AFRICA: LOCATION, POSITION, SIZE AND POLITICAL DIVISION

LOCATION: Africa is located between latitudes 37^o N and 35^oS of the equator and 17^oW and 51^oE of the Greenwich Meridian.

POSITION: Africa is the second largest continent in the world after Asia. It is bounded in the north by the Mediterranean sea which separates Africa from Europe, in the south by the Atlantic ocean, in the East by Indian ocean and in the north-east by the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden which separates Africa  from Asia.

SIZE: Africa is the second largest continent in terms of land area after Asia. It occupies ¹/₄ of the total land area of the world. The total land area of Africa is approximately 30 million Sq km stretching for about 8000km from north to south and 7,500km from east to west.

POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF AFRICA: Africa consists of about 48 mainland countries and several islands. Some islands in the Indian Ocean include Madagascar (the largest island) Zanzibar, Comoro, Mauritius, etc. While some islands in the Atlantic ocean include Sao Tome, Cape Verde, Principe, Canary and Equatorial Guinea.

 

EVALUATION

1. Describe the location of Africa.
2. Explain the size of Africa.

 

LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES

These are countries that do not share boundaries with the coast or oceans. The landlocked countries in Africa include Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Central Africa Republic, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Sudan.

 

PROBLEMS OF LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES

(1)        They experience high freight cost.

(2)        They depend economically on other countries.

(3)        They depend politically on other countries.

(4)        There is always insecurity of goods.

(5)        There is also political instability.

 

GENERAL EVALUATION QUESTIONS

1. What are landlocked countries?
2. Mention some landlocked countries in Africa.
3. Describe the political division of Africa.
4. What is the size of Africa?
5. State problems affecting landlocked countries.

 

WEEKEND ASSINGMENT

(1)        The latitudinal extent of Africa is ______ (a) 37^o                      (b) 35^o  (c) 2^o       (d) 72^o

(2)        Africa is bounded in the north-east by one of the following

(a) Gulf of Aden (b) Suez Canal (c) Gulf of Guinea (d) Red sea

(3)        Africa has a total land area of ____

(a) 40million sq km   (b) 30million sq km   (c) 35million sq km   (d) 20million sq km

(4)        Which of these islands is found on the Atlantic Ocean______?

(a) Victoria Island (b) Mauritius (c) Canary (d) Zanzibar

(5)        The largest Island in Africa is ______. (a) Principe (b) Sao Tome (c) Zanzibar (d) Madagascar

 

THEORY

Draw the map of Africa showing all the African countries

 

See also

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS)

GEO-POLITICAL ISSUES: LAND RECLAMATION

SETTLEMENT INTERACTIONS

MAP DISTANCES: FULL EXPLANATION

INTRODUCTION TO MAP READING