Geography 4.02: Where Is Africa?

Equatorial Africa

Equatorial Africa is a relatively vague term that could be used to refer to the tropical region of Africa or the region of Sub-Saharan Africa crisscrossed by the equator.

What are the regions of Africa?

Northern Africa - The most notable aspect of the geography of Northern Africa is the Sahara Desert. The countries of North Africa generally include Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara. Eastern Africa - East Africa is a large area made of 19 territories! Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Victoria are both found in Eastern Africa. Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are often the countries considered to be part of Eastern Africa. Southern Africa - Southern Africa has the world's largest resources of platinum. It is also a source for diamonds, uranium, gold, and other minerals. The United Nations considers the following five nations to be part of Southern Africa - Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland. Western Africa - West Africa is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Sahara Desert. Historically, Western Africa was known for having a series of corrupt and oppressive governments plagued by political unrest, ethnic rivalries, and brutal civil wars. Sixteen countries are part of the region known as Western Africa - Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Central Africa - The Atlantic Ocean borders Central Africa to the west. The climate is mainly a humid tropical climate that supports a large tropical rain forest. The United Nations classifies the following nine countries as part of Middle Africa - Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

The Congo River

Runs through the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the second longest river in Africa and the deepest river in the world.

What does the Sahara cover?

The Sahara covers huge parts of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and Tunisia. The Sahara is expanding south by as much as 30 miles (48 km) per year, overwhelming degraded grasslands.

What is the Sahara?

The Sahara divides the continent of Africa into North and Sub-Saharan Africa. The Sahara Desert region is not lush in vegetation, except in the Nile Valley basin. Arabic is the most widely spoken language in the Sahara, from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. Most of the 2.5 million people in the Sahara region reside in Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria.

Mount Kilimanjaro

The highest peak in Africa, is located in Tanzania. Mount Kilimanjaro is an inactive volcano with three cones. Due to Kilimanjaro's equatorial location and high elevation, almost every climate type on earth is represented, including a year-round snow-topped summit!

How many countries are in Africa?

There are 53 countries on this vast continent. Divided into multiple regions.

Nile Delta

Where most of Egypt is desert except for the fertile land found

The Nile

is the longest river in Africa - and, in fact is thought to be the longest river in the world! The spectacular waterfall is protected by two national parks in Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is the largest waterfall based on both its width of about one mile and height of 360 feet.

Victoria Falls

located at the base of the Nile River, is located in Lake Victoria between Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. Lake Victoria is the largest body of water in Africa.