Facts About Africa Part One.pdf
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Facts About Africa, Part IWhat do you know about Africa?
Barbara A. Worley, Ph.D.
Department of Anthropology
UMASS Boston
Not for external distribution:
Material in this slide show is for temporary classroom use only, and is subject to Copyright law
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What is the world’s largest continent?
a. Asia
b.
North Americac. Africa
d. South America
e. Europe
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The answer is … Asia!
Africa is the world’s second largest continent.
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What is the world’s most tropical continent?
a. Asia
b.
North Americac. Africa
d. South America
e. Europe
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The answer is … Africa!
Africa is the world’s most tropical continent.
Tropic of Cancer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tropic of Capricorn -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equator -----------------
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Which other continent is Africa connected to, by land?
a. Europe
b.
The Near Eastc. Both of the above
d. None of the above
e. All of the above
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Answer: Africa is naturally attached to Asia by land, but they constructed the
Suez Canal through Egypt in 1869 to create a passage from the Mediterranean
to the Red Sea to connect international trade routes from Europe to Asia.
The Suez Canal from outer space. The Suez canal in the 1980s.
Mediterranean Sea
Red Sea
Egypt
Egypt
Asia
ASIA!
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Africa is naturally
connected to Asia by
land, but artificiallyseparated from it by the
Suez Canal.
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AFRICA AND ASIA: Before 1869 when the Suez Canal was completed, Egypt was
a major hub of world trade from areas of Africa south of the Sahara, through Egypt, to
Asia (the Near East) and parts of Europe. African peoples had valuable resources in
gold, ivory, copper and iron weapons, statues, jewelry, mirrors, beautifully crafted
beads, ostrich feathers and leopard skins to exchange for exotic woods (cedar and
ebony), precious stones, spices, and incense from the Near East (Asia).
Major trade routes 2000 years ago,
linking Africa with Europe and the
Near East, by land and by sea.
Major trade routes in 1235 AD,
when the Malian Empire dominated
trade from West Africa.
ASIA
AFRICA
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Egypt: Construction on the Suez Canel, in 1869.
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What other parts of Africa come close to other continents?
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Africa comes close to Asia at the Mandeb
Strait (Bab-el-Mandeb), where Djibouti is
20 miles from Yemen. There are islands in
the middle that reduce the strategic distanceeven more. East Africa has had ancient
cultural and trade associations with the
Near East, since ancient times.
ASIA
ASIA
AFRICA
AFRICA
ASIA
AFRICA
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Africa is very close to Europe (Spain) at the
Straits of Gibraltar -- 8 miles. This part of
Africa has had close cultural and tradeassociations with Europe since ancient times.
Morocco
Strait of Gibraltar
EUROPE
AFRICA
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The Strait of Gibraltar8 miles wide
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It’s pretty clear that northern Africa is very close to Europe (Spain, Italy,
Greece) and Asia (the Near East) by means of sea travel across the
Mediterranean. It’s no wonder that North Africa has had a long cultural andtrade association with European and Near Eastern peoples. Peoples further
south in Africa also had indirect connections with Europe and the Near East
through the trans-Saharan trade. Most African peoples and cultures have
always been well-connected with the rest of the world through trade.
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What geographic feature can you find in
Africa that’s the largest one in the
world?
a.
River b. Desert
c. Mountain
d. Forest
e. Volcano
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Answer:
The Nile is the longest river in the
world – over 4000 miles long!
Since there are numerous rivers,
streams and lakes in five different
countries that contribute water to the
Nile, it depends on which one of them
you want to count as the place where
the Nile “starts.” The Nile comes outlongest if you have it “start” at the
Kyaka river in Burundi, close to Lake
Tanganyika.
That makes it 4145 miles long!
Burundi
Lake Tanganyika
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The banks of the Nile
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The “Lower Nile” is called
the Lower Nile becauseit’s near sea level, even
though it’s “on top” in thepicture. The Lower Nile is
in Egypt.
The “Upper Nile” is in the
bottom of the picture, in
the high altitudes ofSudan, south of Egypt.
The Lower Nile is in the
north, and the Upper Nileis in the south.
One of the sources of theNile is as far south as
Burundi!
(Burundi)
Lower Nile(Egypt)
Upper Nile
(Sudan)
Sea Level
High Mountains
High Altitudes
Low Altitudes
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The Nile
Source: J. M. W. Turner, early 1800s
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This is just the northernmost part of
the Nile – including the Nile Delta
where it empties into the
Mediterranean.
Notice in this satellite photo how
everything around the Nile is dry and
desert-y. The Nile flows through the
Sahara. The green you see is the
actual greenery produced by the
floodwaters of the Nile. The earliestfarmers in Egypt depended on the
regular flooding activities of the Nile
to water their crops. Later, they built
irrigation canals to divert the water
farther away from the river, so that
more land could be cultivated.
In fact, Egypt is the *driest* area of
the world that’s inhabited by
people. The periodic flooding of the
Nile is what makes it possible for
people to live there and farm.
Mediterranean
Egypt
The Nile Delta Egypt
RedSea
Suez
Canal
*Driest* area
of the
inhabited
world
SAHARA
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Farming inancient
Egypt
Farming
in Egypt
today
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Where will you encounter the hottest part of the world?
a.
Brazil b. Panama Canal
c. Congo
d. Indonesia
e. Ethiopia
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The *hottest* part of the world is in Africa – at Dallol, in the
Danakil Depression and Desert, in Ethiopia, where the
average annual temperature is 93.2 degrees!! This is what itlooks like from outer space, like sizzling, melted metal!
Danakil: In this picture, you cansee how dry the cracked earth is.The surface is so hot it glistens.
Ethiopia
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Green sulphur liquids from a hot spring, in the region of the Dallol
volcano, the world’s only volcano beneath sea level (minus 157 feet). In
the Danakil Depression and Desert, Ethiopia.
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Where will you find the world’s biggest desert?
a.
The Arabian Desert in Saudi Arabia
b. The Sahara in northern Africa
c. The Gobi Desert in China
d. The Patagonian Desert in Argentina
e. The Kalahari Desert in southern Africa
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The Sahara is the world’s biggest
*hot* desert. It covers the top
THIRD of all Africa, from one
side to the other. The Sahel, asemi-arid zone, extends this harsh
climate even further south.
The Sahara would be the largest
desert on earth, but there is
another desert that’s much larger –
Antarctica (the South Pole).
The Sahara is a “hot” desert,
which is defined as an area where
the rate of evaporation exceeds
precipitation (it dries out faster
than it can accumulate rain).
Antarctica is a “cold” desert,
where there is no evaporation, so
that’s what makes it a desert. The
Sahara is only two-thirds the size
of Antarctica.
The Sahara
is the
largest *hot*
desert in
the world.
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Sahara, the world’s
biggest “hot” desert Antarctica, the world’s
biggest “cold” desert
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Where will you find the world’s tallestmountain?
a. Mount Everest, in Nepal
b. Mount McKinley, in the U.S.
c. The Vinson Massif, in Antarcticad. Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania
e. Mount Elbrus, in Russia
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Africa has some enormous
mountains, especially in Tanzania.But the highest mountains in the
world are in Asia – Mt. Everest.
Peak Location Feet Meters
Mount Everest Nepal, Asia HIGHEST 29,035 8,850
Aconcagua Argentina, South America 22,841 6,962
Mount McKinley United States, North America 20,320 6,194
Mount Kilimanjaro Tanzania, Africa 19,563 5,963
Mount Elbrus Russia, Europe 18,510 5,642
Puncak Jaya Indonesia, Australia/Oceania 16,023 4,884
Vinson Massif Antarctica, Antarctica 16,066 4,897
Tanzania
Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Very high, but not the highest
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Coffee and banana plantation, Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
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Did you know that
Africa has glaciers?
Mt. Kilimanjaro stillhas glaciers from the Ice
Age! With global
warming, the glaciers
are beginning to melt.
Photo sequence
documenting a recent
collapse of the glaciers
on Mt. Kilimanjaro,
in Tanzania, as a result
of global warming.
Tanzania
GLACIERS
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Did you know that Mt. Kilimanjaro not only has GLACIERS,
but is also a VOLCANO ?
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The largest volcano on earth is Mauna Loa, in Hawaii.
However, Africa has lots of volcanoes, mainly in
East Africa. There are sixteen volcanoes just in Ethiopia, and nineteen more in Kenya, Tanzania,
Rwanda, Uganda and Zaire.
One example is Mt. Kilimanjaro, which has both
glaciers, and volcanoes!
Looking down the crater of Mt. Kilimanjaro,
from a Satellite image.
Mt. Kilimanjaro
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How many countries are there in Africa?
Answer: The number varies, depending on the source.
Some sources do not count some of the smaller islands, orelse they count different islands. Some of the islands are
really protectorates of European countries like France.
Some sources do not count disputed countries, like
Western Sahara (which Morocco claims belongs to
Morocco).
There are 47 continental countries plus Madagascar (48
total). Plus about half a dozen small islands.