Study Guide: Political Map, Physical Features, Climate, and Environmental Issues of Africa

1.Physical features map - the Sahara Desert, the Sahel, savanna, tropical rain forest (Congo Basin), the Congo River, the Nile River, the Niger River, Lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, the Atlas Mountains, and the Kalahari Desert.

2.Political Map – Specific countries - Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, and South Sudan.

3.Geography readings – “Africa’s Physical Features” and “Africa’s Physical Geography”.

4.Reading piece on Water - the one we highlighted and your notes.

5.Reading Piece on Deforestation.

6.Reading Piece on Desertification.

7.Environmental Issues – Main Points – see the summary reading.

  • Water is a very important resource. Some regions of Africa have an overabundance, while others have very little.
  • Some people have access to clean water while others do not. Why?
  • The lack of safe drinking water for sub-Saharan Africa affects the development of that region.
  • Reasons for unsafe drinking water.
  • Major cause of pollution is NOT industry, except in the Nigeria. What pollutes water? What resource does Nigeria have that most other countries do not?
  • Lack of water in northern Africa has affected its growth and development.
  • Water is needed for agriculture so irrigation must be used to increase arable land.
  • Be able to explain the reasons for deforestation, including the need for more agricultural land, population growth demand, more space for housing, and the harvesting of trees for profit.
  • There are both long term and short term consequences of deforestation.
  • Soil of deforested land is quickly unusable for agriculture, and this unusable soil contributes to the cycle of Africa’s deforestation problem – Why? How?
  • Be able to explain what desertification is, its causes, and the resulting impact on the environment of Africa
  • What are the consequences both in human and environmental terms?
  • As much as 1/3 of Africa is threatened by desertification.

8.Considering location, physical features and climate: Why do the people of Africa live where they do within the regions?

  • Majority of all Africans live south of the Sahara, closer to the coasts, clustered around major bodies of water – Why?

CONTINUED ON OTHER SIDE

9.Know the five specific climate types and their definitions

  • Desert- Dry land with less than ten inches of rainfall. It is located mostly in the northern and southern regions of Africa.
  • Steppe- A dry, semi-arid land, located south of the Sahara Desert.
  • Mediterranean- A warm, mild climate, located north of the Atlas Mountains.
  • Tropical Rainforest- A hot, wet climate, located in central Africa. This area has the largest percent of rainfall on the continent.
  • Savanna- A warm climate with broad grasslands. It is located south of the Sahel and south of the Tropical Rainforest. It has extreme wet and dry seasons.
  • Highlands- warm to cool climate with moderate rainfall. The temperature changes with altitude.

10. Understand what ergs, succulents, and escarpments are (from the Textbook Reading questions).

11. You will have a constructed response question that could be based on any of the major environmental issues or climate/why do people live where they do…