Characteristics of Africa Among the main characteristics of the African continent are: It has a population of almost 1,225 million inhabitants.
What are some human characteristics of Africa?
knowledge) that the African in a class-room or at home thinks, feels, and behaves exactly as they themselves think, feel, and behave in the same circumstances. When, for example, one has a chat with an African father in his home, with children playing about the door, and 'mother' preparing the dinner, one is not conscious of any barrier to
What are the main features of Africa?
8 Amazing Physical Features of Africa
- Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls. ...
- The Namib. Namib desert, Namibia. ...
- East African Rift System. Escarpments of the Great Rift Valley rising above the plain north of Samburu Game Preserve, central Kenya.
- Congo River. ...
- The Sahara. ...
- Lake Victoria. ...
- Ituri Forest. ...
- Nile River. ...
What are four major physical features in Africa?
Africa: Physical Features - Map Quiz Game: The continent of Africa is known for its iconic landscapes, including rain forests, deserts, mountains, rivers, and savannas. The Nile River, for example, is considered to be the longest river in the world, and Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa at over 4,900 meters. Part of the reason the African continent has so many interesting ...
What are the physical features of Africa?
The physical features of Africa include the Sahara desert, Sahel, Ethiopian Highlands, savannas and rainforests. Some other major features are the Swahili Coast, Southern Africa, the Great Lakes and the Nile River. The Sahara desert, one of the main geographical features of Africa, starts in the north of the continent with the Atlas mountains ...
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What are the 8 physical features of Africa?
Africa has eight major physical regions: the Sahara, the Sahel, the Ethiopian Highlands, the savanna, the Swahili Coast, the rainforest, the African Great Lakes, and Southern Africa.
What makes Africa different from other continents?
Africa is distinctively unique continent among all 7 continents of the world. Africa has a very diverse culture. It is rich in cultural heritage and diversity, a wealth of natural resources, offers breathtaking tourist attractions. These interesting facts about Africa are must to be known.
What are 5 interesting facts about Africa?
AFRICA IS THE SECOND LARGEST CONTINENT ON EARTH. ... BETWEEN 1500-2000 LANGUAGES ARE SPOKEN IN AFRICA. ... AFRICA IS THE SOURCE OF THE WORLD'S LONGEST RIVER. ... AFRICA IS HOME TO THE WORLD'S OLDEST UNIVERSITY. ... THE RICHEST MAN EVER IS AFRICAN. ... THE WORLD'S LARGEST HOTTEST DESERT IS IN AFRICA.More items...•
What are 10 things about Africa?
Top 10 Facts about AfricaIt is the second largest continent of the world. ... There are 54 countries in Africa. ... Africa has the world's largest desert – sort of! ... It is home to the world's longest river, The Nile. ... Most of the world's diamonds come from Africa. ... Africa makes 70% of the world's cocoa beans.More items...
What is Africa best known for?
It's brimming full of BIG things. As the second biggest continent in the world, Africa is jam-packed with some of the world's biggest things: The largest desert in the world, the Sahara Desert (explore it on our Morocco itineraries). The longest river in the world, the Nile River, runs for 6,853km (4,258mi).
Why is Africa called the motherland?
We Call Africa the "Motherland" Because It's the Birthplace of the Human Race.
What makes Africa beautiful?
Africa is famous for its beautiful sights and cities, unsurpassed natural wonders, dramatic coastline, amazing wildlife, luscious forests and unforgettable architecture. The continent has a unique culture and heritage and it is full of unbelievably wide-ranging and beautiful places to visit.
What makes Africa a beautiful continent?
Africa is home to vast deserts, tropical rain forests, rugged mountains, and fertile grasslands. It's abundance in these is unsurpassed in any other continent. Another beautiful sight in this immense continent are Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Victoria.
What is African culture and tradition?
African Traditions are expressed through music, art, dance and sculpture... African Tradition is expressed through many different art forms, such as music, dance, art, sculpture and beadwork. These traditions are deeply ingrained into the whole African culture.
What's a fact about Africa?
Facts About African Geography The largest African country in terms of area is Algeria, while the smallest is the island nation of the Seychelles. The tallest mountain in Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. With a total height of 19,341 feet/5,895 meters, it's also the highest free-standing mountain in the world.
What language is spoken in Africa?
The most widely spoken languages of Africa, Swahili (200 million), Yoruba (45 million), Igbo (30 million), and Fula (35 million) all belong to the Niger-Congo family.
What it means to be an African?
1 : a native or inhabitant of Africa. 2 : a person and especially a Black person of African ancestry. African. adjective.
What is the difference between Africa and Asia?
Africa is arguably the most culturally and linguistically diverse continent in the world with most of its countries having at least 10 to 15 languages and ethnic tribes. Asia also has thousands of different languages, groups and cultures with India alone having more culture and languages than the entire Europe.
Why are Africa Europe and Asia different continents?
Is Europe a Continent? Europe is considered a separate continent from Asia because of its distinct historical, cultural, and political identity, rather than any clear geographical demarcation.
Why are Africa and Eurasia different continents?
At the breakup of Pangaea around 200 million years ago, the North American and Eurasian Plates together formed Laurasia while the African Plate remained in Gondwana, from which the Indian Plate split off.
Why does Africa look like South America?
The Atlantic coasts of Africa and South America appear to fit together neatly, like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The same shape is also traced out by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, shown on this map by the light-colored area (representing relatively shallow seas) between the two continents.
How many physical regions are there in Africa?
Africas physical geography, environment and resources, and human geography can be considered separately. Africa has eight major physical regions: the Sahara, the Sahel, the Ethiopian Highlands, the savanna, the Swahili Coast, the rain forest, the African Great Lakes, and Southern Africa. Some of these regions cover large bands of the continent, ...
What is the continent of Africa?
Africa: Physical Geography. Encyclopedic Entry. Vocabulary. Africa, the second-largest continent, is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is divided in half almost equally by the Equator. Africas physical geography, environment and resources, and human geography can be considered separately.
What is the most well known savanna in Africa?
Among Africas many savanna regions, the Serengeti (or Serengeti Plains) is the most well-known. The Serengeti is a vast, undulating plain that stretches 30,000 square kilometers (11,583 square miles) from Kenya's Maasai-Mara game reserve to Tanzania's Serengeti National Park.
What are the animals that live in Southern Africa?
Southern Africa is the epicenter of Africas well-known reserves, which protect animal species such as lions, elephants, baboons, white rhinos, and Burchells zebras. Other important animal species include the impala, a type of deer, and the springbok, a type of gazelle that can spring several feet into the air to avoid predators.
How big is the Savanna?
Savanna. Savannas, or grassland s, cover almost half of Africa, more than 13 million square kilometers (5 million square miles). These grasslands make up most of central Africa, beginning south of the Sahara and the Sahel and ending north of the continents southern tip.
What is the richest region in Africa?
Southern Africas Cape Floral Region is one of the richest areas for plants in the world. While the Cape Floral Region covers less than 0.5 percent of Africa, it is home to nearly 20 percent of the continents flora. The giant protea, South Africas national flower, is found in the Cape Floral Region.
What is the bedrock of Southern Africa?
The region of Southern Africa is dominated by the Kaapvaal craton, a shelf of bedrock that is more than 2.6 billion years old. Rocky features of Southern Africa include plateaus and mountains, such as the Drakensberg range.
How big is Africa?
Africa’s total land area is approximately 11,724,000 square miles (30,365,000 square km), and the continent measures about 5,000 miles (8,000 km) from north to south and about 4,600 miles (7,400 km) from east to west. Its northern extremity is Al-Ghīrān Point, near Al-Abyaḍ Point (Cape Blanc), Tunisia; its southern extremity is Cape Agulhas, South Africa; its farthest point east is Xaafuun (Hafun) Point, near Cape Gwardafuy (Guardafui), Somalia; and its western extremity is Almadi Point (Pointe des Almadies), on Cape Verde (Cap Vert), Senegal. In the northeast, Africa was joined to Asia by the Sinai Peninsula until the construction of the Suez Canal. Paradoxically, the coastline of Africa—18,950 miles (30,500 km) in length—is shorter than that of Europe, because there are few inlets and few large bays or gulfs.
What is the geologic structure of Africa?
One of the most remarkable features in the geologic structure of Africa is the East African Rift System, which lies between 30° and 40° E. The rift itself begins northeast of the continent’s limits and extends southward from the Ethiopian Red Sea coast to the Zambezi River basin.
What is the name of the continent that the Romans called Africa?
Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now. In antiquity the Greeks are said to have called the continent Libya and the Romans to have called it Africa, perhaps from the Latin aprica (“sunny”) or the Greek aphrike (“without cold”).
What oceans border Africa?
The continent is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and on the south by the mingling waters of the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Africa. Africa. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Africa’s total land area is approximately 11,724,000 square miles ...
Why is Africa's coastline shorter than Europe?
Paradoxically, the coastline of Africa—18,950 miles (30,500 km) in length—is shorter than that of Europe, because there are few inlets and few large bays or gulfs. Britannica Quiz.
Which continent has the largest island?
Off the coasts of Africa a number of islands are associated with the continent. Of these Madagascar, one of the largest islands in the world, is the most significant.
Is Africa a tropical region?
The continent is cut almost equally in two by the Equator, so that most of Africa lies within the tropical region, bounded on the north by the Tropic of Cancer and on the south by the Tropic of Capricorn. Because of the bulge formed by western Africa, the greater part of Africa’s territory lies north of the Equator. Africa is crossed from north to south by the prime meridian (0° longitude), which passes a short distance to the east of Accra, Ghana.
What is the continent of Africa?
Vocabulary. Africa, the second-largest continent, is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is divided in half almost equally by the Equator. The continent includes the islands of Cape Verde, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Comoros. Africa’s physical geography, environment ...
How did slavery affect Africa?
The impacts of slavery on Africa are widespread and diverse. Computerized calculations have projected that if there had been no slave trade, the population of Africa would have been 50 million instead of 25 million in 1850. Evidence also suggests that the slave trade contributed to the long-term colonization and exploit ation of Africa. Communities and infrastructure were so damaged by the slave trade that they could not be rebuilt and strengthened before the arrival of European colonizers in the 19th century.
What skills did the Bantu people have?
In turn, Bantu people adopted skills from the communities they encountered, including animal husbandry, or raising animals for food. This exchange of skills and ideas greatly advanced Africa’s cultural landscape, especially in the eastern, central, and southern regions of the continent.
How did the Bantu migration affect Africa?
The Bantu Migration had an enormous impact on Africa’s economic, cultural, and political practices. Bantu migrants introduced many new skills into the communities they interacted with, including sophisticated farming and industry. These skills included growing crop s and forging tools and weapons from metal.
What is the role of migration in Africa?
This human movement, or migration, plays a key role in the cultural landscape of Africa. Geographers are especially interested in migration as it relates to the way goods, services, social and cultural practices, and knowledge are spread throughout the world. Two other migration patterns, the Bantu Migration and the African slave trade, ...
What was the third massive human migration in Africa?
The third massive human migration in Africa was the African slave trade. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, more than 15 million Africans were transport ed across the Atlantic Ocean to be sold as slave s in North and South America.
What is the only continent with fossil evidence of human beings?
Historic Cultures. The African continent has a unique place in human history. Widely believed to be the “cradle of humankind,” Africa is the only continent with fossil evidence of human beings ( Homo sapiens) and their ancestor s through each key stage of their evolution.
How many ethnic groups are there in Africa?
Although the precise number is unknown, there are several thousand different societies or ethnic groups in Africa. They are identified by their recognition of a common culture, language, religion, and history. But in some areas the boundaries among ethnic groups and communities (villages, towns, farm areas) may not always be clear to the outsider. Most Africans speak more than one language, and frequent migrations and interactions, including intermarriage, with other peoples have often blurred ethnic distinctions. There are an estimated 900 to 1,500 different languages, but many distinct political units share a common or similar language (as among the Yoruba, Hausa, and Swahili -speaking peoples). Complicating the situation in the 20th century was the creation of new “tribes” (such as the Zande [Azande] and Luo) that had not been distinct polities before the colonial era. Ethnic (cultural) identities in modern times have often been heightened, exacerbated, or muted for political reasons.
Which continent is the most tropical?
Africa is the most tropical of all the continents; some four-fifths of its territory rests between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. As a consequence, the cultures and the physical variations of the peoples reflect adaptation to both hot, dry climates and hot, wet climates.
Where are the Berbers from?
Those peoples include, for example, the Imazighen ( Berbers) of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The Berbers are most numerous in Morocco and least in Tunisia, where, as a result of culture contact and intermarriage, they have become largely assimilated with Arabs, who speak a Semitic language.
Where did the Dutch settle in Africa?
Whereas the majority of Africa’s peoples are indigenous, European colonial settlers constitute the largest majority of new peoples, with substantial numbers in Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, and Mozambique. Dutch settlers first arrived in South Africa in 1652; their descendants now constitute the main Afrikaner, or Boer, population.
When did the Arabs move to Africa?
Much earlier, in several waves of migrations beginning in the 7th century, Arabs spread across northern Africa and, to a lesser extent, into western Africa, bringing a new religion ( Islam) and a new language ( Arabic ), along with some new cultural and political institutions.
Do Africans speak more than one language?
But in some areas the boundaries among ethnic groups and communities (villages, towns, farm areas) may not always be clear to the outsider. Most Africans speak more than one language, and frequent migrations and interactions, including intermarriage, with other peoples have often blurred ethnic distinctions.
