AFRICA: RELIEF AND DRAINAGE

Africa can be grouped into the following relief regions

–           The east (made up partly of mountains)

–           The west (made up partly of highlands)

–           The south (made up mainly of plateaux)

–           The north (made up mainly of ranges)

 

EAST AFRICA: There are many mountains found in this part of Africa. They include Kilimanjaro Mountain (5,895m) which is the highest mountain in Africa, Cameroun mountain, Ethiopia mountain, Mountain Elgon, Mountain Ruwenzori and Mountain Kenya.

 

WEST AFRICA: The highlands found in this area include the Fouta Djallon, Guinea, Adamawa highland and Jos plateau.

 

SOUTH AFRICA: This area is mainly made up of plateaux. There is a continuous escarpment, highest in the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa.

 

NORTH AFRICA: The ranges include Ahagger, Tasilli, Tibesti, Darfur and Atlas Mountain

 

AREAS OF LOWLAND

The areas of lowlands are restricted mainly to the coasts of Africa and the Rift valley of East Africa.

 

EVALUATION:

1. Describe the relief of Africa.
2. Mention some areas of lowlands in Africa.

 

THE EAST AFRICA RIFT VALLEY SYSTEM

LOCATION: It stretches from the Red sea to the River Zambezi in Zambia through

Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi. It is about 5000 – 6000 km long.

 

ORIGIN / FORMATION: Due to block faulting, there was subsidence of land between two

Parallel faults caused by tension.

 

NATURE OF THE FLOOR / DEPTH: It has a narrow flat floor with lakes some of which fell

below sea level. The valley has steep walls. It contains some lakes like Tanganyika (the 2^nd

deepest lake in world) and Lake Malawi.

 

IMPORTANCE: The rift valley system is important for the following

(i)        Tourism

(ii)       Fishing

(iii)      Salt mining

(iv)      Rich agriculture land.

 

DRAINAGE IN AFRICA 

Africa has a large number of important rivers. Out of all the rivers, only four are really

outstanding as a result of their length and volume. These are.

–          River Nile (6,600 km) the longest

–          River Niger (4,200 km)

–          River Zambezi (2,400 km)

–          River Orange (1,600km)

 

LAKES IN AFRICA

1. Natural lakes: These include lake Victoria, Chad, Tanganyika, Malawi and Turkana.
2. Artificial / Man made lakes: These include lake Nassir on the Nile, lake Volta on River Volta, lake Kanji on the Niger and lake Kariba (the largest man – made lake in Africa) on the Zambezi river.

GENERAL EVALUATION QUESTIONS

1. What is relief?
2. What is drainage?
3. Describe the drainage of Africa.
4. Mention the natural lakes in Africa.
5. Mention some important rivers in Africa.

 

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

• The highest mountain in Africa is the____ (a) Cameroun mountain (b) Kilimanjaro mountain (c) Ethiopian mountain (d) Mountain Ruwenzori.

(2)        The largest artificial lake in Africa is____

(a) Lake Chad (b) Lake Volta (c) Lake Tanganyika (d) Lake Kariba

(3)        The longest river in Africa is____

(a) River Nile (b) River Congo (c) River Senegal (d) River Niger

(4)        The rift valley is known for the following except___

(a) Fishing (b) Salt mining (c) Farming (d) Lumbering

(5)        Which of these lakes is found on River Zambezi____? (a) Chad (b) Volta (c) Kariba (d) Kanji

 

THEORY

Draw an outline map of Africa, on it, show the following rivers

(a)        River Nile                               (b) River Niger

(c)         River Orange                           (d) River Zambezi

 

See also

AFRICA: LOCATION, POSITION, SIZE AND POLITICAL DIVISION

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS)

GEO-POLITICAL ISSUES: LAND RECLAMATION

SETTLEMENT INTERACTIONS

MAP DISTANCES: FULL EXPLANATION