Geography Class (Basic): Landforms in Africa (with images)

Definition:  

Landform is a natural feature of solid surface of the earth. It consists of the vertical and horizontal dimension of land surface or physical geography of a place. 

Landforms include the following:

v Plateaus: A plateau is a large flat areas higher than the land around it. 

v Mountains: A mountain is a large natural elevation of the earth’s surface rising above the surrounding terrain. It is higher than the hill.

v Plains: A plain is a flat area of land. They often have small, rolling hills. Meanwhile, most areas on a plain are of same height. 

There are three types of plains:

·        Flood plains: Plains formed near rivers

·        Coastal plains: Plains found along oceans

·        Inland plains: Plains having land on all sides.

v Rivers: This is a natural stream of water flowing in a channel of series of separate and uniting channels. 

Nile River

  

There are over 20 rivers in Africa. But the 7 major African rivers are:

S/NO	NAME OF RIVER	AREAS COVERED
1	River Nile	Egypt,Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo, South Sudan
2	River Niger	Nigeria, Mali, Niger, Algeria, Guinea, Cameroun, Burkina Faso, Cote’d Voire, Benin Republic, Chad
3	Congo River	Congo DR, Tanzania, Cameroun, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda
4	Senegal River	Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania
5	Orange River	South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho
6	Limpopo River	Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana
7	Zambezi	Zambia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Namibia, Botswana

v Lakes: This is a piece of water surrounded by land. In Africa, Lake Victoria (located in Eastern Africa) is the largest in Africa and second largest in the world. 

  Africa’s seven largest lakes are: i. Lake Victoria (26,828 sq miles, East Africa); ii. Lake Tanganyika (12,700 sq miles, shared by four countries- Tanzania, DR Congo, Burundi, Zambia); iii. Lake Nyasa (11,600 sq miles, shared by three countries- Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania); iv. Lake Chad (9,946 sq miles, shared between Chad and Nigeria); v. Lake Turkana (2,473 sq miles, shared by Kenya and Ethiopia); vi. Lake Albert (2,046 sq miles, shared between Uganda and Congo DR);  vii. Lake Mweru (1,977 sq miles, shared between Zambia and DR Congo)

v Deserts: A desert is a barren area of land where little precipitation occurs and consequently living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to the processes of denudation.

     The popular deserts in Africa are Sahara Desert (which is the largest in the world), located in northern Africa. Another one is the Namib Desert located in South Africa.

v Wildlife: This means undomesticated animal species, that is, animals that are not reared at home or what is generally called wild animals. In Africa, we have many animals that form the African wildlife. Some of the animals in African wildlife are: Lion, Rhinoceros, Leopard, Cheetah, Hippopotamus, Giraffe, Hyena, African Bush Elephant, Baboons, Crocodile, Gazelle, Gorilla, Ostrich, Chimpanzee, Wild cat, Water buck, Camels, Ape, Honey badger, Monkey, Eastern green Mamba, Antelope, Zebra Buffalo.

v Rain forests: This is a luxuriant, dense forest rich in biodiversity, found typically in tropical areas with consistently heavy rainfall. The world’s second largest rain forest is located in the Congo river basin in the central and west side of Africa.

...Class to be continued...