7th Grade

Here are the notes for 11-1.

Africa Land & Water
Chapter 11
Section 1
Regions and Landforms
• Africa has 46 countries
• 5 main regions
– North
– West
– South
– East
– Central
• Each region has several different climates and landforms

• The Regions
– North
• Rocky mountainous, seemingly endless deserts (Sahara, the world’s largest desert)
– West
• Most populated
• Grasslands
• Fertile soil for farming
– East
• Few Plateaus- large, raised areas of mostly flat land
• Many mountains
– Central and Southern
• Flat rolling grassland
• Thick rainforests
• Mountains
• Swamps
• Deserts in the south(Namib and Kalahari)

• Plateau Continent
– Much of Africa is a raised Plateau
– Elevation- height above sea level
• Mountains
– Highest is in East Africa
– Mount Kilimanjaro
• Coastal Plains Edge the Continent
– Dry and sandy
– Marshy and moist
• Great Rift Valley
– Formed millions of years ago as the continents pulled apart
– Rift- deep trench
– most of Africa’s major lakes are in this area

• Africa’s Rivers
– 4 large rivers
• Nile
• Congo
• Zambezi
• Niger
– Nile River
• Longest river in the world
• Fed by the White and Blue Nile
• Tributaries- smaller rivers that feed into a larger river
• Farming along the Nile
– land has been farmed for 1000’s of years
– Over flows it’s banks and deposits fresh silt every year
– Fertile- rich in the substances that plants need to grow
– Aswan High Dam prevents this area from getting fresh silt now….land will become in fertile in time
– Used to produce electricity
– Created Lake Nasser- largest man made lake in the world
– Congo River
• Flows through rain forests of Central Africa
• 2nd largest river in Africa
• 100’s of tributaries
• Fishing and farming in this region
– Niger River
• 3rd longest river in Africa
• Flows north then cuts south
• Fishing and farming
– Zambezi River
• 4th largest river in Africa
• Southern Africa
• Forms the border of 6 countries
• Boats can only travel 460 miles of the 2,200 miles of river
• Used for electricity
• Victoria Falls mist can be seen up to 40 miles away