Mt. Kilimanjaro,

in Tanzania, as a result

of global warming.

Tanzania

GLACIERS



Did you know that Mt. Kilimanjaro not only has GLACIERS,

but is also a VOLCANO ?



The largest volcano on earth is Mauna Loa, in Hawaii.

However, Africa has lots of volcanoes, mainly in

East Africa. There are sixteen volcanoes just in Ethiopia, and nineteen more in Kenya, Tanzania,

Rwanda, Uganda and Zaire.

One example is Mt. Kilimanjaro, which has both

glaciers, and volcanoes!

Looking down the crater of Mt. Kilimanjaro,

from a Satellite image.

Mt. Kilimanjaro



How many countries are there in Africa?

Answer: The number varies, depending on the source.

Some sources do not count some of the smaller islands, orelse they count different islands. Some of the islands are

really protectorates of European countries like France.

Some sources do not count disputed countries, like

Western Sahara (which Morocco claims belongs to

Morocco).

There are 47 continental countries plus Madagascar (48

total). Plus about half a dozen small islands.

Documents

Facts About Africa Part One.pdf