SSA - Physical Geography, con't. Lesson

Physical Geography, continued

Great Rift Valley of East Africa

The Virunga Mountains, on the Congo-Uganda border, have a series of deep water lakes that run along its valley. Lake Tanganyika and Lake Albert are two of the larger lakes in Central Africa. Lake Tanganyika, the world's second-deepest lake (with a depth of 4,800 feet) is more than 418 miles long and runs the entire length of the boundary between the Congo and Tanzania. Fish and fresh water from Lake Tanganyika support millions of people who live in the area. Many make their living directly from the use of the lake's resources.

At the heart of Central Africa is the massive Congo River and all its tributaries. It is the deepest river system in the world and has some stretches that run more than seven hundred feet deep, providing habitats for a wide range of organisms and fish species. The Congo River basin is second only in size to the Amazon basin in South America. Similar to the Amazon, the Congo basin is the home of Africa's largest tropical rain forest. Deforestation activities, such as logging and slash-and-burn agriculture, have been on the rise in Central Africa and the Congo basin resulting in the loss of habitat for many tropical species. Endangered primates such as chimpanzees and gorillas, along with monkeys and game animals, have struggled to adjust to the shrinkage of their habitat and the decline of their population. Mountain gorillas have been dwindling in numbers because of poaching, civil war, and hunting.

Unlike the Western Rift, the Eastern Rift does not have deep water lakes; rather, it is a wide valley or basin with shallow lakes that do not have outlets. The shallow feature of the lakes causes them to have higher levels of sodium carbonate and mineral buildup due to a high rate of evaporation. The differences in water composition of the lakes along the Eastern Rift vary from freshwater to extremely alkaline. Alkaline water creates an ideal breeding ground for algae and other species of fish, such as tilapia, which thrive in this environment. Millions of birds feed off the abundant supply of algae and fish that these shallow lakes provide. This in turn attracts wildlife predators and creates a unique set of environmental ecosystems.

Mountains and Rivers

East Africa has a number of well-known volcanic peaks that are high in elevation.

The tallest point in Africa — Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania near the border with Kenya — is 19,340 feet high. Nearby in Kenya, Mt. Kenya is 17,058 feet high.

East Africa

The highest mountain in Africa, Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet), is located in Tanzania near the border with Kenya. The second highest peak, Mt. Kenya (17,058 feet), located just north of the country's capital of Nairobi, near the equator, is the source of Kenya's name. Both mountains are inactive volcanoes and have permanent snow at their peaks. They provide fresh water, which flows down their mountainsides, to the surrounding areas.

The main rivers of Africa include the Nile, Niger, Congo, and Zambezi. The Nile River competes with the Amazon for the status as the longest river in the world; the White Nile branch begins in Lake Victoria in East Africa, and the Blue Nile branch starts in Lake Tana in Ethiopia.

Lake Victoria provides fish and fresh water for millions of people in the surrounding region.

The Niger flows through West Africa; its mouth is in Nigeria. The Congo River crosses the equator with a large tropical drainage basin that creates a flow of water second only to the Amazon in volume. The Zambezi River in the south is famous for the extensive Victoria Falls on the Zambia and Zimbabwe border. Victoria Falls is considered the largest (not the highest) waterfall in the world. Another significant river, the Orange River, serves as a natural border between South Africa and Namibia.

Serengeti and Game Reserves

The Great Rift Valley and the surrounding savannas in Kenya and Tanzania are home to some of the largest game reserves in Africa, with a broad variety of big game animals. One of these large regions is the vast Serengeti Plain, located in northern Tanzania and southern Kenya. The governments of Tanzania and Kenya maintain national parks, national game reserves, and wildlife sanctuaries in their countries, most notably in the Serengeti Plain. Legal protection for as much as 80 percent of the Serengeti has been provided. The protections restrict hunting and commercial agriculture and provide protection status for the wildlife.

The Serengeti Plain is host to the largest migration of land animals in the world. Every fall and spring, as many as two million wildebeests, antelope, and other grazing animals migrate from the northern hills to the southern plains in search of grass and food. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Ngorongoro Crater are located on the Tanzanian side of the border. The enormous crater is the basin of an extinct volcano that has been transformed into a protected national park for the animals that graze on the grassy plains. This is a dry region because the Ngorongoro Highlands create a rain shadow for the area.

The Serengeti Plains in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Dozens of other protected areas have been established throughout Eastern Africa in an effort to protect and sustain the valuable ecosystems for the large animals from the ever-expanding human population. In Kenya, more than fifty-five nationally protected areas serve as parks, reserves, or sanctuaries for wildlife. The "big five" game animals — elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, leopards, and buffalo — and all the other unique animals found in the same ecosystems, translate into economic income from tourists.

Southern Africa and Madagascar

The region of the African continent south of the Congo and Tanzania is called Southern Africa. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Home to a number of river systems; the Zambezi River is the most prominent. The Zambezi flows from the northwest corner of Zambia and western Angola all the way to the Indian Ocean on the coast of Mozambique. Along the way, the Zambezi River flows over the mighty Victoria Falls on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Victoria Falls is the largest waterfall in the world and is a major tourist attraction for the region.

Madagascar is located to the east of the continent, in the Indian Ocean. Madagascar is the world's fourth-largest island. Surrounding Madagascar are the independent island states of the Seychelles, Comoros, and Mauritius. Madagascar is included in this lesson on Southern Africa but does not share its cultural geography or biodiversity. Madagascar broke away from the mainland more than 160 million years ago and developed its own environmental conditions and cultural heritage. The early human inhabitants of Madagascar can trace their ancestry to the regions of Malaysia and Indonesia in Southeast Asia. People from the African mainland also joined the population. The whole island later came under the colonial domination of France but won its independence in 1960.

Madagascar's unique physical environment is home to many plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. At least thirty-three varieties of lemurs and many tropical bird species and other organisms are found only on Madagascar. It is an area of high biodiversity and is home to about 5 percent of all the animals and plants in the world. Tropical rain forests can be found on the eastern edge on the windward side of the island. The western side of the island experiences a rain shadow effect because of the height of the central highlands, which reach as high as 9,435 feet. This causes the western side of the island to receive less precipitation and support a smaller population.

Since 1990, the eastern tropical rain forest has experienced a sharp decline because of extensive logging, slash-and-burn agriculture, mining operations, and drought. Population growth has placed a heavier demand on the environment, which in turn puts stress on the habitats of many of the unusual organisms that are unique to the island. Typical of many African nations, agriculture is Madagascar's main economic activity. About 80 percent of the twenty million people who live on the island earn their living off the land. Deforestation is occurring on all parts of the island and is more severe in areas where human habitation leads to a high demand for firewood used in cooking. In parts of Africa, important environmental areas have been protected or transformed into national parks and wildlife preserves. Though protected areas do exist on Madagascar, efforts to protect the environment and the wildlife have been thwarted by a lack of funding and the population's increasing demand for natural resources.

For this map activity, your map should include the following items:

Countries: Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

*Note this is not a complete list of all countries. These could appear on a map assessment.  

Other Physical Locations to locate:

• African Transition Zone
• Blue Nile
• Cape of Good Hope
• Congo River
• Kalahari Desert
• Lake Albert
• Lake Chad
• Lake Malawi
• Lake Tana
• Lake Tanganyika
• Lake Turkana
• Lake Victoria
• Madagascar
• Mt. Cameroon
• Mt. Kenya
• Mt. Kilimanjaro
• Namib Desert
• Niger River
• Rwenzori Mountains
• Virunga Mountains
• White Nile
• Zambezi River

 

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.